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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.75.1-15.75.3

Massacre by Alexander and Campaigns of Epaminondas

Passage 487 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Events of the year when Polyzelus was archon in Athens. It records the massacre of Scotussa by Alexander of Pherae, Epaminondas' campaign in the Peloponnese and the Boeotian recovery of Pelopidas, and Chares' assistance to the Phliasians.

§15.75.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Πολυζήλου κατὰ μὲν τὴν Ῥώμην ἀναρχία διά τινας πολιτικὰς στάσεις ἐγένετο, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑλλάδα Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Φερῶν τύραννος ἐν τῇ Θετταλίᾳ περί τινων ἐγκαλέσας τῇ πόλει τῶν Σκοτουσσαίων, ἐκάλεσεν αὐτοὺς εἰς ἐκκλησίαν καὶ περιστήσας τοὺς μισθοφόρους ἅπαντας ἀπέσφαξε, τὰ δὲ σώματα τῶν τετελευτηκότων ῥίψας εἰς τὴν πρὸ τῶν τειχῶν τάφρον τὴν πόλιν διήρπασεν.
When Polyzelus was archon in Athens, in Rome anarchy arose due to certain civil dissensions, but in Greece, Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae in Thessaly, having brought charges concerning certain matters against the city of the Scotussaeans, called them into an assembly, and having surrounded them with all his mercenaries, slaughtered them all, and having thrown the bodies of the dead into the ditch in front of the walls, plundered the city.
§15.75.2Ἐπαμεινώνδας δʼ ὁ Θηβαῖος μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐμβαλὼν εἰς Πελοπόννησον τοὺς Ἀχαιοὺς καί τινας ἄλλας πόλεις προσηγάγετο, Δύμην δὲ καὶ Ναύπακτον καὶ Καλυδῶνα φρουρουμένην ὑπʼ Ἀχαιῶν ἠλευθέρωσεν.
And Epaminondas the Theban, having invaded the Peloponnese with a force, won over the Achaeans and certain other cities, and liberated Dyme, Naupactus, and Calydon, which were garrisoned by the Achaeans.
ἐστράτευσαν δὲ καὶ εἰς Θετταλίαν Βοιωτοί, καὶ Πελοπίδαν ἐκομίσαντο παρʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φερῶν τυράννου.
The Boeotians also campaigned into Thessaly, and recovered Pelopidas from Alexander, the tyrant of Pherae.
§15.75.3Φλιασίοις δὲ πολεμουμένοις ὑπʼ Ἀργείων Χάρης ὑπʼ Ἀθηναίων πεμφθεὶς στρατηγὸς μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐβοήθησε· νικήσας δὲ τοὺς Ἀργείους δυσὶ μάχαις καὶ τὴν ἀσφάλειαν περιποιήσας τοῖς Φλιασίοις ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὰς Ἀθήνας.
And to the Phliasians, who were being warred upon by the Argives, Chares, sent as general by the Athenians with a force, brought assistance; and having defeated the Argives in two battles and secured safety for the Phliasians, he returned to Athens.

Notes

  1. 15.75.1περί τινων ἐγκαλέσας τῇ πόλει τῶν Σκοτουσσαίων — The verb ἐγκαλέω regularly takes the dative of the person or entity against whom the charge is brought (τῇ πόλει), while the genitive τῶν Σκοτουσσαίων is adnominal, specifying 'the city of the Scotussaeans.' The prepositional phrase περί τινων indicates the matters concerning which the charges are laid.
  2. 15.75.2Καλυδῶνα φρουρουμένην ὑπʼ Ἀχαιῶν — The present passive participle φρουρουμένην is feminine singular accusative, agreeing grammatically only with the immediately preceding proper noun Καλυδῶνα (Calydon, feminine singular). Although Dyme and Naupactus are also mentioned as liberated, this qualifying participial clause directly modifies only Calydon.
  3. 15.75.3Φλιασίοις δὲ πολεμουμένοις ὑπʼ Ἀργείων — The dative noun phrase Φλιασίοις ... πολεμουμένοις functions as the dative object governed by the main verb ἐβοήθησε ('helped/assisted'). The present passive participle πολεμουμένοις modifies the Phliasians, indicating their ongoing state of being warred upon by the Argives at the time of Chares' intervention.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.75.1-15.75.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.75.1-15.75.3

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