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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.20.1-19.20.4

Antigonus Restores His Army with Supplies from Media

Passage 97 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Antigonus appeased the discontent of his army by providing supplies, and sent Pithon throughout Media to collect cavalrymen, horses, pack animals, and funds, which were then distributed to restore the soldiers' goodwill.

§19.20.1τὸ δὲ στρατόπεδον διὰ τὴν συνέχειαν τῶν κακῶν καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς κακοπαθίας ἐν αἰτίαις εἶχε τὸν Ἀντίγονον, ὥστε φωνὰς προΐεσθαι δυσχερεῖς· ἐν ἡμέραις γὰρ τεσσαράκοντα τρισὶ μεγάλοις ἀτυχήμασι περιεπεπτώκεισαν.
But the army, because of the continuity of their misfortunes and the excess of their suffering, held Antigonus in blame, so that they uttered expressions of discontent; for within forty days they had fallen into three great misfortunes.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ φιλανθρώπως ὁμιλήσας τοῖς στρατιώταις ὁ Ἀντίγονος καὶ κατασκευασάμενος δαψιλῆ χορηγίαν πάντων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων ἀνέλαβε τὴν δύναμιν ἐκ τῆς κακοπαθίας.
Nevertheless, Antigonus, having spoken kindly to the soldiers and having provided an abundant supply of all necessities, recovered his army from their suffering.
§19.20.2Πίθωνα δʼ ἐξαπέστειλε κελεύσας περιελθεῖν πᾶσαν τὴν Μηδίαν καὶ συνάγειν ὡς πλείστους ἱππεῖς τε καὶ πολεμιστὰς ἵππους, ἔτι δὲ ὑποζυγίων πλῆθος.
And he sent out Pithon, ordering him to go through all Media and collect as many cavalrymen and war horses as possible, and moreover a multitude of pack animals.
§19.20.3τῆς δὲ χώρας ταύτης ἀεὶ τετραπόδων γεμούσης ῥᾳδίως τὸ παραγγελθὲν συντελέσας ὁ Πίθων ἧκεν ἄγων ἱππεῖς μὲν δισχιλίους, ἵππους δὲ σὺν ταῖς κατασκευαῖς πλείους χιλίων, τῶν δʼ ὑποζυγίων τοσοῦτον ἀριθμὸν ὥστε δύνασθαι καθοπλίσαι πᾶν τὸ στρατόπεδον, καὶ προσέτι τάλαντα πεντακόσια τῶν βασιλικῶν χρημάτων.
Since this country was always full of four-footed beasts, Pithon, having easily accomplished what had been commanded, returned bringing two thousand cavalrymen, and more than a thousand horses with their equipment, and such a number of pack animals as to be able to equip the whole army, and in addition five hundred talents of the royal funds.
§19.20.4ὁ δʼ Ἀντίγονος τοὺς μὲν ἱππεῖς εἰς τάξεις κατέστησε, τοὺς δʼ ἵππους τοῖς ἀπολωλεκόσι διαδοὺς καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑποζυγίων διαχαρισάμενος ἀνεκτήσατο τὴν παρὰ τῶν στρατιωτῶν εὔνοιαν.
Antigonus stationed the cavalrymen in their ranks, and having distributed the horses to those who had lost theirs and given away the multitude of pack animals, he won back the goodwill of the soldiers.

Notes

  1. 19.20.1τεσσαράκοντα τρισὶ — Although the numeral `τεσσαράκοντα` (forty) and the following `τρισὶ` (dative of `τρεῖς`, three) might easily be misread together as 'forty-three,' `τρισὶ` actually modifies the subsequent `μεγάλοις ἀτυχήμασι` (three great misfortunes). In connection with the 'forty days' mentioned in 19.19.2, it means 'for within forty days they had fallen into three great misfortunes.'
  2. 19.20.3ὥστε δύνασθαι καθοπλίσαι πᾶν τὸ στρατόπεδον — The verb `καθοπλίζω` usually means 'to arm' or 'to equip fully,' but here it functions in a result clause indicating that the abundance of 'pack animals' (`ὑποζυγίων`) brought by Pithon was sufficient to provide transportation and fully equip the transport needs of the entire army.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.20.1-19.20.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.20.1-19.20.4

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