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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.67.1-15.67.4

Spartan-Athenian Alliance and Pelopidas' Campaign

Passage 479 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The Thebans return home after completing the restoration of Messene, while Sparta and Athens form an alliance. Meanwhile, the Arcadians successfully raid Pellene, and the Boeotian general Pelopidas achieves diplomatic and military success in Thessaly and Macedonia.

§15.67.1οἱ δὲ Θηβαῖοι πάντα τὰ προειρημένα συντελέσαντες ἐν ἡμέραις ὀγδοήκοντα καὶ πέντε, καὶ καταλιπόντες φυλακὴν ἀξιόλογον τῆς Μεσσήνης, ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν.
The Thebans, having completed all the aforementioned things in eighty-five days, and having left a noteworthy garrison in Messene, returned to their own land.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ παραδόξως ἀποτετριμμένοι τοὺς πολεμίους, ἀπέστειλαν πρεσβευτὰς εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας τοὺς ἐπιφανεστάτους τῶν Σπαρτιατῶν, καὶ τὰς μὲν ὁμολογίας ἐποιήσαντο περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίας, ὥστε τῆς μὲν θαλάττης ἄρχειν Ἀθηναίους, τῆς δὲ γῆς τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐν ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς πόλεσιν ἐποιήσαντο κοινὰς τὰς ἡγεμονίας.
And the Lacedaemonians, having contrary to expectation repelled the enemy, sent the most distinguished of the Spartans as ambassadors to Athens, and made agreements concerning the hegemony, so that the Athenians should rule the sea and the Lacedaemonians the land; but after this, they made the hegemonies common to both cities.
§15.67.2Ἀρκάδες δὲ Λυκομήδην στρατηγὸν προχειρισάμενοι, καὶ παραδόντες αὐτῷ τοὺς ἐπιλέκτους ὀνομαζομένους, ὄντας πεντακισχιλίους, ἐστράτευσαν ἐπὶ Πελλήνην τῆς Λακωνικῆς, καὶ τὴν μὲν πόλιν βίᾳ χειρωσάμενοι τοὺς ἐγκαταλειφθέντας φρουροὺς τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ἀπέκτειναν, ὄντας πλείους τῶν τριακοσίων, τὴν δὲ πόλιν ἐξανδραποδισάμενοι καὶ τὴν χώραν δῃώσαντες ἐπανῆλθον εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν, φθάσαντες τὴν παρὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων βοήθειαν.
The Arcadians, having appointed Lycomedes as general and having entrusted to him those called the elite, being five thousand, marched against Pellene in Laconia; and having subdued the city by force, they killed the Lacedaemonian garrison-soldiers who had been left behind, being more than three hundred; and having enslaved the city and ravaged the territory, they returned to their own land, anticipating the help from the Lacedaemonians.
§15.67.3Βοιωτοὶ δέ, μεταπεμπομένων αὐτοὺς Θετταλῶν ἐπʼ ἐλευθερώσει μὲν τῶν πόλεων, καταλύσει δὲ τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φεραίου τυραννίδος ἐξαπέστειλαν Πελοπίδαν μετὰ δυνάμεως εἰς Θετταλίαν, δόντες ἐντολὰς αὐτῷ εἰς τὸ συμφέρον τῶν Βοιωτῶν διοικῆσαι τὰ κατὰ τὴν Θετταλίαν.
The Boeotians, since the Thessalians were sending for them for the liberation of their cities and the overthrow of the tyranny of Alexander of Pherae, sent Pelopidas with a force into Thessaly, having given him instructions to manage the affairs in Thessaly for the benefit of the Boeotians.
§15.67.4οὗτος δὲ καταντήσας εἰς Λάρισσαν, καὶ καταλαβὼν τὴν ἀκρόπολιν φρουρουμένην ὑπὸ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος, ταύτην μὲν παρέλαβεν, εἰς δὲ τὴν Μακεδονίαν παρελθὼν καὶ συμμαχίαν ποιησάμενος πρὸς Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν τῶν Μακεδόνων βασιλέα, ὅμηρον ἔλαβε παρʼ αὐτοῦ τὸν ἀδελφὸν Φίλιππον, ὃν ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὰς Θήβας.
He, having arrived at Larissa and having found the acropolis guarded by Alexander of Macedon, took it over, and having gone into Macedonia and made an alliance with Alexander the king of the Macedonians, he received from him as hostage his brother Philip, whom he sent to Thebes.
τὰ δὲ κατὰ τὴν Θετταλίαν διοικησάμενος ὥς ποτʼ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ συμφέρειν τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς, ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν.
Having managed the affairs in Thessaly as it seemed to him to be of benefit to the Boeotians, he returned to his own land.

Notes

  1. 15.67.1ἀποτετριμμένοι — The participle of the verb ἀποτρίβω (to ward off, drive away) is in the middle-passive form. Here it is to be understood in the middle voice meaning 'having repelled/warded off the enemy' rather than the passive 'having been repelled.' Interpreting it as passive would conflict with the context where the Spartans, after successfully defending themselves or repelling the threat, take the initiative to send ambassadors to Athens.
  2. 15.67.1ὥςτε τῆς μὲν θαλάττης ἄρχειν Ἀθηναίους — The conjunction ὥστε is followed by the infinitive ἄρχειν to form a clause of result or specification, explaining the concrete terms of the agreement (τὰς ὁμολογίας) regarding the hegemony. Ἀθηναίους acts as the subject of the infinitive, and similarly τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους is the subject of the implied infinitive in the second part of the contrast.
  3. 15.67.2φθάσαντες τὴν παρὰ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων βοήθειαν — The active aorist participle of the verb φθάνω (to anticipate, forestall) takes the accusative object τὴν... βοήθειαν, meaning 'having anticipated the help from the Lacedaemonians' or 'before the help from the Lacedaemonians could arrive.' It functions adverbially to modify the main verb ἐπανῆλθον.
  4. 15.67.3μεταπεμπομένων αὐτοὺς Θετταλῶν — This is a genitive absolute construction. The present middle participle μεταπεμπομένων and its logical subject Θετταλῶν are both in the genitive case, expressing the cause or reason ('since the Thessalians were sending for them') independent of the subject of the main clause (Βοιωτοὶ).
  5. 15.67.4ὥς ποτʼ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ συμφέρειν τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς — A clause introduced by the conjunction ὡς (as), containing the impersonal verb ἔδοξεν (it seemed/was decided) with the infinitive συμφέρειν. The pronoun αὐτῷ is the dative object of ἔδοξεν (to him, i.e., Pelopidas), while τοῖς Βοιωτοῖς is the dative governed by the infinitive συμφέρειν (to benefit). The phrase means 'as it seemed to him to be of benefit to the Boeotians.'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.67.1-15.67.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.67.1-15.67.4

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