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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §16.83.1-16.83.3

Sicily's Prosperity and Monumental Building under Peace

Passage 591 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Diodorus describes the rapid agricultural and commercial revival of Sicily following Timoleon's establishment of peace, which led to great wealth and the construction of monumental buildings in Syracuse, Agyrium, and other cities.

§16.83.1καθόλου δὲ πάντα τὰ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν εἰρηνικῶς καταστήσας ἐποίησε τὰς πόλεις ταχὺ λαβεῖν πολλὴν αὔξησιν πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν.
In general, having established all the affairs throughout Sicily in a peaceful manner, he made the cities quickly receive a great increase toward prosperity.
ἐκ πολλοῦ γὰρ χρόνου διὰ τὰς στάσεις καὶ τοὺς ἐμφυλίους πολέμους, ἔτι δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐπανισταμένων αἰεὶ τυράννων αἱ μὲν πόλεις ἔρημοι τῶν οἰκητόρων ἦσαν, αἱ δὲ χῶραι διὰ τὴν ἀργίαν ἐξηγρίωντο καὶ καρπῶν ἡμέρων ἄφοροι καθειστήκεισαν·
For over a long period, because of the factions and civil wars, and furthermore the multitude of tyrants who were constantly rising up, on the one hand the cities were destitute of inhabitants, and on the other hand the lands had grown wild through lack of cultivation and had become unproductive of cultivated crops.
τότε δὲ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἐπιπολασάντων οἰκητόρων καὶ διὰ τὴν πολυχρόνιον ἐπιγεγενημένην εἰρήνην ἐξημερώθησαν ταῖς ἐργασίαις καὶ πολλοὺς καὶ παντοδαποὺς ἐξήνεγκαν καρπούς.
But at that time, because of the multitude of the newly arrived settlers and because of the long-lasting peace that followed, the lands were tamed by cultivation and yielded many crops of every kind.
τούτους δʼ οἱ Σικελιῶται λυσιτελῶς πιπράσκοντες τοῖς ἐμπόροις ταχὺ προσανέδραμον ταῖς οὐσίαις.
Selling these profitably to the merchants, the Siceliots quickly advanced in their fortunes.
§16.83.2τοιγαροῦν διὰ τὴν ἐκ τούτων εὐπορίαν πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα κατεσκευάσθη κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους ἀναθήματα, ἐν μὲν ταῖς Συρακούσσαις ὁ κατὰ τὴν Μῆσον οἶκος ὁ ἑξηκοντάκλινος ὀνομαζόμενος, τῶν κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν ἔργων ὑπεραίρων τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ, ὃν κατεσκεύασε μὲν Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὁ δυνάστης, διὰ δὲ τὸ βάρος τῶν ἔργων ὑπεραίρων τοὺς τῶν θεῶν ναοὺς ἐπισημασίας ἔτυχεν ὑπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου κεραυνωθείς, οἵ τε παρὰ τὸν μικρὸν λιμένα πύργοι, τὰς μὲν ἐπιγραφὰς ἔχοντες ἐξ ἑτερογενῶν λίθων, σημαίνοντες δὲ τὴν τοῦ κατασκευάσαντος αὐτοὺς προσηγορίαν Ἀγαθοκλέους, ὁμοίως δὲ τούτοις μικρὸν ὕστερον ὑπὸ Ἱέρωνος τοῦ βασιλέως τό τε κατὰ τὴν ἀγορὰν Ὀλυμπιεῖον καὶ ὁ πλησίον τοῦ θεάτρου βωμός, τὸ μὲν μῆκος ὢν σταδίου, τὸ δʼ ὕψος καὶ πλάτος ἔχων τούτῳ κατὰ λόγον.
Therefore, because of the wealth arising from these, many great dedicatory structures were constructed in those times: in Syracuse, the building called the sixty-couch house on the Island, which surpassed the works throughout Sicily in its size and construction, and which the ruler Agathocles built, but which, because it surpassed the temples of the gods in the loftiness of its construction, received a sign from the divine by being struck by lightning; and also the towers by the small harbor, which had inscriptions made of diverse stones showing the name of their builder, Agathocles; and likewise, shortly after these, by King Hieron, the Olympieion in the market-place and the altar near the theater, being a stade in length, and having its height and width in proportion to this.
§16.83.3ἐν δὲ ταῖς ἐλάττοσι πόλεσιν, ἐν αἷς ἡ τῶν Ἀγυριναίων καταριθμεῖται, μετασχοῦσα τῆς τότε κληρουχίας διὰ τὴν προειρημένην ἐκ τῶν καρπῶν εὐπορίαν, θέατρον μὲν κατεσκεύασε μετὰ τὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων κάλλιστον τῶν κατὰ Σικελίαν, θεῶν τε ναοὺς καὶ βουλευτήριον καὶ ἀγοράν, ἔτι δὲ πύργων ἀξιολόγους κατασκευὰς καὶ τάφους πυραμίδων πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων διαφόρων ταῖς φιλοτεχνίαις.
Among the smaller cities, in which that of the Agyrinaeans is numbered, having shared in the land allotment of that time, because of the aforementioned wealth from the crops, it constructed a theater which is the finest in Sicily after that of the Syracusans, as well as temples of the gods, a council chamber, a market-place, and furthermore remarkable structures of towers and tombs of many large pyramids outstanding for their craftsmanship.

Notes

  1. 16.83.1ἐποίησε τὰς πόλεις ταχὺ λαβεῖν — A causative construction consisting of the verb ποιέω + accusative (τὰς πόλεις) + infinitive (λαβεῖν), meaning 'made the cities receive'.
  2. 16.83.1ἔρημοι τῶν οἰκητόρων... ἄφοροι — The adjectives ἔρημος (destitute) and ἄφορος (unproductive) govern the genitives of separation or deprivation (τῶν οἰκητόρων and καρπῶν ἡμέρων respectively).
  3. 16.83.2ὁ κατὰ τὴν Μῆσον οἶκος... — In this sentence, several noun phrases (ὁ οἶκος, οἵ τε πύργοι, τό τε Ὀλυμπιεῖον καὶ ὁ βωμός) are listed as subjects in the nominative case for the passive verb κατεσκευάσθη at the beginning of the section. Despite the lengthy modifying clauses and participles, they all grammatically function as subjects in a list.
  4. 16.83.2ἐπισημασίας ἔτυχεν ὑπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου κεραυνωθείς — The verb τυγχάνω governs the genitive ἐπισημασίας, meaning 'received a sign'. The aorist passive participle κεραυνωθείς agrees with the subject (οἶκος), indicating the circumstance of the action, with the agent expressed by ὑπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου ('by the divine').
  5. 16.83.3θέατρον μὲν κατεσκεύασε μετὰ τὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων κάλλιστον — The preposition μετά with the accusative (τὸ τῶν Συρακοσίων [θέατρον]), used in combination with the superlative κάλλιστον, expresses order or rank: 'the finest after that of the Syracusans'.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §16.83.1-16.83.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:16.83.1-16.83.3

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