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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §16.51.1-16.51.3

Subjugation of Egypt and Flight of Nectanebos

Passage 559 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Following the surrender of Bubastus, King Nectanebos of Egypt fled to Ethiopia, allowing Artaxerxes to secure control over all of Egypt. After plundering the temples, the Persian king dismissed the Greek mercenaries, appointed Pherendates as satrap, and returned to Babylon.

§16.51.1τότε δὲ μετὰ τὴν τῆς Βουβάστου παράδοσιν αἱ λοιπαὶ πόλεις καταπλαγεῖσαι καθʼ ὁμολογίαν παρεδόθησαν τοῖς Πέρσαις.
At that time, after the surrender of Bubastus, the remaining cities were struck with terror and surrendered to the Persians by agreement.
ἐν δὲ τῇ Μέμφει διατρίβων ὁ βασιλεὺς Νεκτανεβὼς καὶ θεωρῶν τὴν τῶν πόλεων ἐπὶ τὴν προδοσίαν ὁρμὴν οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ὑποστῆναι τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς ἡγεμονίας κινδύνους.
King Nectanebos, who was staying in Memphis, seeing the rush of the cities toward betrayal, did not dare to face the dangers for the sake of his sovereignty.
ἀπογνοὺς οὖν τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν χρημάτων ἀναλαβὼν ἔφυγεν εἰς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν.
Therefore, despairing of his kingdom and taking most of his wealth with him, he fled to Ethiopia.
§16.51.2Ἀρταξέρξης δὲ παραλαβὼν πᾶσαν τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τῶν ἀξιολογωτάτων πόλεων τὰ τείχη περιελὼν τὰ μὲν ἱερὰ συλήσας ἤθροισεν ἀργύρου τε καὶ χρυσοῦ πλῆθος, ἀπήνεγκε δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἀρχαίων ἱερῶν ἀναγραφάς, ἃς ὕστερον Βαγώας πολλῶν χρημάτων ἀπελύτρωσε τοῖς ἱερεῦσι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων.
Artaxerxes, having taken over all of Egypt and demolished the walls of its most important cities, plundered the temples and gathered a vast amount of silver and gold. He also carried off the records from the ancient temples, which Bagoas later ransomed for the Egyptian priests at the cost of a large sum of money.
§16.51.3τοὺς δὲ συστρατευσαμένους τῶν Ἑλλήνων κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἕκαστον δωρεαῖς ἀξιολόγοις τιμήσας ἀπέλυσεν εἰς τὰς πατρίδας· τῆς δʼ Αἰγύπτου σατράπην καταστήσας Φερενδάτην ἐπανῆλθεν μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς Βαβυλῶνα πολλὰ μὲν χρήματα καὶ λάφυρα κομίζων, δόξαν δὲ μεγάλην ἐκ τῶν κατορθωμάτων περιπεποιημένος.
After honoring each of the Greeks who had fought alongside him with valuable gifts according to their merit, he dismissed them to their native lands; and having appointed Pherendates satrap of Egypt, he returned with his army to Babylon, bringing with him much wealth and booty, and having acquired great renown from his successes.

Notes

  1. 16.51.1οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν ὑποστῆναι — The verb ἐτόλμησεν (third-person singular aorist active indicative of τολμάω, "to dare, have the courage to"), combined with the negative οὐκ, takes the infinitive ὑποστῆναι (aorist active infinitive of ὑφίστημι, "to face, withstand") to mean "did not dare to face" or "could not bring himself to face."
  2. 16.51.2πολλῶν χρημάτων — The genitive plural of χρῆμα functions here as a genitive of price, meaning "at the cost of a large sum of money" or "for a high price," indicating the ransom payment associated with the verb ἀπελύτρωσε ("ransomed").
  3. 16.51.2τοῖς ἱερεῦσι — The dative plural functions here as a dative of advantage (dative of interest), indicating that Bagoas ransomed the records "for the benefit of" or "for the sake of" the Egyptian priests.
  4. 16.51.3τῶν Ἑλλήνων — The genitive plural serves as a partitive genitive depending on the preceding substantivized participle τοὺς συστρατευσαμένους ("those who had fought alongside"), indicating "those among the Greeks who had fought with him."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §16.51.1-16.51.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:16.51.1-16.51.3

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