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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.54.1-19.54.4

Restoration of Thebes and Campaign in the Peloponnese

Passage 131 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Cassander restored Thebes with the help of many Greek cities. He then marched to the Peloponnese, bypassed his opponent Alexander by crossing the sea, brought various cities under his control, and returned to Macedonia.

§19.54.1εἰκοστῷ δʼ ἔτει ὕστερον Κάσανδρος φιλοδοξῆσαι βουλόμενος καὶ πείσας τοὺς Βοιωτοὺς ἀνέστησε τὴν πόλιν τοῖς διασωζομένοις τῶν Θηβαίων.
Twenty years later, Cassander, wishing to gain glory and having persuaded the Boeotians, restored the city for the survivors of the Thebans.
§19.54.2συνεπελάβοντο δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων τοῦ συνοικισμοῦ πολλαὶ διά τε τὸν πρὸς τοὺς ἠτυχηκότας ἔλεον καὶ διὰ τὴν δόξαν τῆς πόλεως·
Many of the Greek cities also took part in the resettlement, both because of their pity for those who had been unfortunate and because of the glory of the city.
Ἀθηναῖοι μὲν γὰρ τὸ πολὺ μέρος τοῦ τείχους ἀνέστησαν καὶ τῶν ἄλλων οἱ μὲν ᾠκοδόμησαν κατὰ δύναμιν, οἱ δὲ καὶ χρήματα πρὸς τὰς κατεπειγούσας χρείας ἀπέστειλαν οὐ μόνον τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος, ἀλλὰ καὶ Σικελίας, ἔτι δʼ Ἰταλίας.
For the Athenians rebuilt the greater part of the wall, and of the others, some built according to their ability, while others also sent money for their urgent needs, not only from those in Greece, but also from Sicily, and even from Italy.
§19.54.3Θηβαῖοι μὲν οὖν τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἐκομίσαντο τὴν πατρίδα.
In this manner, then, the Thebans recovered their homeland.
Κάσανδρος δὲ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἀναζεύξας ἐπὶ Πελοποννήσου καὶ καταλαβὼν Ἀλέξανδρον τὸν Πολυπέρχοντος διειληφότα τὸν Ἰσθμὸν φυλακαῖς παρῆλθεν εἰς Μέγαρα.
Meanwhile, Cassander, having set out with his army for the Peloponnese and finding that Alexander, the son of Polyperchon, had blocked the Isthmus with guards, advanced to Megara.
ἐνταῦθα δὲ κατασκευάσας σχεδίας ἐπὶ μὲν τούτων τοὺς ἐλέφαντας διεβίβασεν εἰς Ἐπίδαυρον, ἐν δὲ πλοίοις τὴν ἄλλην δύναμιν.
There, having constructed rafts, he transported the elephants on them to Epidaurus, and the rest of his army in boats.
παρελθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀργείων πόλιν ταύτην μὲν ἠνάγκασεν ἀποστᾶσαν τῆς Ἀλεξάνδρου συμμαχίας αὐτῷ προσθέσθαι,
And having advanced to the city of the Argives, he compelled it to abandon its alliance with Alexander and to side with him.
§19.54.4μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τὰς ἐν τῇ Μεσσήνῃ πόλεις προσηγάγετο πλὴν Ἰθώμης καὶ τὴν Ἑρμιονίδα διʼ ὁμολογίας παρέλαβεν.
After this, he brought over the cities in Messenia except Ithome, and received Hermione by agreement.
τοῦ δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου μὴ συγκαταβαίνοντος εἰς παράταξιν ἀπολιπὼν ἐπὶ τὸν ἰσθμὸν Γερανίας στρατιώτας δισχιλίους καὶ στρατηγὸν Μόλυκκον ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Μακεδονίαν.
Since Alexander would not come down for a pitched battle, he left two thousand soldiers and the general Molyccus at the isthmus of Geraneia, and returned to Macedonia.

Notes

  1. 19.54.2συνεπελάβοντο δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων τοῦ συνοικισμοῦ πολλαὶ — The verb `συνεπελάβοντο` (third-person plural aorist of `συνεπιλαμβάνομαι`) governs the genitive case as its direct object, which here is `τοῦ συνοικισμοῦ`. On the other hand, `τῶν Ἑλληνίδων πόλεων` is a partitive genitive modifying the subject of the sentence, `πολλαὶ`.
  2. 19.54.2τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἑλλάδος — The noun `πόλεων` (cities) is omitted after the article `τῶν`. This elliptical construction also parallelly applies to the subsequent genitives `Σικελίας` and `Ἰταλίας`, meaning 'not only from the cities of Greece, but also from those of Sicily and even Italy.'
  3. 19.54.3καταλαβὼν Ἀλέξανδρον ... διειληφότα — The participle `καταλαβὼν` (aorist active participle of `καταλαμβάνω`) takes an accusative object (`Ἀλέξανδρον`) and a predicative participle (`διειληφότα`), forming a construction of mental perception ('finding/discovering that someone is doing something'). `διειληφότα` is the perfect active participle of `διαλαμβάνω`, meaning here 'having occupied' or 'having blocked'.
  4. 19.54.4τοῦ δʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου μὴ συγκαταβαίνοντος — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the noun in the genitive `τοῦ ... Ἀλεξάνδρου` and the present participle in the genitive `συγκαταβαίνοντος`, expressing here a causal relationship ('since Alexander would not come down to offer battle').

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.54.1-19.54.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.54.1-19.54.4

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