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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.57.1-15.57.3

Pardon of Orchomenus and the Argive Scytalism

Passage 469 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The passage details the new magistrates in Athens and Rome, the Theban campaign against Orchomenus and Epaminondas' advice for clemency, the expansion of Jason of Pherae in Thessaly, and the brutal civil conflict known as *skytalismos* in Argos.

§15.57.1τοῦ δʼ ἐνιαυσίου χρόνου διεληλυθότος Ἀθήνησι μὲν ἦρχε Δυσνίκητος, ἐν Ῥώμῃ δὲ ἀντὶ τῶν ὑπάτων χιλίαρχοι κατεστάθησαν τέτταρες, Κόιντος Σερουίλιος καὶ Λεύκιος Φούριος, ἔτι δὲ Γάιος Λικίνιος καὶ Πόπλιος Κοίλιος.
When the yearly period had elapsed, Dysnicetus was archon in Athens, and in Rome, instead of consuls, four military tribunes were appointed: Quintus Servilius, Lucius Furius, and also Gaius Licinius and Publius Coelius.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Θηβαῖοι μεγάλῃ δυνάμει στρατεύσαντες ἐπʼ Ὀρχομενὸν ἐπεβάλοντο μὲν ἐξανδραποδίσασθαι τὴν πόλιν, Ἐπαμεινώνδου δὲ συμβουλεύσαντος ὅτι τὰ διὰ τῆς ἀνδρείας κατεργασθέντα τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ δεῖ διαφυλάττειν τοὺς τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἡγεμονίας ὀρεγομένους, μετέγνωσαν.
Under their term, the Thebans, having marched with a large force against Orchomenus, resolved indeed to reduce the city to slavery; but when Epaminondas advised that those who aspire to the hegemony of the Greeks must preserve by humanity what has been achieved through valor, they changed their minds.
διόπερ τοὺς μὲν Ὀρχομενίους εἰς τὴν τῶν συμμάχων χώραν κατέταξαν,μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα Φωκεῖς καὶ Αἰτωλοὺς καὶ Λοκροὺς φίλους ποιησάμενοι τὴν εἰς Βοιωτίαν ἐπάνοδον ἐποιήσαντο.
For this reason, they enrolled the Orchomenians into the ranks of their allies, and after this, having made friends of the Phocians, Aetolians, and Locrians, they made their return to Boeotia.
§15.57.2Ἰάσων δὲ ὁ Φερῶν τύραννος ἀεὶ μᾶλλον αὐξόμενος ἐστράτευσεν εἰς τὴν Λοκρίδα, καὶ τὴν μὲν Ἡράκλειαν τὴν ἐν Τραχινίᾳ διὰ προδοσίας ἑλὼν ἀνάστατον ἐποίησε, καὶ τὴν χώραν Οἰταίοις καὶ Μηλιεῦσιν ἐδωρήσατο· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τὴν Περραιβίαν ἀναζεύξας τῶν πόλεων τὰς μὲν λόγοις φιλανθρώποις προσηγάγετο, τὰς δὲ διὰ τῆς βίας ἐχειρώσατο.
And Jason, the tyrant of Pherae, growing ever more powerful, marched into Locris, and having taken Heracleia in Trachis through treachery, he laid it waste and presented its territory to the Oetaeans and Malians; after this, having marched to Perrhaebia, of the cities he won some over by friendly words, and others he subdued by force.
ταχὺ δὲ τῆς δυναστείας αὐτοῦ στερεουμένης, οἱ τὴν Θετταλίαν οἰκοῦντες ὑφεωρῶντο τὴν αὔξησιν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν πλεονεξίαν.
As his power was rapidly being consolidated, those who inhabited Thessaly viewed his growth and ambition with suspicion.
§15.57.3ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις ἐν τῇ πόλει τῶν Ἀργείων ἐγένετο στάσις καὶ φόνος τοσοῦτος, ὅσος παρʼ ἑτέροις τῶν Ἑλλήνων οὐδέποτε γεγονέναι μνημονεύεται.
While these things were being done, there arose in the city of the Argives a civil strife and slaughter of such magnitude as is never remembered to have occurred among any other of the Greeks.
ἐκλήθη δὲ ὁ νεωτερισμὸς οὗτος παρὰ τοῖς Ἕλλησι σκυταλισμός, διὰ τὸν τρόπον τοῦ θανάτου ταύτης τυχὼν τῆς προσηγορίας.
This revolution was called among the Greeks *skytalismos*, having received this designation because of the manner of death.

Notes

  1. §15.57.1εἰς τὴν τῶν συμμάχων χώραν — The noun chōra usually denotes 'land' or 'territory,' but here it is used metaphorically to mean 'position,' 'rank,' or 'category.' Thus, it refers to enrolling the Orchomenians into the status or ranks of their allies rather than relocating them geographically.
  2. §15.57.1ὅτι τὰ διὰ τῆς ἀνδρείας κατεργασθέντα τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ δεῖ διαφυλάττειν τοὺς τῆς τῶν Ἑλλήνων ηγεμονίας ὀρεγομένους — An impersonal construction with deī governing an accusative and infinitive. The logical subject of the infinitive diaphylattein is the accusative participle phrase toūs... oregomenoūs ('those who aspire to...'), and its direct object is the neuter plural substantivized participle ta... katergasthenta ('things achieved through...'), with tēi philanthrōpiā acting as a dative of means.
  3. §15.57.3ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις — The temporal preposition/adverb hama here governs a dative noun and participle to express contemporaneous action ('at the same time as these things were being done'). While classical prose typically uses the genitive absolute, Hellenistic Greek often employs this dative construction to denote simultaneity.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.57.1-15.57.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.57.1-15.57.3

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