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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §15.90.1-15.90.4

Revolt of the Satraps and King Tachos against Persia

Passage 502 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The inhabitants and satraps of coastal Asia, along with King Tachos of Egypt supported by Sparta, revolt against the Persian King Artaxerxes, causing severe financial loss to the Persian Empire and prompting preparation for war.

§15.90.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Μόλωνος ἐν Ῥώμῃ κατεστάθησαν ὕπατοι Λεύκιος Γενούκιος καὶ Κόιντος Σερουίλιος.
At Athens, Molon was archon, and in Rome Lucius Genucius and Quintus Servilius were established as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων οἱ τὴν παράλιον οἰκοῦντες τῆς Ἀσίας ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ Περσῶν, καί τινες τῶν σατραπῶν καὶ στρατηγῶν ἐπαναστάντες πόλεμον ἐξήνεγκαν πρὸς Ἀρταξέρξην.
During their term of office, the inhabitants of the coast of Asia revolted from the Persians, and some of the satraps and generals rose up in rebellion and declared war against Artaxerxes.
§15.90.2ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις καὶ Ταχὼς ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων κρίνας πολεμεῖν τοῖς Πέρσαις, ναῦς τε κατεσκεύασε καὶ πεζὰς δυνάμεις ἤθροισεν.
In like manner, Tachos also, the king of the Egyptians, having decided to make war on the Persians, built ships and gathered land forces.
πολλοὺς δὲ ξενολογήσας ἐκ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων ἔπεισε καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους συμμαχεῖν· οἱ γὰρ Σπαρτιᾶται πρὸς Ἀρταξέρξην ἀλλοτρίως εἶχον διὰ τὸ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ὁμοίως τοῖς ἄλλοις Ἕλλησιν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν κοινὴν εἰρήνην κατατετάχθαι.
Having recruited many mercenaries from the Greek cities, he also persuaded the Lacedaemonians to fight as allies; for the Spartans were hostile to Artaxerxes because the Messenians, like the other Greeks, had been included by the King in the common peace.
τηλικαύτης δὲ συνδρομῆς κατὰ τῶν Περσῶν γενομένης, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς παρεσκευάζετο τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον.
When such a great conspiracy against the Persians had arisen, the King also made preparations for the war.
§15.90.3ὑπὸ γὰρ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν ἔδει πρός τε τὸν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα πολεμεῖν καὶ πρὸς τὰς κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν Ἑλληνίδας πόλεις καὶ Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ τοὺς τούτων συμμάχους σατράπας καὶ στρατηγούς, τοὺς ἄρχοντας μὲν τῶν παραθαλαττίων τόπων, συντεθειμένους δὲ κοινοπραγίαν· ὧν ἦσαν ἐπιφανέστατοι Ἀριοβαρζάνης μὲν ὁ τῆς Φρυγίας σατράπης, ὃς καὶ Μιθριδάτου τελευτήσαντος τῆς τούτου βασιλείας κεκυριευκὼς ἦν, Μαύσωλος δὲ Καρίας δυναστεύων καὶ πολλῶν ἐρυμάτων καὶ πόλεων ἀξιολόγων κυριεύων, ὧν ἑστίαν καὶ μητρόπολιν συνέβαινεν εἶναι τὴν Ἁλικαρνασσόν, ἔχουσαν ἀκρόπολιν ἀξιόλογον καὶ τὰ τῆς Καρίας βασίλεια, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις Ὀρόντης μὲν τῆς Μυσίας σατράπης, Αὐτοφραδάτης δὲ Λυδίας· τῶν δὲ Ἰώνων ἄνευΛύκιοί τε καὶ Πισίδαι καὶ Παμφύλιοι καὶ Κίλικες, ἔτι δὲ καὶ Σύροι καὶ Φοίνικες καὶ σχεδὸν πάντες οἱ παραθαλάσσιοι.
For at about the same time he had to wage war against the king of the Egyptians, against the Greek cities in Asia, against the Lacedaemonians and their allies, the satraps and generals who ruled the coastal regions and had formed a league for common action; of whom the most prominent were Ariobarzanes, the satrap of Phrygia, who, upon the death of Mithridates, had also made himself master of his kingdom; and Mausolus, the ruler of Caria, who was master of many strongholds and noteworthy cities, of which Halicarnassus happened to be the hearth and mother-city, possessing an important acropolis and the royal palace of Caria; and besides these, Orontes, the satrap of Mysia, and Autophradates of Lydia; and, apart from the Ionians, the Lycians, Pisidians, Pamphylians, and Cilicians, as well as the Syrians and Phoenicians, and virtually all the coastal inhabitants.
§15.90.4τηλικαύτης δʼ οὔσης ἀποστάσεως, τὸ μὲν ἥμισυ τῶν προσόδων τῷ βασιλεῖ κατελέλυτο, τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν οὐχ ἱκανὸν ἦν εἰς τὰς τοῦ πολέμου χρείας.
With a revolt of such magnitude, half of the King's revenues had been cut off, and the remainder was not sufficient for the needs of the war.

Notes

  1. §15.90.1ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων — Refers to the term of office of the Athenian archon (Molon) and the Roman consuls (Genucius and Servilius) mentioned in the preceding sentence. The demonstrative pronoun τούτων (genitive plural) refers collectively to these magistrates.
  2. §15.90.2διὰ τὸ τοὺς Μεσσηνίους ... κατατετάχθαι — The preposition διά followed by the neuter article τό introduces a substantivized infinitive clause indicating cause. The subject of the perfect passive infinitive κατατετάχθαι is the accusative τοὺς Μεσσηνίους.
  3. §15.90.3ὧν — A relative pronoun in the genitive plural, whose antecedent is the preceding "satraps and generals" (σατράπας καὶ στρατηγούς). It functions as a partitive genitive modifying the list of individuals that follows (Ariobarzanes, Mausolus, etc.).
  4. §15.90.3τῶν δὲ Ἰώνων ἄνευ — An instance of anastrophe where the preposition ἄνευ ("without", "apart from") is placed after its governed noun τῶν Ἰώνων.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §15.90.1-15.90.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:15.90.1-15.90.4

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