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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §17.56.1-17.56.4

Alexander's Sound Sleep before Battle and Advance

Passage 661 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Alexander, unable to sleep due to anxiety before the decisive battle, falls into a deep sleep near dawn and oversleeps; upon waking, he expresses relief that the war will be decided in a single day, encourages his commanders, and advances against the enemy.

§17.56.1ἀναλογιζόμενος δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῆς τῶν Περσῶν δυνάμεως καὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν ἐπικειμένων κινδύνων, ἔτι δὲ τὴν περὶ τῶν ὅλων κρίσιν ἐν χερσὶν οὖσαν διηγρύπνησε τὴν νύκτα συνεχόμενος τῇ περὶ τοῦ μέλλοντος φροντίδι· ὑπὸ δὲ τὴν ἑωθινὴν φυλακὴν τραπεὶς εἰς ὕπνον οὕτως ἐκοιμήθη βαθέως ὥστε τῆς ἡμέρας ἐπιγενομένης μὴ δύνασθαι διεγερθῆναι.
Reflecting on the multitude of the Persian forces and the magnitude of the impending dangers, and furthermore, that the decision concerning the whole situation was at hand, he stayed awake through the night, gripped by anxiety about the future; but towards the morning watch, turning to sleep, he slept so deeply that when the day came, he was unable to be awakened.
§17.56.2τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον οἱ φίλοι τὸ συμβὰν ἡδέως ἑώρων, νομίζοντες τὸν βασιλέα πρὸς τὸν ὑποκείμενον κίνδυνον εὐτονώτερον ἔσεσθαι τετευχότα πολλῆς ἀνέσεως· ὡς δʼ ὁ μὲν χρόνος προέβαινεν, ὁ δʼ ὕπνος συνεῖχε τὸν βασιλέα, Παρμενίων πρεσβύτατος ὢν τῶν φίλων ἀφʼ ἑαυτοῦ πρόσταγμα διέδωκε τοῖς πλήθεσιν ἑτοιμάζεσθαι τὰ πρὸς τὴν μάχην.
At first, therefore, his friends looked upon what had happened with pleasure, thinking that the king, having obtained much rest, would be more vigorous for the underlying danger; but as time went on and sleep still held the king, Parmenion, being the eldest of his friends, on his own initiative passed the order to the multitudes to prepare for battle.
§17.56.3οὐκ ἀνιεμένου δʼ αὐτοῦ προσελθόντες οἱ φίλοι μόγις διήγειραν τὸν Ἀλέξανδρον.
Since he did not wake up, his friends approached and with difficulty aroused Alexander.
θαυμαζόντων δʼ ἐπὶ τῷ συμβεβηκότι πάντων καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν ἀκοῦσαι βουλομένων ἔφησεν ὁ Ἀλέξανδρος Δαρεῖον εἰς ἕνα τόπον ἠθροικότα τὰς δυνάμεις ἀπολελυκέναι πάσης ἀγωνίας αὐτόν· §17.56.4μιᾷ γὰρ ἡμέρᾳ κριθέντα περὶ τῶν ὅλων παύσεσθαι τῶν πόνων καὶ πολυχρονίων κινδύνων.
When everyone wondered at what had happened and wished to hear the reason, Alexander said that Darius, by having gathered his forces into one place, had released him from all anxiety; for by having the issue decided concerning the whole matter in a single day, they would be done with their labors and long-lasting dangers.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ παρακαλέσας τοὺς ἡγεμόνας τοῖς οἰκείοις λόγοις καὶ πρὸς τοὺς ἐπιφερομένους κινδύνους εὐθαρσεῖς καταστήσας προῆγε τὴν δύναμιν συντεταγμένην ἐπὶ τοὺς βαρβάρους, τῆς τῶν πεζῶν φάλαγγος τὰς τῶν ἱππέων εἴλας προτάξας.
Nevertheless, having encouraged the commanders with fitting words and made them courageous in the face of the oncoming dangers, he led his force forward, marshalled against the barbarians, having stationed the squadrons of cavalry in front of the phalanx of the infantry.

Notes

  1. §17.56.1τὴν περὶ τῶν ὅλων κρίσιν ἐν χερσὶν οὖσαν — An accusative phrase serving as the object of the participle `ἀναλογιζόμενος` (reflecting on). `τὰ ὅλα` means "the whole situation" or "the main issue", and `ἡ περὶ τῶν ὅλων κρίσις` refers to "the decision concerning the whole issue" or "the decisive battle". The participle `οὖσαν` with `ἐν χερσὶν` (at hand / imminent) predicatively describes that the decisive moment is close.
  2. §17.56.3οὐκ ἀνιεμένου δʼ αὐτοῦ — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the present participle `ἀνιεμένου` from `ἀνίημι` (used intransitively to mean "to abate" or "to let go") and the genitive pronoun `αὐτοῦ`. `αὐτοῦ` can refer either to `ὁ ὕπνος` (the sleep) of the preceding clause ("since the sleep did not abate") or to Alexander himself ("since he did not wake up"). In either case, it denotes the continuation of the king's deep sleep.
  3. §17.56.4κριθέντα — Accusative masculine singular of the aorist passive participle of `κρίνω`, modifying the omitted subject of the infinitive `παύσεσθαι`, which is understood as `αὐτόν` (referring to Alexander, continued from the previous sentence). It means "having had the issue decided." While it could theoretically be interpreted as an accusative absolute in the neuter plural ("things having been decided"), it is more natural to view it as agreeing with the masculine singular object `αὐτόν`.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §17.56.1-17.56.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:17.56.1-17.56.4

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