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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §16.72.1-16.72.5

Molossian Succession and Timoleon's Campaign Against Tyrants

Passage 580 of 723 · Greek

Summary

During the archonship of Sosigenes at Athens, Alexander succeeds Arymbas as king of the Molossians, while in Sicily, Timoleon campaigns against the tyrants Hicetas and Leptines, restoring autonomy to several cities.

§16.72.1ἐπʼ ἄρχοντος δʼ Ἀθήνησι Σωσιγένους Ῥωμαῖοι κατέστησαν ὑπάτους Μάρκον Οὐαλέριον καὶ Μάρκον Γναῖον Πόπλιον.
When Sosigenes was archon at Athens, the Romans elected Marcus Valerius and Marcus Gnaeus Publius as consuls.
ἐπὶ δὲ τούτων Ἀρύμβας ὁ τῶν Μολοττῶν βασιλεὺς ἐτελεύτησεν ἄρξας ἔτη δέκα, ἀπολιπὼν υἱὸν τὸν Πύρρου πατέρα Αἰακίδην· τὴν δʼ ἀρχὴν διεδέξατο Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ ἀδελφὸς Ὀλυμπιάδος, συνεργήσαντος Φιλίππου τοῦ Μακεδόνος. §16.72.2κατὰ δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν Τιμολέων μὲν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ Λεοντίνους· εἰς ταύτην γὰρ τὴν πόλιν Ἱκέτας κατεπεφεύγει μετὰ δυνάμεως ἀξιολόγου.
During their term of office, Arymbas, the king of the Molossians, died after reigning for ten years, leaving behind a son, Aeacides, who was the father of Pyrrhus; and Alexander, the brother of Olympias, succeeded to the throne with the assistance of Philip of Macedon.\n In Sicily, Timoleon marched against Leontini, for Hicetas had fled to this city with a substantial force.
τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον προσέβαλε τῇ Νέᾳ καλουμένῃ πόλει· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πολλῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει συγκεκλεισμένων καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἀμυνομένων ἄπρακτος γενόμενος ἔλυσε τὴν πολιορκίαν. §16.72.3παρελθὼν δὲ πρὸς πόλιν Ἔγγυον, τυραννουμένην ὑπὸ Λεπτίνου, προσβολὰς συνεχεῖς ἐποιεῖτο βουλόμενος τὸν μὲν Λεπτίνην ἐκβαλεῖν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, τοῖς δʼ Ἐγγυΐνοις τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀποδοῦναι. §16.72.4περὶ ταῦτα δὲ τοῦ Τιμολέοντος ὄντος Ἱκέτας πανδημεὶ στρατεύσας ἐκ τῶν Λεοντίνων ἐπολιόρκει τὰς Συρακούσσας, πολλοὺς δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀποβαλὼν ταχέως ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τοὺς Λεοντίνους. §16.72.5ὁ δὲ Τιμολέων καταπληξάμενος τὸν Λεπτίνην τοῦτον μὲν ὑπόσπονδον ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον, ἐνδεικνύμενος τοῖς Ἕλλησι τὰς τῶν καταπολεμηθέντων τυράννων ἐκπτώσεις.
First, therefore, he assaulted the part of the city called Nea; but after this, since many soldiers were shut up in the city and easily defended themselves from the walls, he accomplished nothing and raised the siege.\n Advancing to the city of Engyum, which was ruled by Leptines, he made continuous assaults, wishing to expel Leptines from the city and to restore freedom to the inhabitants of Engyum.\n While Timoleon was occupied with these matters, Hicetas marched out from Leontini with his entire army and besieged Syracuse, but after losing many of his soldiers, he quickly returned to Leontini.\n But Timoleon, having intimidated Leptines, sent him away to the Peloponnesus under a safe-conduct, demonstrating to the Greeks the downfalls of the tyrants who had been subdued.
οὔσης δὲ καὶ τῆς τῶν Ἀπολλωνιατῶν πόλεως ὑπὸ τὸν Λεπτίνην παραλαβὼν τὴν Ἀπολλωνίαν ταύτῃ τε καὶ τῇ τῶν Ἐγγυΐνων ἀπέδωκε τὴν αὐτονομίαν.
Since the city of the Apolloniates was also under the rule of Leptines, Timoleon took over Apollonia and restored autonomy to both this city and that of the inhabitants of Engyum.

Notes

  1. 16.72.1συνεργήσαντος Φιλίππου τοῦ Μακεδόνος — A genitive absolute construction, indicating the attendant circumstance or cause that Philip II of Macedon assisted Alexander in succeeding to the Molossian throne.
  2. 16.72.2πολλῶν στρατιωτῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει συγκεκλεισμένων καὶ ῥᾳδίως ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν ἀμυνομένων — A long genitive absolute construction led by two present participles `συγκεκλεισμένων` and `ἀμυνομένων`, explaining the reason why Timoleon raised the siege ("since many soldiers were shut up in the city and easily defended themselves from the walls").
  3. 16.72.4περὶ ταῦτα δὲ τοῦ Τιμολέοντος ὄντος — A genitive absolute construction where the prepositional phrase `περὶ ταῦτα` (about these matters) modifies the participle `ὄντος` (genitive singular masculine of `εἰμί`), indicating the temporal circumstance "while Timoleon was occupied with these matters."
  4. 16.72.5ὑπόσπονδον — Accusative of the adjective meaning "under a truce/safe-conduct." It functions either adverbially or as a predicative adjective modifying the object `τοῦτον` (Leptines), indicating that Timoleon sent Leptines away to the Peloponnesus after making a treaty guaranteeing his safe departure.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §16.72.1-16.72.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:16.72.1-16.72.5

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