Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §18.37.1-18.37.4

News of Eumenes' Victory and Purge of Perdiccas' Allies

Passage 38 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Immediately after Perdiccas' death, news arrives of Eumenes' great victory over Craterus and others. While the Macedonians condemn Eumenes and kill Perdiccas' relatives, Attalus flees with his fleet to Tyre, where he receives a large sum of money from the garrison commander.

§18.37.1μετὰ δὲ τὴν τούτου τελευτὴν εὐθὺς ἧκόν τινες ἀπαγγέλλοντες ὅτι παρατάξεως γενομένης περὶ Καππαδοκίαν Εὐμενὴς νενίκηκε, Κρατερὸς δὲ καὶ Νεοπτόλεμος ἡττηθέντες ἀνῄρηνται.
Immediately after his death, some men arrived reporting that, a battle having taken place near Cappadocia, Eumenes had won, and Craterus and Neoptolemus, having been defeated, had been killed.
τοῦτο δʼ εἰ δυσὶ πρότερον ἡμέραις ἐγένετο τῆς Περδίκκου τελευτῆς, οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐτόλμησε τὰς χεῖρας Περδίκκᾳ προσενεγκεῖν διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς εὐημερίας.
If this had happened two days before the death of Perdiccas, no one would have dared to lay hands on Perdiccas because of the magnitude of this good fortune.
§18.37.2οἱ δʼ οὖν Μακεδόνες πυθόμενοι τὰ περὶ τὸν Εὐμενῆ κατέγνωσαν αὐτοῦ θάνατον καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ἐπιφανῶν ἀνδρῶν πεντήκοντα, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ Ἀλκέτας ὁ ἀδελφὸς τοῦ Περδίκκου.
And so the Macedonians, having learned the news about Eumenes, condemned him to death, as well as fifty of the prominent men around him, among whom was also Alcetas, the brother of Perdiccas.
ἀπέκτειναν δὲ καὶ τῶν φίλων τοῦ Περδίκκου τοὺς μάλιστα πιστοτάτους καὶ τὴν ἀδελφὴν αὐτοῦ Ἀταλάντην, ἣν ἦν γεγαμηκὼς Ἄτταλος ὁ τοῦ στόλου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν παρειληφώς.
They also killed those of Perdiccas' friends who were most faithful, and his sister Atalante, whom Attalus, the one who had taken over the command of the fleet, had married.
§18.37.3μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἀναίρεσιν τοῦ Περδίκκου Ἄτταλος ὁ τοῦ στόλου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἔχων διέτριβε μὲν περὶ τὸ Πηλούσιον, ὡς δʼ ἐπύθετο τὴν τῆς γυναικὸς ἀναίρεσιν καὶ τοῦ Περδίκκου, τὸν στόλον ἀναλαβὼν ἐξέπλευσε καὶ κατήντησεν εἰς Τύρον.
After the assassination of Perdiccas, Attalus, who held the command of the fleet, was staying near Pelusium; but when he learned of the murder of his wife and of Perdiccas, he took up the fleet, sailed out, and arrived at Tyre.
§18.37.4ὁ δὲ τῆς πόλεως ταύτης φρούραρχος Ἀρχέλαος, Μακεδὼν τὸ γένος, τὸν Ἄτταλον φιλοφρόνως ὑπεδέξατο καὶ τήν τε πόλιν παρέδωκεν αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ χρήματα, δεδομένα μὲν ὑπὸ Περδίκκου φυλάττειν, τότε δὲ δικαίως ἀποδεδομένα, τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὄντα ταλάντων ὀκτακοσίων.
Archelaus, the commander of the garrison of this city, a Macedonian by birth, received Attalus kindly and delivered to him both the city and the money, which had been given by Perdiccas to keep, but was then justly delivered up, the amount being eight hundred talents.
ὁ δʼ Ἄτταλος ἐν τῇ Τύρῳ διατρίβων ἀνελάμβανε τῶν Περδίκκου φίλων τοὺς διασωζομένους ἐκ τῆς πρὸς τῇ Μέμφει στρατοπεδείας.
Attalus, staying in Tyre, received those of Perdiccas' friends who were being saved from the camp near Memphis.

Notes

  1. 18.37.1τοῦτο δʼ εἰ δυσὶ πρότερον ἡμέραις ἐγένετο... οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐτόλμησε — The conditional clause εἰ... ἐγένετο and the apodosis οὐδεὶς ἂν ἐτόλμησε form a past contrary-to-fact condition. The phrase δυσὶ πρότερον ἡμέραις expresses the measure of difference in the dative case (δυσὶ ἡμέραις) modifying the comparative adverb πρότερον, with τῆς Περδίκκου τελευτῆς acting as the genitive of comparison.
  2. 18.37.2κατέγνωσαν αὐτοῦ θάνατον καὶ τῶν... πεντήκοντα — Syntax of the verb κατεγνωσαν (third-person plural aorist of καταγιγνώσκω, "to condemn"). As a compound verb of accusing or condemning, it takes the person condemned in the genitive (αὐτοῦ and τῶν... πεντήκοντα) and the penalty imposed in the accusative (θάνατον).
  3. 18.37.2ἣν ἦν γεγαμηκὼς — A pluperfect periphrastic construction combining the imperfect ἦν and the perfect active participle γεγαμηκὼς (from γαμέω, "to marry [of a man]"). It represents a completed state in past time. The relative pronoun ἣν serves as the direct object of the participle.
  4. 18.37.4δεδομένα μὲν ὑπὸ Περδίκκου φυλάττειν — The infinitive φυλάττειν ("to guard/keep") is an infinitive of purpose, modifying the neuter plural participle δεδομένα (perfect passive participle of δίδωμι, modifying the preceding χρήματα).
  5. 18.37.4τὸ δὲ πλῆθος ὄντα ταλάντων ὀκτακοσίων — ὄντα is a neuter plural participle agreeing with χρήματα, with ταλάντων ὀκτακοσίων functioning as a genitive of measure or quality. τὸ δὲ πλῆθος is an accusative of specification ("as to amount").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §18.37.1-18.37.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:18.37.1-18.37.4

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.