Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §1.68.1-1.68.6

The Rebellion Against Apries and the Reign of Amasis

Passage 69 of 406 · Greek

Summary

The foreign expeditions and subsequent rebellion against King Apries, followed by the reign and achievements of Amasis who succeeded him as king.

§1.68.1μετὰ δὲ Ψαμμήτιχον ὕστερον τέτταρσι γενεαῖς Ἀπρίης ἐβασίλευσεν ἔτη δυσὶ πλείω τῶν εἴκοσι.
Four generations after Psammetichus, Apries became king and ruled for twenty-two years.
στρατεύσας δὲ δυνάμεσιν ἁδραῖς πεζαῖς τε καὶ ναυτικαῖς ἐπὶ Κύπρον καὶ Φοινίκην Σιδῶνα μὲν κατὰ κράτος εἷλε, τὰς δʼ ἄλλας τὰς ἐν τῇ Φοινίκῃ πόλεις καταπληξάμενος προσηγάγετο·
Having made an expedition with strong land and naval forces against Cyprus and Phoenicia, he took Sidon by storm, and having terrified the other cities in Phoenicia, he brought them over to his side.
ἐνίκησε δὲ καὶ ναυμαχίᾳ μεγάλῃ Φοίνικάς τε καὶ Κυπρίους, καὶ λαφύρων ἀθροίσας πλῆθος ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Αἴγυπτον.
He also defeated both the Phoenicians and the Cyprians in a great naval battle, and having collected a vast amount of booty, he returned to Egypt.
§1.68.2μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δύναμιν πέμψας ἁδρὰν τῶν ὁμοεθνῶν ἐπὶ Κυρήνην καὶ Βάρκην, καὶ τὸ πλεῖστον αὐτῆς ἀποβαλών, ἀλλοτρίους ἔσχε τοὺς διασωθέντας·
After this, having sent a strong force of his own countrymen against Cyrene and Barca, and having lost the greater part of it, he found the survivors hostile to him.
ὑπολαβόντες γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐπʼ ἀπωλείᾳ συντάξαι τὴν στρατείαν, ὅπως ἀσφαλέστερον ἄρχῃ τῶν λοιπῶν Αἰγυπτίων, ἀπέστησαν.
For suspecting that he had ordered the expedition for their destruction, in order that he might rule the remaining Egyptians more securely, they revolted.
§1.68.3ἀποσταλεὶς δὲ πρὸς τούτους ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως Ἄμασις, ἀνὴρ ἐμφανὴς Αἰγύπτιος, τῶν μὲν ῥηθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν ἠμέλησε, τοὐναντίον δʼ ἐκείνους προτρεψάμενος εἰς ἀλλοτριότητα συναπέστη καὶ βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς ᾑρέθη.
Amasis, a prominent Egyptian, who was sent to them by the king, neglected the words he was supposed to speak for the sake of harmony, but on the contrary, having incited them to hostility, he joined in the revolt and was himself chosen king.
§1.68.4μετʼ οὐ πολὺν δὲ χρόνον καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐγχωρίων ἁπάντων συνεπιθεμένων, ὁ βασιλεὺς διαπορούμενος ἠναγκάσθη καταφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τοὺς μισθοφόρους, ὄντας εἰς τρισμυρίους.
Not long after, when all the other natives also joined in the attack, the king, being in desperate straits, was forced to take refuge in his mercenaries, who numbered about thirty thousand.
§1.68.5γενομένης οὖν παρατάξεως περὶ τὴν Μάρειαν κώμην, καὶ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τῇ μάχῃ κρατησάντων, ὁ μὲν Ἀπρίης ζωγρηθεὶς ἀνήχθη καὶ στραγγαλισθεὶς ἐτελεύτησεν, Ἄμασις δὲ διατάξας τὰ κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ὥς ποτʼ ἔδοξεν αὐτῷ συμφέρειν, ἦρχε νομίμως τῶν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ μεγάλης ἐτύγχανεν ἀποδοχῆς.
Therefore, a battle having taken place near the village of Marea, and the Egyptians having prevailed in the fight, Apries was taken alive and led away, and died by strangulation. Amasis, having settled the affairs of the kingdom as he thought advantageous to himself, ruled the Egyptians lawfully and met with great approval.
§1.68.6κατεστρέψατο δὲ καὶ τὰς ἐν Κύπρῳ πόλεις καὶ πολλὰ τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκόσμησεν ἀναθήμασιν ἀξιολόγοις.
He also subdued the cities in Cyprus and adorned many of the temples with noteworthy offerings.
βασιλεύσας δʼ ἔτη πέντε πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα κατέστρεψε τὸν βίον καθʼ ὃν χρόνον Καμβύσης ὁ τῶν Περσῶν βασιλεὺς ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, κατὰ τὸ τρίτον ἔτος τῆς ἑξηκοστῆς καὶ τρίτης ὀλυμπιάδος, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Παρμενίδης Καμαριναῖος.
Having ruled for fifty-five years, he ended his life at the time when Cambyses, the king of the Persians, made an expedition against Egypt, in the third year of the sixty-third Olympiad, in which Parmenides of Camarina won the stadium race.

Notes

  1. §1.68.1ἔτη δυσὶ πλείω τῶν εἴκοσι — The dative δυσὶ is a dative of measure of difference used with the comparative πλείω, meaning "two years more than twenty", i.e., twenty-two years.
  2. §1.68.2ἀλλοτρίους ἔσχε τοὺς διασωθέντας — A double accusative construction with the verb ἔσχε, the object τοὺς διασωθέντας, and the predicative adjective ἀλλοτρίους. It literally means "he held the survivors as hostile", implying that he incurred their hostility or alienated them.
  3. ¦p.v.1.p.117¦τῶν μὲν ῥηθέντων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ πρὸς ὁμόνοιαν — The genitive phrase functioning as the object of the verb ἠμέλησε (from ἀμελέω, "to neglect", which takes the genitive). The prepositional phrase ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ ("by him") refers to Amasis himself, indicating the words that he himself was expected to speak to bring about harmony.
  4. §1.68.6ἔτη πέντε πρὸς τοῖς πεντήκοντα — A numerical expression using the preposition πρὸς with the dative ("in addition to"), meaning "five in addition to fifty", i.e., fifty-five.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §1.68.1-1.68.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:1.68.1-1.68.6

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.