Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.10.1-19.10.4

The Samnite War and Civil Conflict in Croton

Passage 87 of 301 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes the progress of the war between the Romans and Samnites in Italy, as well as the resolution of the conflict between the democrats and exiles in Croton, before the author transitions to other parts of Europe.

§19.10.1κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἰταλίαν Ῥωμαῖοι μὲν ἔννατον ἔτος ἤδη διεπολέμουν πρὸς Σαυνίτας καὶ κατὰ μὲν τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν χρόνους μεγάλαις δυνάμεσιν ἦσαν διηγωνισμένοι, τότε δὲ εἰς τὴν πολεμίαν εἰσβολὰς ποιούμενοι μέγα μὲν οὐδὲν οὐδὲ μνήμης ἄξιον διεπράξαντο, διετέλουν δὲ τοῖς τε φρουρίοις προσβολὰς ποιούμενοι καὶ τὴν χώραν λεηλατοῦντες.
In Italy, the Romans had already been at war with the Samnites for nine years; and though in former times they had fought with great forces, at that time, while making incursions into the enemy's territory, they achieved nothing great or worthy of mention, but continued making attacks on the strongholds and plundering the countryside.
§19.10.2ἐπόρθησαν δὲ καὶ τῆς Ἀπουλίας τὴν Δαυνίαν πᾶσαν καὶ προσαγαγόμενοι Κανυσίους ὁμήρους παρʼ αὐτῶν ἔλαβον.
They also ravaged all Daunia in Apulia, and having brought the Canusians over to their side, they received hostages from them.
προσέθηκαν δὲ καὶ δύο φυλὰς ταῖς προυπαρχούσαις, τήν τε Φαλέρναν καὶ τὴν Ὠφεντῖναν.
They also added two tribes to those already existing, namely the Falerna and the Oufentina.
§19.10.3ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Κροτωνιᾶται πρὸς μὲν Βρεττίους διελύσαντο, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας τῶν πολιτῶν ὑπὸ τῆς δημοκρατίας διὰ τὴν πρὸς Ἡρακλείδην καὶ Σωσίστρατον κοινωνίαν, περὶ ἧς ἐν τῇ προτέρᾳ βύβλῳ τὰ κατὰ μέρος διήλθομεν, δεύτερον ἔτος ἤδη πολεμοῦντες Πάρωνα καὶ Μενέδημον, ἄνδρας ἐπιφανεῖς, στρατηγοὺς ἐχειροτόνησαν.
At the same time that these things were being done, the Crotoniates made peace with the Bruttians; and as they had already been at war for a second year with those citizens who had been expelled by the democracy because of their association with Heracleides and Sosistratus—concerning which we have related the details in the preceding book—they elected Paron and Menedemus, distinguished men, as generals.
§19.10.4οἱ δὲ φυγάδες ἐκ Θουρίων ὁρμήσαντες καὶ προσλαβόντες μισθοφόρους τριακοσίους ἐπεχείρησαν μὲν νυκτὸς παρεισπίπτειν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα, ἀποκρουσθέντες δʼ ὑπὸ τῶν Κροτωνιατῶν κατεστρατοπέδευσαν ἐπὶ τῶν μεθορίων τῆς Βρεττίων χώρας, μετʼ ὀλίγον δὲ τῆς πολιτικῆς δυνάμεως ἐπελθούσης πολλαπλασίου πάντες μαχόμενοι κατεσφάγησαν.
The exiles, setting out from Thurii and taking along three hundred mercenaries, attempted to slip into their native city by night; but being repulsed by the Crotoniates, they encamped on the borders of the territory of the Bruttians, and shortly afterward, when the citizen force, many times larger, came upon them, they were all slaughtered while fighting.
ἡμεῖς δʼ ἐπεὶ τὰ περὶ Σικελίαν καὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν διεληλύθαμεν, διαβιβάσομεν τὸν λόγον ἐπὶ τὰ λοιπὰ μέρη τῆς Εὐρώπης.
And since we have run through the affairs of Sicily and Italy, we shall transfer our account to the remaining parts of Europe.

Notes

  1. 19.10.1διετέλουν δὲ τοῖς τε φρουρίοις προσβολὰς ποιούμενοι καὶ τὴν χώραν λεηλατοῦντες — The verb `διετέλουν` (imperfect of `διατελέω`, "to continue") is used with the supplementary participles `ποιούμενοι` and `λεηλατοῦντες` to express continuous action ("they continued making attacks... and plundering...").
  2. 19.10.3πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἐκπεπτωκότας τῶν πολιτῶν ὑπὸ τῆς δημοκρατίας — The perfect participle `ἐκπεπτωκότας` from the intransitive verb `ἐκπίπτω` ("to be expelled") functions as a passive equivalent, which explains why it takes the agent expression `ὑπό` with the genitive (`ὑπὸ τῆς δημοκρατίας`).
  3. 19.10.3δεύτερον ἔτος ἤδη πολεμοῦντες — The nominal phrase `δεύτερον ἔτος` is an accusative of duration of time, modifying the present participle `πολεμοῦντες` to mean "already waging war for a second year."
  4. 19.10.4μετʼ ὀλίγον δὲ τῆς πολιτικῆς δυνάμεως ἐπελθούσης πολλαπλασίου — This is a genitive absolute construction where `πολιτικῆς δυνάμεως πολλαπλασίου` ("a citizen force many times larger") acts as the logical subject and `ἐπελθούσης` as the participle. The adjective `πολλαπλασίου` agrees with `δυνάμεως` in gender, number, and case.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.10.1-19.10.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.10.1-19.10.4

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.