Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §16.95.1-16.95.5

Assessment of Philip's Reign and Conclusion of Book 16

Passage 603 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Diodorus summarizes Philip's twenty-four-year reign, praising his strategic and diplomatic intellect over mere military force, and announces that the next book will focus entirely on Alexander's deeds.

§16.95.1Φίλιππος μὲν οὖν μέγιστος γενόμενος τῶν καθʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης βασιλέων καὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς ἀρχῆς ἑαυτὸν τοῖς δώδεκα θεοῖς σύνθρονον καταριθμήσας τοιαύτης ἔτυχε τῆς τοῦ βίου καταστροφῆς, ἄρξας ἔτη τέσσαρα πρὸς τοῖς εἴκοσι.
Philip, then, having become the greatest of the kings in Europe in his time, and having counted himself as sharing the throne with the twelve gods because of the magnitude of his empire, met with such an end of his life, after having ruled for twenty-four years.
§16.95.2δοκεῖ δʼ οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐλαχίστας μὲν εἰς τὴν μοναρχίαν ἀφορμὰς παρειληφέναι, μεγίστην δὲ τῶν παρʼ Ἕλλησι μοναρχιῶν κατακτήσασθαι, ηὐξηκέναι δὲ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν οὐχ οὕτω διὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ἀνδραγαθίας ὡς διὰ τῆς ἐν τοῖς λόγοις ὁμιλίας καὶ φιλοφροσύνης.
This king is held to have inherited the smallest resources for his monarchy, yet to have acquired the greatest of the monarchies among the Greeks, and to have increased his hegemony not so much through bravery in arms as through conversation and friendliness in speech.
§16.95.3φασὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν τὸν Φίλιππον σεμνύνεσθαι μᾶλλον ἐπὶ τῇ στρατηγικῇ συνέσει καὶ τοῖς διὰ τῆς ὁμιλίας ἐπιτεύγμασιν ἤπερ ἐπὶ τῇ κατὰ τὰς μάχας ἀνδρείᾳ· §16.95.4τῶν μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τοὺς ἀγῶνας κατορθωμάτων μετέχειν ἅπαντας τοὺς στρατευομένους, τῶν δὲ διὰ τῆς ὁμιλίας γινομένων ἐπιτευγμάτων αὐτὸν μόνον λαμβάνειν τὴν ἐπιγραφήν.
And they say that Philip himself prided himself more on his strategic understanding and his achievements through diplomacy than on his courage in battles; for while all the soldiers share in the successes in contests, he alone receives the credit for the achievements attained through diplomacy.
§16.95.5ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐπειδὴ πάρεσμεν ἐπὶ τὴν Φιλίππου τελευτήν, ταύτην μὲν τὴν βίβλον αὐτοῦ περιγράψομεν κατὰ τὴν ἐν ἀρχῇ πρόθεσιν, τῆς δʼ ἐχομένης ἀρχὴν τὴν Ἀλεξάνδρου παράληψιν τῆς βασιλείας ποιησάμενοι πειρασόμεθα περιλαβεῖν ἁπάσας αὐτοῦ τὰς πράξεις ἐν μιᾷ βίβλῳ.
And since we have arrived at the death of Philip, we shall bring this book to a close here, according to our original plan, and making the next book's beginning Alexander's accession to the kingdom, we shall try to encompass all his deeds in a single book.

Notes

  1. 16.95.1σύνθρονον — A double accusative structure (object-complement) where ἑαυτόν is the direct object and σύνθρονον is the predicative complement of καταριθμήσας ('having counted himself as sharing the throne').
  2. 16.95.2ἀφορμάς — Meaning 'starting points', 'resources', or 'means'. Here it refers to the minimal resources and power base that Philip inherited when he succeeded to the throne.
  3. 16.95.4τὴν ἐπιγραφήν — Literally meaning 'the inscription' or 'title', here used metaphorically to denote the sole credit, dedication, or recognition for an achievement.
  4. 16.95.5αὐτοῦ — Although genitive of the third-person pronoun, in this context it is best understood adverbially as 'here' or 'at this point' (adverb of place), rather than as a possessive pronoun modifying τὴν βίβλον.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §16.95.1-16.95.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:16.95.1-16.95.5

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