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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §5.9.1-5.9.5

Pentathlus' Failed Colonization and Settlement at Lipara

Passage 331 of 406 · Greek

Summary

Amid the conflicts of the Sicilian natives and the desolation of the islands, Cnidians and Rhodians led by Pentathlus attempt a colonization but fail; the survivors settle in Lipara alongside the descendants of Aeolus, establishing a unique system of common property and defense.

§5.9.1μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα οἱ μὲν Σικελοὶ τοῖς ἀρίστοις τῶν ἀνδρῶν τὰς ἡγεμονίας ἐνεχείριζον, οἱ δὲ Σικανοὶ περὶ τῆς δυναστείας διαφερόμενοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους ἐπολέμουν ἐπὶ πολλοὺς χρόνους.
After these events, the Sicels entrusted the leadership to the best of their men, while the Sicans, disputing among themselves for the supremacy, waged war against one another for a long time.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν ὕστερον, πάλιν τῶν νήσων ἐξερημουμένων ἀεὶ καὶ μᾶλλον, Κνίδιοί τινες καὶ Ῥόδιοι δυσαρεστήσαντες τῇ βαρύτητι τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν βασιλέων ἔγνωσαν ἀποικίαν ἐκπέμπειν.
Many years after these events, when the islands were again becoming more and more deserted, certain Cnidians and Rhodians, dissatisfied with the harshness of the kings in Asia, resolved to send out a colony.
§5.9.2διόπερ προστησάμενοι σφῶν αὐτῶν ἡγεμόνα Πένταθλον τὸν Κνίδιον, ὃς ἦν ἀναφέρων τὸ γένος εἰς Ἱππότην τὸν ἀφʼ Ἡρακλέους γεγονότα, κατὰ τὴν ὀλυμπιάδα τὴν πεντηκοστήν, ἣν ἐνίκα στάδιον Ἐπιτελίδας Λάκων, οἱ δʼ οὖν περὶ τὸν Πένταθλον πλεύσαντες τῆς Σικελίας εἰς τοὺς κατὰ τὸ Λιλύβαιον τόπους κατέλαβον Ἐγεσταίους καὶ Σελινουντίους διαπολεμοῦντας πρὸς ἀλλήλους.
Therefore, having chosen as their leader Pentathlus the Cnidian, who traced his descent back to Hippotes, the descendant of Heracles, in the fiftieth Olympiad, in which Epitelidas the Laconian won the stadium race—at any rate, the companions of Pentathlus, having sailed to the regions of Sicily around Lilybaeum, found the Egestaeans and Selinuntians at war with one another.
§5.9.3πεισθέντες δὲ τοῖς Σελινουντίοις συμμαχεῖν πολλοὺς ἀπέβαλον κατὰ τὴν μάχην, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Πένταθλος.
And being persuaded to ally with the Selinuntians, they lost many men in the battle, among whom was Pentathlus himself.
διόπερ οἱ περιλειφθέντες, ἐπειδὴ κατεπολεμήθησαν οἱ Σελινούντιοι, διέγνωσαν ἀπιέναι πάλιν ἐπʼ οἴκου· ἑλόμενοι δʼ ἡγεμόνας τοὺς οἰκείους τοῦ Πεντάθλου Γόργον καὶ Θέστορα καὶ Ἐπιθερσίδην, ἀπέπλεον διὰ τοῦ Τυρρηνικοῦ πελάγους.
Therefore those who survived, when the Selinuntians were defeated, resolved to return home; and having chosen as leaders the relatives of Pentathlus, Gorgus, Thestor, and Epithersides, they sailed away through the Tyrrhenian Sea.
§5.9.4προσπλευσάντων δʼ αὐτῶν τῇ Λιπάρᾳ καὶ φιλόφρονος ἀποδοχῆς τυχόντων, ἐπείσθησαν κοινῇ μετὰ τῶν ἐγχωρίων κατοικῆσαι τὴν Λιπάραν, ὄντων τῶν ἀπʼ Αἰόλου περιλελειμμένων ὡς πεντακοσίων.
When they sailed to Lipara and met with a friendly reception, they were persuaded to inhabit Lipara in common with the natives, there being about five hundred left of the descendants of Aeolus.
ὕστερον δὲ τῶν Τυρρηνῶν λῃστευόντων τὰ κατὰ θάλατταν πολεμούμενοι κατεσκευάσαντο ναυτικόν, καὶ διελόμενοι σφᾶς αὐτοὺς οἱ μὲν ἐγεώργουν τὰς νήσους κοινὰς ποιήσαντες, οἱ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς λῃστὰς ἀντετάττοντο· καὶ τὰς οὐσίας δὲ κοινὰς ποιησάμενοι καὶ ζῶντες κατὰ συσσίτια, διετέλεσαν ἐπί τινας χρόνους κοινωνικῶς βιοῦντες.
But later, when the Tyrrhenians were committing piracy on the sea, being hard pressed in war, they equipped a fleet, and dividing themselves, some cultivated the islands, having made them common property, while others opposed the pirates; and having made their possessions also common and living in common messes, they continued for some time to lead a communal life.
§5.9.5ὕστερον δὲ τὴν μὲν Λιπάραν, καθʼ ἣν καὶ ἡ πόλις ἦν, διενείμαντο, τὰς δʼ ἄλλας ἐγεώργουν κοινῇ.
But later they distributed Lipara, on which also their city was, but the other islands they cultivated in common.
τὸ δὲ τελευταῖον πάσας τὰς νήσους εἰς εἴκοσι ἔτη διελόμενοι πάλιν κληρουχοῦσιν, ὅταν ὁ χρόνος οὗτος διέλθῃ.
And finally, dividing all the islands for periods of twenty years, they allot them again whenever this time expires.
μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα πολλαῖς ναυμαχίαις ἐνίκησαν τοὺς Τυρρηνούς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν λαφύρων πλεονάκις ἀξιολόγους δεκάτας ἀνέθεσαν εἰς Δελφούς.
After this, they defeated the Tyrrhenians in many naval battles, and from the spoils they frequently dedicated notable tithes to Delphi.

Notes

  1. 5.9.2οἱ δʼ οὖν περὶ τὸν Πένταθλον — The sentence begins with the participle `προστησάμενοι` (or `προστησάμενος`), but after a long interruption by a relative clause and a temporal phrase, the subject is resumed and redefined with `οἱ δʼ οὖν...` (the companions of Pentathlus), which then connects to the main verb `κατέλαβον` in an anacoluthon.
  2. 5.9.4ὄντων τῶν ἀπʼ Αἰόλου περιλελειμμένων ὡς πεντακοσίων — A genitive absolute construction acting appositively to explain the preceding `τῶν ἐγχωρίων` (the natives). The genitive subject is `τῶν ἀπʼ Αἰόλου περιλελειμμένων` and the predicate is `ὡς πεντακοσίων` (about five hundred).
  3. 5.9.5εἰς εἴκοσι ἔτη — The preposition `εἰς` with the accusative denotes the duration or limit of the period for which the land distribution lasts, meaning 'for periods of twenty years' or 'every twenty years'.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §5.9.1-5.9.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:5.9.1-5.9.5

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