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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §20.105.1-20.105.3

Cleonymus' Second Italian Campaign and Retreat to Corcyra

Passage 293 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Cleonymus rejected alliance proposals from Demetrius and Cassander and returned to Italy to suppress the revolt of the Tarentines, but after suffering a double setback from a night attack by the barbarians and a storm that destroyed his ships, he retreated to Corcyra.

§20.105.1εὐθὺ δὲ καὶ πρεσβειῶν πρὸς αὐτὸν παραγενομένων παρά τε Δημητρίου τοῦ πολιορκητοῦ καὶ Κασάνδρου περὶ συμμαχίας τούτων μὲν οὐδετέρῳ προσέθετο, τοὺς δὲ Ταραντίνους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων τινὰς πυθόμενος ἀφεστηκέναι τῆς μὲν Κορκύρας τὴν ἱκανὴν φυλακὴν ἀπέλιπεν, μετὰ δὲ τῆς ἄλλης δυνάμεως ἔπλει κατὰ σπουδὴν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ὡς κολάσων τοὺς ἀπειθοῦντας.
And immediately, when embassies came to him from both Demetrius the Besieger and Cassander concerning an alliance, he allied himself with neither of them; but learning that the Tarentines and some of the others had revolted, he left a sufficient garrison in Corcyra, and with the rest of his force sailed in haste to Italy, intending to punish those who disobeyed.
προσσχὼν δὲ τῇ χώρᾳ καθʼ ὃν τόπον ἐφύλασσον οἱ βάρβαροι, τὴν μὲν πόλιν ἑλὼν ἐξηνδραποδίσατο, τὴν δὲ χώραν ἐλεηλάτησεν.
Landing in the territory at the place where the barbarians were keeping guard, he captured the city and enslaved the inhabitants, and plundered the countryside.
§20.105.2ὁμοίως δὲ τὸ καλούμενον Τριόπιον ἐκπολιορκήσας εἰς τρισχιλίους ἔλαβεν αἰχμαλώτους.
Similarly, having taken by siege the place called Triopion, he took up to three thousand prisoners.
καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον οἱ μὲν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας βάρβαροι συνδραμόντες ἐπέθεντο νυκτὸς τῇ στρατοπεδείᾳ καὶ μάχης γενομένης ἀνεῖλον τῶν μετὰ Κλεωνύμου πλείους τῶν διακοσίων, ἐζώγρησαν δὲ περὶ χιλίους.
At this very time, the barbarians from the countryside, gathering together, attacked the camp by night; and in the battle that ensued, they killed more than two hundred of Cleonymus' men and took about a thousand alive.
§20.105.3ἅμα δὲ τῷ κινδύνῳ τούτῳ χειμὼν ἐπιγενόμενος εἴκοσι τῶν νεῶν διέφθειρε πλησίον ὁρμουσῶν τῆς παρεμβολῆς.
Along with this danger, a storm came on and destroyed twenty of the ships that were anchored near the camp.
ὁ δὲ Κλεώνυμος δυσὶν ἐλαττώμασι τηλικούτοις περιπεσὼν ἀπέπλευσε μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς τὴν Κόρκυραν.
Cleonymus, having met with two such great setbacks, sailed back with his force to Corcyra.

Notes

  1. §20.105.1ὡς κολάσων — The conjunction ὡς combined with the future active participle κολάσων (from κολάζω) expresses the subjective intention or purpose of the subject of the main clause ("intending to punish", "in order to punish").
  2. §20.105.1προσσχὼν — The aorist active participle of προσέχω (or προσίσχω), used intransitively (or with ναῦν "ship" understood), meaning "to put in to shore" or "to land". The dative τῇ χώρᾳ indicates the destination of the landing.
  3. §20.105.2εἰς τρισχιλίους — The preposition εἰς is used adverbially with a numeral (τρισχιλίους) to express an approximate number or limit ("up to three thousand", "about three thousand").

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §20.105.1-20.105.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.105.1-20.105.3

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