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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §17.91.1-17.91.8

Customs of the Cathaei and Submission of Sopeithes

Passage 696 of 723 · Greek

Summary

Alexander reaches the territory of the Cathaei while pursuing the fleeing King Porus, observing their custom of widow burning, and then enters the realm of King Sopeithes, who surrenders peacefully and is reinstated.

§17.91.1προϊόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἧκόν τινες ἀπαγγέλλοντες ὅτι Πῶρος ὁ βασιλεύς, ἀνεψιὸς ὢν τοῦ καταπεπολεμημένου Πώρου, τὴν βασιλείαν ἀπολιπὼν πέφευγεν εἰς τὸ τῶν Γανδαριδῶν ἔθνος.
As he was advancing with his army, some came reporting that King Porus, who was the nephew of the Porus who had been subdued, had abandoned his kingdom and fled to the nation of the Gandaridae.
§17.91.2ὁ δὲ Ἀλέξανδρος παροξυνθεὶς Ἡφαιστίωνα μὲν ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὴν τούτου χώραν μετὰ δυνάμεως καὶ προσέταξε τὴν βασιλείαν παραδοῦναι τῷ μεθʼ αὑτοῦ Πώρῳ· αὐτὸς δʼ εἰς τὸ τῶν Ἀδρεστῶν καλουμένων ἔθνος στρατεύσας καὶ τῶν πόλεων ἃς μὲν βίᾳ χειρωσάμενος, ἃς δὲ πειθοῖ προσαγαγόμενος εἰς τὴν τῶν Καθαίων χώραν παρεγένετο.
Alexander, being provoked, sent Hephaestion into this man's territory with an army and ordered him to hand over the kingdom to the Porus who was with him; he himself marched against the nation of the so-called Adrestae, and having subdued some of their cities by force and won over others by persuasion, he arrived in the territory of the Cathaei.
§17.91.3παρὰ δὲ τούτοις νόμιμον ἦν τὰς γυναῖκας τοῖς ἀνδράσι συγκατακαίεσθαι· τοῦτο δʼ ἐκυρώθη τὸ δόγμα παρὰ τοῖς βαρβάροις διὰ μίαν γυναῖκα φαρμάκοις ἀνελοῦσαν τὸν ἄνδρα.
Among these people, it was the custom for wives to be burned together with their husbands; and this decree was established among the barbarians because of one woman who had killed her husband with poisons.
§17.91.4ὁ δʼ οὖν βασιλεὺς τὴν μεγίστην καὶ ὀχυρωτάτην πόλιν μετὰ πολλῶν κινδύνων ἐκπολιορκήσας ἐνέπρησεν.
At all events, the king, having besieged and taken their largest and strongest city through many dangers, burned it.
ἄλλην δʼ ἀξιόλογον πολιορκοῦντος αὐτοῦ καὶ μεθʼ ἱκετηριῶν δεηθέντων τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἀπέλυσε τῶν κινδύνων αὐτούς.
While he was besieging another noteworthy city, since the Indians entreated him with supplications, he released them from their dangers.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτʼ ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὰς ὑπὸ Σωπείθην τεταγμένας πόλεις, εὐνομουμένας καθʼ ὑπερβολήν.
After this, he marched against the cities subject to Sopeithes, which were governed in an exceptionally orderly manner.
τά τε γὰρ ἄλλα πρὸς δόξαν πολιτεύονται καὶ τὸ κάλλος παρʼ αὐτοῖς τιμιώτατον νενόμισται.
For they conduct their public affairs with a view to reputation, and among them beauty is held in the highest esteem.
§17.91.5διόπερ ἐκ νηπίου παρʼ αὐτοῖς τὰ βρέφη διακρίνεται καὶ τὰ μὲν ἄρτια καὶ τὴν φύσιν ἔχοντα πρὸς εὐπρέπειαν καὶ ἰσχὺν εὔθετον τρέφεται, τὰ δὲ καταδεῆ τοῖς σώμασιν ἀνάξια τροφῆς ἡγούμενοι διαφθείρουσιν.
Therefore, from infancy their infants are judged, and those who are healthy and have a nature well-suited for comeliness and strength are reared, while those who are deficient in their bodies, they destroy, considering them unworthy of rearing.
§17.91.6ἀκολούθως δὲ τούτοις καὶ τοὺς γάμους ποιοῦνται προικὸς μὲν καὶ τῆς ἄλλης πολυτελείας ἀφροντιστοῦντες, κάλλους δὲ καὶ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ὑπεροχῆς μόνον φροντίζοντες.
In accordance with these principles, they also contract their marriages, caring nothing for dowries or other displays of luxury, but looking only to beauty and physical excellence.
§17.91.7διόπερ οἱ πλεῖστοι τῶν ἐν ταύταις ταῖς πόλεσι κατοικούντων διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων ἀξιώμασιν.
Therefore, most of those who inhabit these cities surpass others in dignity.
παρὰ δὲ πάντας ὁ βασιλεὺς Σωπείθης περίβλεπτος ὢν ἐπὶ τῷ κάλλει καὶ τῷ μήκει τοὺς τέτταρας πήχεις ὑπεράγων προῆλθε μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἐχούσης τὰ βασίλεια, παραδοὺς δʼ αὑτὸν καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν Ἀλεξάνδρῳ πάλιν ταύτην ἀπέλαβε διὰ τὴν τοῦ κρατοῦντος ἐπιείκειαν.
But above all, King Sopeithes, who was admired for his beauty and exceeded four cubits in height, came out of the city which contained his palace, and having surrendered himself and his kingdom to Alexander, received it back again through the magnanimity of the conqueror.
§17.91.8ὁ δὲ Σωπείθης μετὰ πολλῆς προθυμίας τὴν μὲν δύναμιν ἅπασαν ἐπί τινας ἡμέρας λαμπρῶς εἱστίασε,
Sopeithes with great eagerness sumptuously feasted the entire army for several days,

Notes

  1. 17.91.1προϊόντος δὲ αὐτοῦ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως — Genitive absolute construction. The pronoun αὐτοῦ refers to Alexander, who is the subject of the main narrative.
  2. 17.91.4ἄλλην δʼ ἀξιόλογον πολιορκοῦντος αὐτοῦ καὶ μεθʼ ἱκετηριῶν δεηθέντων τῶν Ἰνδῶν — Two genitive absolute constructions with different tenses and subjects (the present participle πολιορκοῦντος αὐτοῦ and the aorist participle δεηθέντων τῶν Ἰνδῶν) are coordinated by καί, indicating the temporal relation of an ongoing siege and a subsequent supplication.
  3. 17.91.7παρὰ δὲ πάντας — The preposition παρά with the accusative (πάντας) expresses comparison and superiority, meaning 'above all others' or 'more than anyone else'.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §17.91.1-17.91.8. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc4:17.91.1-17.91.8

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