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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §19.56.1-19.56.5

Coalition against Antigonus and His War Preparations

Passage 133 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Having escaped to Egypt, Seleucus denounces Antigonus' ambitions to Ptolemy and instigates an alliance with Cassander and Lysimachus. Upon learning of this, Antigonus secures his satrapies, mobilizes his forces, and prepares for war backed by immense wealth.

§19.56.1ὁ δʼ οὖν Σέλευκος διασωθεὶς εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον φιλανθρωπίας τε πάσης ἐτύγχανε παρὰ Πτολεμαίῳ καὶ κατηγορίαν ἐποιεῖτο πικρὰν Ἀντιγόνου, λέγων ὅτι διέγνωκεν πάντας τοὺς ἐν ἀξιώμασιν ὄντας καὶ μάλιστα τοὺς Ἀλεξάνδρῳ συνεστρατευκότας ἐκβαλεῖν ἐκ τῶν σατραπειῶν καὶ τούτων ἀποδείξεις ἔφερε τήν τε Πίθωνος ἀναίρεσιν καὶ τὴν Πευκέστου τῆς Περσίδος ἀφαίρεσιν καὶ τὰ περὶ αὐτὸν συμβάντα·
Seleucus, then, having escaped safely to Egypt, met with every kind of kindness from Ptolemy and made a bitter accusation against Antigonus, saying that he had decided to expel all those who were of high standing, and especially those who had campaigned with Alexander, from their satrapies; and of these things he brought as proofs the murder of Peithon, the removal of Peucestas from Persis, and what had happened to himself.
§19.56.2πάντας γὰρ οὐδὲν ἠδικηκότας, ἀλλὰ καὶ χρείας πολλὰς καὶ μεγάλας ἐν τῇ φιλίᾳ παρεσχημένους ἀρετῆς ὑπομεμενηκέναι πρόστιμον.
For all of these men, having done no wrong, but on the contrary having rendered many great services in friendship, had suffered punishment for their virtue.
διεξῄει δὲ καὶ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν δυνάμεων καὶ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν χρημάτων, ἔτι δὲ τὰς προσφάτους εὐτυχίας, ἐξ ὧν ὑπεδείκνυεν ὑπερήφανον γεγενημένον καὶ ταῖς ἐλπίσι περιειληφότα πᾶσαν τὴν Μακεδόνων βασιλείαν.
He also detailed the sizes of his forces and the abundance of his money, and furthermore his recent successes, from which he showed that he had become arrogant and in his hopes had encompassed the entire kingdom of the Macedonians.
§19.56.3διὰ δὲ τοιούτων λόγων προτρεψάμενος τὸν Πτολεμαῖον ἑτοιμάζεσθαι τὰ πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ἐξέπεμψέ τινας τῶν φίλων εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην, προστάξας πειρᾶσθαι τοῖς ὁμοίοις λόγοις ἐχθροὺς Ἀντιγόνου καταστῆσαι Κάσανδρόν τε καὶ Λυσίμαχον.
Having by such arguments urged Ptolemy to prepare for war, he sent some of his friends to Europe, commanding them to try by similar arguments to make Cassander and Lysimachus enemies of Antigonus.
§19.56.4ὧν ταχὺ τὸ κελευσθὲν συντελεσάντων ἀρχὴ διαφορᾶς ἐφύετο καὶ μεγάλων πολέμων.
When they had quickly accomplished what had been commanded, the beginning of a disagreement and of great wars began to grow.
ὁ δʼ Ἀντίγονος ἐκ τῶν εἰκότων συλλογισάμενος τὴν Σελεύκου προαίρεσιν ἐξέπεμψε πρεσβευτὰς πρός τε Πτολεμαῖον καὶ Λυσίμαχον καὶ Κάσανδρον, ἀξιῶν διαφυλάσσειν τὴν προϋπάρχουσαν φιλίαν· τῆς δὲ Βαβυλωνίας καταστήσας σατράπην Πίθωνα τὸν ἐκ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς καταβεβηκότα μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως ἀνέζευξεν,
But Antigonus, reasoning from the probabilities about the purpose of Seleucus, sent ambassadors to Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander, requesting them to preserve their pre-existing friendship; and having appointed Peithon, who had come down from India, as satrap of Babylonia, he set out with his army, making his march toward Cilicia.
§19.56.5ἐπὶ τῆς Κιλικίας τὴν πορείαν ποιούμενος. ὡς δʼ εἰς Μάλον παρεγένετο, διεμέρισε τὴν δύναμιν εἰς παραχειμασίαν μετὰ δύσιν Ὠρίωνος.
When he arrived in Mallus, he distributed his army into winter quarters after the setting of Orion.
παρέλαβε δὲ καὶ τὰ ἐν Κυΐνδοις χρήματα, τάλαντα μύρια.
He also took over the money in Quinda, ten thousand talents.
χωρὶς δὲ τούτων ἐκπίπτειν ἐκ τῶν προσόδων αὐτῷ τῶν κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν τάλαντα μύρια χίλια.
Apart from this, eleven thousand talents accrued to him from the annual revenues.
διόπερ συνέβαινεν αὐτὸν φοβερὸν εἶναι καὶ διὰ τὸ μέγεθος τῶν δυνάμεων καὶ διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν χρημάτων.
Therefore, it happened that he was formidable both because of the size of his forces and because of the abundance of his money.

Notes

  1. 19.56.1τούτων ἀποδείξεις — The demonstrative pronoun in the genitive `τούτων` functions as an objective genitive depending on the noun `ἀποδείξεις` (proofs), referring to the content of the preceding clause concerning Antigonus' intention to expel prominent satraps.
  2. 19.56.2ὑπομεμενηκέναι — The perfect infinitive `ὑπομεμενηκέναι` (to have suffered) belongs to the indirect discourse dependent on the verbs of saying or accusing in the preceding sentence, taking the accusative `πάντας` (all) as its subject.
  3. 19.56.4ἀξιῶν — The present participle `ἀξιῶν` (requesting/demanding) functions as a circumstantial participle expressing the purpose or accompanying circumstance of the main verb `ἐξέπεμψε` (sent), taking the infinitive `διαφυλάσσειν` as its object.
  4. 19.56.5ἐκπίπτειν — The infinitive `ἐκπίπτειν` (to accrue) is used here either as a historical infinitive representing an indicative past tense, or as part of the indirect discourse of a general report. The dative `αὐτῷ` is a dative of advantage, and `τάλαντα μύρια χίλια` is its subject.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §19.56.1-19.56.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:19.56.1-19.56.5

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