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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §16.71.1-16.71.3

Philip's Thracian Campaign and Theopompus

Passage 579 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Philip campaigns in Thrace, defeating the Thracians and securing alliances with local Greek cities, while the historian Theopompus is noted for devoting three books of his Philippica to Sicilian history.

§16.71.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Μακεδονίαν Φίλιππος τὰς ἐπὶ Θρᾴκῃ πόλεις Ἑλληνίδας εἰς εὔνοιαν προκαλεσόμενος ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Θρᾴκην.
In Macedonia, Philip, wishing to win over to his goodwill the Greek cities bordering on Thrace, marched against Thrace.
Κερσοβλέπτης γὰρ ὁ βασιλεὺς τῶν Θρᾳκῶν διετέλει τὰς ἐφʼ Ἑλλησπόντῳ πόλεις ὁμορούσας τῇ Θρᾴκῃ καταστρεφόμενος καὶ τὴν χώραν καταφθείρων.
For Cersobleptes, the king of the Thracians, was continually subjugating the cities on the Hellespont which bordered on Thrace and ravaging their territory.
§16.71.2βουλόμενος οὖν ἐμφράξαι τῶν βαρβάρων τὴν ὁρμὴν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς σὺν πολλῇ δυνάμει.
Therefore, wishing to check the onset of the barbarians, Philip marched against them with a large force.
νικήσας δὲ πλείοσι μάχαις τοὺς Θρᾷκας τοῖς μὲν καταπολεμηθεῖσι βαρβάροις προσέταξε δεκάτας τελεῖν τοῖς Μακεδόσιν, αὐτὸς δʼ ἐν τοῖς ἐπικαίροις τόποις κτίσας ἀξιολόγους πόλεις ἔπαυσε τοῦ θράσους τοὺς Θρᾷκας.
Having defeated the Thracians in several battles, he ordered the conquered barbarians to pay a tithe to the Macedonians, and he himself, by founding noteworthy cities in key locations, put an end to the boldness of the Thracians.
διόπερ αἱ τῶν Ἑλλήνων πόλεις ἀπολυθεῖσαι τῶν φόβων εἰς τὴν συμμαχίαν τοῦ Φιλίππου προθυμότατα κατετάχθησαν.
Consequently, the Greek cities, having been freed from their fears, most eagerly enrolled themselves in the alliance of Philip.
§16.71.3τῶν δὲ συγγραφέων Θεόπομπος ὁ Χῖος ἐν τῇ τῶν Φιλιππικῶν ἱστορίᾳ κατέταξε τρεῖς βύβλους περιεχούσας Σικελικὰς πράξεις· ἀρξάμενος δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς Διονυσίου τοῦ πρεσβυτέρου τυραννίδος διῆλθε χρόνον ἐτῶν πεντήκοντα καὶ κατέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν ἔκπτωσιν Διονυσίου τοῦ νεωτέρου.
Among the historians, Theopompus of Chios, in his Philippic History, included three books containing Sicilian affairs; beginning from the tyranny of Dionysius the Elder, he covered a period of fifty years and concluded with the expulsion of Dionysius the Younger.
εἰσὶ δὲ αἱ βύβλοι τρεῖς, ἀπὸ τῆς μιᾶς τεσσαρακοστῆς ἄχρι τῆς τρίτης καὶ τεσσαρακοστῆς.
These three books are the forty-first to the forty-third.

Notes

  1. §16.71.1προκαλεσόμενος — The future middle-deponent participle of προκαλέομαι, in the masculine nominative singular, expressing purpose in relation to the main verb ἐστράτευσεν ('in order to win over' or 'to invite to goodwill').
  2. §16.71.1διετέλει ... καταστρεφόμενος — The verb διατελέω (here in the imperfect third-person singular) taking supplementary participles (καταστρεφόμενος and καταφθείρων) to express continuous or habitual action ('he continually subjugated and ravaged').
  3. §16.71.2ἔπαυσε τοῦ θράσους τοὺς Θρᾷκας — The verb παύω is used with an accusative of the person (τοὺς Θρᾷκας) and a genitive of separation (τοῦ θράσους), meaning 'to check someone from doing something' or 'to put an end to someone's boldness.'
  4. §16.71.3κατέστρεψεν εἰς — The verb καταστρέφω (here in the active aorist third-person singular) followed by the preposition εἰς, used intransitively to mean 'to bring to a close at' or 'to conclude with' in reference to a historical narrative.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §16.71.1-16.71.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:16.71.1-16.71.3

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