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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.13.1-5.13.5

Iron Smelting in Aethalia and the Island of Cyrnus

Passage 335 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Describes the rich iron ore mining and smelting process on the island of Aethalia (Elba), followed by the geography, colonization history, natural resources, and highly valued slaves of Cyrnus (Corsica).

§5.13.1τῆς γὰρ Τυρρηνίας κατὰ τὴν ὀνομαζομένην πόλιν Ποπλώνιον νῆσός ἐστιν, ἣν ὀνομάζουσιν Αἰθάλειαν.
For off Tyrrhenia, opposite the city called Populonium, there is an island which they name Aethalia.
αὕτη δὲ τῆς παραλίας ἀπέχουσα σταδίους ὡς ἑκατὸν τὴν μὲν προσηγορίαν εἴληφεν ἀπὸ τοῦ πλήθους τοῦ κατʼ αὐτὴν αἰθάλου.
And this, being distant from the coast about one hundred stadia, has received its name from the abundance of soot found upon it.
πέτραν γὰρ ἔχει πολλὴν σιδηρῖτιν, ἣν τέμνουσιν ἐπὶ τὴν χωνείαν καὶ κατασκευὴν τοῦ σιδήρου, πολλὴν ἔχοντες τοῦ μετάλλου δαψίλειαν.
For it possesses much iron-bearing stone, which they quarry for smelting and the manufacture of iron, having a great abundance of this ore.
οἱ γὰρ ταῖς ἐργασίαις προσεδρεύοντες κόπτουσι τὴν πέτραν καὶ τοὺς τμηθέντας λίθους κάουσιν ἔν τισι φιλοτέχνοις καμίνοις· ἐν δὲ ταύταις τῷ πλήθει τοῦ πυρὸς τήκοντες τοὺς λίθους καταμερίζουσιν εἰς μεγέθη σύμμετρα, παραπλήσια ταῖς ἰδέαις μεγάλοις σπόγγοις.
For those who attend to these labors break the stone and burn the quarried pieces in certain ingeniously constructed furnaces; and in these, melting the stones by the great force of the fire, they divide them into moderate sizes, which in appearance resemble large sponges.
§5.13.2ταῦτα συναγοράζοντες ἔμποροι καὶ μεταβαλλόμενοι κομίζουσιν εἴς τε Δικαιάρχειαν καὶ εἰς τἄλλα ἐμπόρια.
These the merchants purchase in quantities and, exchanging them, carry them both to Dicaearchia and to the other trading-ports.
ταῦτα δὲ τὰ φορτία τινὲς ὠνούμενοι καὶ τεχνιτῶν χαλκέων πλῆθος ἀθροίζοντες κατεργάζονται, καὶ ποιοῦσι σιδήρου πλάσματα παντοδαπὰ.
Certain people, buying these cargoes and gathering a multitude of blacksmiths, work them up and make all kinds of iron shapes.
τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν εἰς ὅπλων τύπους χαλκεύουσι, τὰ δὲ πρὸς δικελλῶν καὶ δρεπάνων καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἐργαλείων εὐθέτους τύπους φιλοτεχνοῦσιν· ὧν κομιζομένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἐμπόρων εἰς πάντα τόπον πολλὰ μέρη τῆς οἰκουμένης μεταλαμβάνει τῆς ἐκ τούτων εὐχρηστίας.
Of these, some they forge into the shapes of weapons, and others they skillfully fashion into convenient shapes for mattocks, sickles, and other tools; and as these are carried by merchants to every place, many parts of the inhabited world share in the usefulness derived from them.
§5.13.3μετὰ δὲ τὴν Αἰθάλειαν νῆσός ἐστιν ἀπέχουσα μὲν ταύτης ὡς τριακοσίους σταδίους, ὀνομάζεται δὲ ὑπὸ μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων Κύρνος, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν Ῥωμαίων καὶ τῶν ἐγχωρίων Κόρσικα.
After Aethalia there is an island distant from it about three hundred stadia, which is named Cyrnus by the Greeks, but Corsica by the Romans and the natives.
αὕτη δʼ ἡ νῆσος εὐπροσόρμιστος οὖσα κάλλιστον ἔχει λιμένα τὸν ὀνομαζόμενον Συρακόσιον.
And this island, being easy of approach, has a most beautiful harbor called Syracusan.
ὑπάρχουσι δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ πόλεις ἀξιόλογοι δύο, καὶ τούτων ἡ μὲν Κάλαρις, ἡ δὲ Νίκαια προσαγορεύεται.
There are also in it two noteworthy cities, and of these the one is called Calaris, and the other Nicaea.
§5.13.4τούτων δὲ τὴν μὲν Κάλαριν Φωκαεῖς ἔκτισαν, καὶ χρόνον τινὰ κατοικήσαντες ὑπὸ Τυρρηνῶν ἐξεβλήθησαν ἐκ τῆς νήσου.
Of these, Calaris was founded by the Phocaeans, who, after inhabiting it for some time, were expelled from the island by the Tyrrhenians.
τὴν δὲ Νίκαιαν ἔκτισαν Τυρρηνοὶ θαλαττοκρατοῦντες καὶ τὰς κατὰ τὴν Τυρρηνίαν κειμένας νήσους ἰδιοποιούμενοι.
And Nicaea was founded by the Tyrrhenians when they ruled the sea and were making the islands lying off Tyrrhenia their own property.
ἐπὶ δέ τινας χρόνους τῶν ἐν τῇ Κύρνῳ πόλεων κυριεύοντες ἐλάμβανον παρὰ τῶν ἐγχωρίων φόρους ῥητίνην καὶ κηρὸν καὶ μέλι, φυομένων τούτων δαψιλῶν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ.
And for some time, being masters of the cities in Cyrnus, they received from the inhabitants tribute of resin, wax, and honey, since these products grew abundantly on the island.
§5.13.5τὰ δʼ ἀνδράποδα τὰ Κύρνια διαφέρειν δοκεῖ τῶν ἄλλων δούλων εἰς τὰς κατὰ τὸν βίον χρείας, φυσικῆς ταύτης τῆς ἰδιότητος παρακολουθούσης.
And the Cyrnian slaves seem to excel other slaves for the needs of daily life, this natural characteristic accompanying them.
ἡ δʼ ὅλη νῆσος εὐμεγέθης οὖσα πολλὴν τῆς χώρας ὀρεινὴν ἔχει, πεπυκασμένην δρυμοῖς συνεχέσι καὶ ποταμοῖς διαρρεομένην μικροῖς.
The island as a whole, being of considerable size, has much of its territory mountainous, covered with continuous forests and watered by small rivers.

Notes

  1. §5.13.1πολλὴν ἔχοντες τοῦ μετάλλου δαψίλειαν — The present nominative plural participle `ἔχοντες` logically shares its subject (the local miners/inhabitants) with the third-person plural verb `τέμνουσιν` in the preceding relative clause. Grammatically, it functions as a loose anacoluthon since there is no explicit nominative subject in the main clause, and it expresses cause: 'since they have a great abundance of this ore.'
  2. §5.13.2ὧν κομιζομένων — A genitive absolute construction where the relative pronoun `ὧν` acts as the subject of the participle `κομιζομένων`. This is an instance of the 'relative connection' (connecting relative), where the relative pronoun refers back to the various iron products (`πλάσματα`, `τύπους`) of the previous sentence to transition smoothly to the next clause.
  3. §5.13.5φυσικῆς ταύτης τῆς ἰδιότητος παρακολουθούσης — A genitive absolute construction with `φυσικῆς ταύτης τῆς ἰδιότητος` as the subject and `παρακολουθούσης` as the participle, expressing cause: 'since this natural characteristic accompanies them.'

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.13.1-5.13.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.13.1-5.13.5

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