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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.31.1-19.31.5

Night Confrontation and Antigonus Securing the Dead

Passage 108 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Eumenes and Antigonus recalled their fleeing troops and faced each other again, but weariness and hunger forced them to encamp. While Eumenes retreated at the request of his soldiers, Antigonus firmly camped on the dead, obtaining the right to bury them and claiming victory.

§19.31.1βοηθῆσαι τοῖς περὶ τὸν Εὔδαμον.
to rescue those around Eudamus.
ἤδη δὲ τῆς ὥρας οὔσης περὶ λύχνων ἁφὰς ἀμφότεροι τοὺς φεύγοντας ἀνακαλεσάμενοι πάλιν πᾶσαν ἐξέταττον τὴν δύναμιν· τοσαύτης φιλονεικίας ὑπῆρχον πλήρεις οὐχ οἱ στρατηγοὶ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων.
And as the time was already about the lighting of the lamps, both sides, having recalled those who fled, again drew up their entire forces; of such great rivalry were not only the generals full, but also the multitudes of those contending.
§19.31.2τῆς δὲ νυκτὸς οὔσης αἰθρίου καὶ πανσελήνου καὶ τῶν δυνάμεων ἀντιπαραγουσῶν ἀλλήλαις ὡς ἂν ἐν τέτταρσι πλέθροις ὁ ψόφος τῶν ὅπλων καὶ τῶν ἵππων ὁ φρυαγμὸς ἐν χερσὶν ἐδόκει πᾶσιν εἶναι τοῖς ἀντιτεταγμένοις.
And as the night was clear and there was a full moon, and as the forces were marching parallel to one another, because they were within four plethra, the clash of arms and the snorting of horses seemed to all the opponents to be close at hand.
ὡς δὲ παράγοντες ἀπέσχον ἀπὸ τῶν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ πεπτωκότων ὡς τριάκοντα σταδίους, ἡ μὲν ὥρα κατελάμβανεν μεσονύκτιος, κακῶς δὲ διέκειντο ἀμφότεροι διά τε τὴν ὁδοιπορίαν καὶ τὴν ἐν τῇ μάχῃ κακοπάθειαν, §19.31.3ἔτι δὲ τὴν ἀσιτίαν, ὥστε ἡναγκάσθησαν ἀφέμενοι τῆς μάχης καταστρατοπεδεῦσαι.
But as they, marching parallel, drew away about thirty stades from those who had fallen in the battle, the hour of midnight overtook them, and both sides were in a miserable condition owing both to the march and to the hardships in the battle, and furthermore, to their lack of food, so that they were forced to give up the battle and encamp.
Εὐμενὴς μὲν οὖν ἐπεχείρει ἀναζευγνύειν ἐπὶ τῶν νεκρῶν, σπεύδων κρατεῖν τῆς τούτων ἀναιρέσεως καὶ τὴν νίκην ἀναμφισβήτητον περιποιήσασθαι.
Eumenes, therefore, attempted to pitch camp on the dead, hastening to control the collection of these and to make the victory undisputed.
οὐ προσεχόντων δὲ τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ἀλλὰ βοώντων ἐπὶ τὴν ἰδίαν ἀποσκευὴν ἀναχωρεῖν μακρὰν ἀπέχουσαν ἠναγκάσθη πεισθῆναι τῷ πλήθει· §19.31.4οὔτε γὰρ τοῖς στρατιώταις δυνατὸν ἦν πικρῶς ἐπιτιμᾶν, ἀμφισβητούντων πολλῶν τῆς στρατηγίας, οὔτε τὸν καιρὸν ἐπιτῄδειον ἑώρα κολάζειν τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας.
But as the soldiers did not give heed but shouted to withdraw to their own baggage which was far away, he was forced to yield to the multitude; for neither was it possible for him to censure the soldiers sharply, since many were disputing the generalship, nor did he see the opportunity suitable to punish those who were disobedient.
ὁ δʼ Ἀντίγονος τοὐναντίον χωρὶς δημαγωγίας βεβαίως ἔχων τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ἐβιάσατο μὲν τὸ πλῆθος ἐπὶ τῶν νεκρῶν στρατοπεδεῦσαι, κύριος δὲ γενόμενος τῆς τούτων ταφῆς ἠμφισβήτει τῆς νίκης, ἀποφαινόμενος προτερεῖν ἐν ταῖς μάχαις τὸ τῶν πεσόντων κυριεῦσαι.
But Antigonus, on the contrary, holding the command firmly without demagogy, forced the multitude to camp on the dead, and having become master of the burial of these, he disputed the victory, declaring that in battles to be master of the fallen is to have the advantage.
§19.31.5ἀνῃρέθησαν δʼ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τῶν μὲν Ἀντιγόνου πεζοὶ μὲν εἰς τρισχιλίους ἑπτακοσίους, ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντήκοντα τέσσαρες, τραυματίαι δʼ ἐγένοντο πλείους τῶν τετρακισχιλίων· τῶν δʼ Ευμενοῦς ἔπεσον πεζοὶ μὲν πεντακόσιοι τεσσαράκοντα, ἱππεῖς δʼ ὀλίγοι παντελῶς, τραυματίαι δʼ ἐγένοντο πλείους τῶν ἐννακοσίων.
And there were slain in the battle, of those of Antigonus, infantry up to three thousand seven hundred, and fifty-four cavalry, and the wounded became more than four thousand; of those of Eumenes, there fell five hundred and forty infantry, and entirely few cavalry, and the wounded became more than nine hundred.

Notes

  1. 19.31.1βοηθῆσαι — An infinitive directly dependent on the participle σπεύδοντες (hastening) at the end of the previous chunk, expressing the purpose or the specific action of 'hastening'. It is placed at the very beginning of this chunk as the narrative continues.
  2. 19.31.2ὡς ἂν ἐν τέτταρσι πλέθροις — Meaning 'as if within four plethra'. The particle combination ὡς ἄν implies a hypothetical or conditional nuance, which, combined with the prepositional phrase of distance ἐν τέτταρσι πλέθροις, subjectively describes how close the two armies felt to each other (suggesting that the sound made them seem as if they were within that distance, rather than stating it as an objective measurement).
  3. 19.31.4ἀμφισβητούντων πολλῶν τῆς στρατηγίας — A genitive absolute construction where πολλῶν is the subject and ἀμφισβητούντων is the participle. Since the verb ἀμφισβητέω (to dispute, claim) takes its object in the genitive case (τῆς στρατηγίας, the generalship), this clause expresses the cause: 'since many were disputing the generalship'.
  4. 19.31.4τὸ τῶν πεσόντων κυριεῦσαι — An articular infinitive acting as the subject of the infinitive προτερεῖν (to have the advantage) in the indirect discourse introduced by ἀποφαινόμενος (declaring). The verb κυριεῦσαι (to be master of) governs the genitive τῶν πεσόντων (the fallen).

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.31.1-19.31.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.31.1-19.31.5

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