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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §17.27.1-17.27.7

Fall and Destruction of Halicarnassus by Veteran Forces

Passage 632 of 723 · Greek

Summary

The veteran Macedonian soldiers rally to slay Ephialtes and reverse the battle, leading to the capture of Halicarnassus. Memnon and his men abandon the city, and Alexander razes it before dispatching forces inland and marching along the coast.

§17.27.1ἔνθα δὴ τῶν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως κατισχυόντων παραδόξως ὁ κίνδυνος παλίντροπον τὴν μάχην ἔσχεν.
Thereupon, while those from the city were unexpectedly prevailing, the crisis made the battle turn in the opposite direction.
οἱ γὰρ πρεσβύτατοι τῶν Μακεδόνων, διὰ μὲν τὴν ἡλικίαν ἀπολελυμένοι τῶν κινδύνων, συνεστρατευμένοι δὲ Φιλίππῳ καὶ πολλὰς μάχας κατωρθωκότες, §17.27.2ὑπὸ τῶν καιρῶν εἰς ἀλκὴν προεκλήθησαν, φρονήματι δὲ καὶ ταῖς κατὰ πόλεμον ἐμπειρίαις πολὺ προέχοντες τοῖς μὲν φυγομαχοῦσι νεωτέροις πικρῶς ὠνείδισαν τὴν ἀνανδρίαν, αὐτοὶ δὲ συναθροισθέντες καὶ συνασπίσαντες ὑπέστησαν τοὺς δοκοῦντας ἤδη νενικηκέναι.
For the oldest of the Macedonians, though exempted from dangers because of their age, had campaigned with Philip and had been successful in many battles; summoned to valor by the crisis, and far surpassing the others in pride and military experience, they bitterly reproached the younger men who were fleeing from the battle for their cowardice, and having assembled and locked shields, they themselves withstood those who thought they had already won.
§17.27.3τέλος δὲ τόν τε Ἐφιάλτην καὶ πολλοὺς ἄλλους ἀνελόντες τοὺς λοιποὺς ἠνάγκασαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν συμφυγεῖν.
And finally, having slain Ephialtes and many others, they forced the rest to flee together into the city.
§17.27.4οἱ δὲ Μακεδόνες τῆς νυκτὸς ἐπιλαβούσης τοῖς φεύγουσι συνεισέπεσον ἐντὸς τῶν τειχῶν· τοῦ δὲ βασιλέως κελεύσαντος σημῆναι τὸ ἀνακλητικὸν ἀνεχώρησαν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον.
As night came on, the Macedonians burst inside the walls along with the fugitives; but when the king ordered the recall to be sounded, they withdrew to the camp.
§17.27.5οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Μέμνονα στρατηγοὶ καὶ σατράπαι συνελθόντες ἔγνωσαν τὴν μὲν πόλιν ἐκλιπεῖν, εἰς δὲ τὴν ἀκρόπολιν τοὺς ἀρίστους τῶν στρατιωτῶν καταστήσαντες μετὰ τῆς ἁρμοζούσης χορηγίας τὸν λοιπὸν ὄχλον καὶ τὰ χρήματα ἀπεκόμισαν εἰς τὴν Κῶν.
The commanders and satraps around Memnon, having met together, resolved to abandon the city, and having stationed the best of the soldiers in the acropolis with the appropriate supplies, they transported the remaining crowd and the property to Cos.
§17.27.6ὁ δʼ Ἀλέξανδρος ἅμʼ ἡμέρᾳ γνοὺς τὸ γεγενημένον τὴν μὲν πόλιν κατέσκαψε, τῇ δʼ ἀκροπόλει περιέθηκε τεῖχος καὶ τάφρον ἀξιόλογον·
Alexander, having learned at daybreak what had happened, razed the city to the ground, and surrounded the acropolis with a wall and a remarkable trench.
αὐτὸς δὲ μέρος τῆς δυνάμεως μετὰ στρατηγῶν ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὴν μεσόγειον, προστάξας τὰ συνεχῆ τῶν ἐθνῶν χειροῦσθαι.
He himself sent out a part of his force with commanders into the interior, ordering them to subdue the adjacent nations.
οὗτοι μὲν οὖν ἐνεργῶς πολεμήσαντες, πᾶσαν τὴν χώραν μέχρι τῆς μεγάλης Φρυγίας καταστρεψάμενοι, διέθρεψαν τοὺς στρατιώτας ἐκ τῆς πολεμίας·
These men, having campaigned energetically and conquered the entire country as far as Great Phrygia, sustained their soldiers from the enemy's territory.
§17.27.7ὁ δʼ Ἀλέξανδρος τὴν παραθαλαττίαν πᾶσαν μέχρι Κιλικίας χειρωσάμενος πολλὰς πόλεις κατεκτήσατο καὶ φρούρια καρτερὰ φιλοτιμότερον πολιορκήσας τῇ βίᾳ κατεπόνησεν, ἐν οἷς ἑνὸς παραδόξως ἐκράτησε, περὶ οὗ διὰ τὴν ἰδιότητα τῆς περιπετείας οὐκ ἄξιον παραλιπεῖν.
Meanwhile Alexander, having subdued the entire coastal region as far as Cilicia, acquired many cities and, besieging strong fortresses more vigorously, wore them down by force; among these he unexpectedly captured one, about which, because of the singularity of the event, it is not fitting to pass over in silence.

Notes

  1. §17.27.1τῶν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως κατισχυόντων — A genitive absolute construction, which, together with the preceding ἔνθα δὴ, establishes the temporal and circumstantial background: "while those from the city were prevailing."
  2. §17.27.1παλίντροπον τὴν μάχην ἔσχεν — The adjective παλίντροπον is used predicatively with the verb ἔσχεν, meaning "held the battle in a reversed state," i.e., "turned the tide of the battle." The subject is the nominative noun ὁ κίνδυνος (the danger / the crisis).
  3. §17.27.7οὐκ ἄξιον παραλιπεῖν — An impersonal construction with the copula ἐστί omitted after the adjective ἄξιον, followed by the infinitive παραλιπεῖν ("to pass over" or "to omit"). Within the relative clause introduced by οὗ, it forms the predicate: "concerning which it is not fitting to pass over in silence."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §17.27.1-17.27.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:17.27.1-17.27.7

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