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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §20.112.1-20.112.4

Pleistarchus' Crossing and Shipwreck

Passage 300 of 301 · Greek

Summary

After recovering Thessaly, Cassander dispatches Pleistarchus to Asia, but Pleistarchus' fleet suffers severe losses due to a storm and enemy defenses, and Pleistarchus himself barely escapes with his life.

§20.112.1ἐν δὲ ταῖς αὐταῖς ἡμέραις Κάσανδρος μετὰ τὴν ἀπαλλαγὴν τὴν Δημητρίου τὰς μὲν κατὰ τὴν Θετταλίαν πόλεις ἀνεκτήσατο, Πλείσταρχον δὲ μετὰ δυνάμεως ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὴν Ἀσίαν βοηθήσοντα τοῖς περὶ Λυσίμαχον.
During these same days, after the departure of Demetrius, Cassander recovered the cities in Thessaly, and sent Pleistarchus with a force into Asia to help Lysimachus and his men.
οἱ δὲ συναποσταλέντες ἦσαν πεζοὶ μὲν μύριοι δισχίλιοι, ἱππεῖς δὲ πεντακόσιοι.
Those sent with him were twelve thousand foot-soldiers and five hundred horsemen.
§20.112.2ὁ δὲ Πλείσταρχος ἐπειδὴ παραγενόμενος ἐπὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ Πόντου κατέλαβε τοὺς τόπους προκατεχομένους ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων, ἀπογνοὺς τὴν διάβασιν παρῆλθεν εἰς Ὀδησσόν, ἣ κεῖται μεταξὺ μὲν τῆς τε Ἀπολλωνίας καὶ Καλλαντίας, κατʼ ἀντικρὺ δὲ τῆς ἐν τῷ πέραν Ἡρακλείας, ἐχούσης τι μέρος τῆς Λυσιμάχου δυνάμεως.
When Pleistarchus arrived at the mouth of the Pontus and found the places already occupied by the enemy, despairing of crossing, he proceeded to Odessus, which lies between Apollonia and Callantis, and opposite Heracleia on the other side, which held a part of Lysimachus' force.
§20.112.3οὐκ ἔχων δʼ ἱκανὰ πόρια πρὸς τὴν τῶν στρατιωτῶν διάβασιν τριχῇ διεμέρισε τὴν δύναμιν.
Not having sufficient vessels for the crossing of the soldiers, he divided his force into three parts.
τὴν μὲν οὖν πρώτην ἀποστολὴν συνέβη διασωθῆναι πρὸς τὴν Ἡράκλειαν, τὴν δὲ δευτέραν ὑπὸ τῶν περὶ τὸ στόμα τοῦ Πόντου φυλακίδων νεῶν ἁλῶναι.
Thus, it happened that the first dispatch safely reached Heracleia, but the second was captured by the guardships near the mouth of the Pontus.
κατὰ τὴν τρίτην δὲ αὐτοῦ συνδιαβαίνοντος τοῦ Πλειστάρχου χειμὼν ἐπεγενήθη τηλικοῦτος ὥστε τὰ πλεῖστα τῶν σκαφῶν καὶ τῶν σωμάτων διαφθαρῆναι· §20.112.4καὶ γὰρ ἡ κομίζουσα ναῦς ἑξήρης τὸν στρατηγὸν συνεκλύσθη καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῇ πλεόντων οὐκ ἐλαττόνων ἢ πεντακοσίων τρεῖς πρὸς τοῖς τριάκοντα μόνον διεσώθησαν.
During the third, as Pleistarchus himself was crossing with them, so great a storm arose that most of the vessels and lives were lost; for the hexere carrying the general was wrecked, and of those sailing in it, not fewer than five hundred, only thirty-three were saved.
ἐν δὲ τούτοις ἦν καὶ ὁ Πλείσταρχος, ναυαγίου μὲν ἐπειλημμένος, εἰς δὲ τὴν γῆν ἡμιθανὴς ἐκβεβρασμένος.
Among these was Pleistarchus himself, who had clung to a piece of the wreck and was washed ashore half-dead.
οὗτος μὲν οὖν ἀποκομισθεὶς εἰς Ἡράκλειαν καὶ προσαναλαβὼν ἐκ τῆς ἀτυχίας τὸ σῶμα πρὸς Λυσίμαχον εἰς τὴν χειμασίαν ἀνέζευξε, ἀποβεβληκὼς τὸ πλεῖον τῆς δυνάμεως.
Having been carried to Heracleia and having recovered his strength from the misfortune, he set out to Lysimachus in his winter quarters, having lost the greater part of his force.

Notes

  1. 20.112.2ἐχούσης — The genitive participle ἐχούσης modifies the proper noun Ἡρακλείας, which is the object of the prepositional phrase κατʼ ἀντικρὺ. It indicates that a part of Lysimachus' force was stationed in Heracleia.
  2. 20.112.3συνέβη — The impersonal verb συνέβη ("it happened that") governs the accusative and infinitive construction. Here, it controls two parallel clauses: the first τὴν μὲν οὖν πρώτην ἀποστολὴν ... διασωθῆναι and the second τὴν δὲ δευτέραν ... ἁλῶναι.
  3. 20.112.4τρεῖς πρὸς τοῖς τριάκοντα — This expression represents the number "thirty-three." The preposition πρός with the dative means "in addition to," structuring the phrase as "three (τρεῖς) in addition to thirty (τοῖς τριάκοντα)."
  4. 20.112.4ναυαγίου — This is the genitive object governed by ἐπειλημμένος, the perfect middle-passive participle of the verb ἐπιλαμβάνομαι ("to cling to," "to grasp"). This verb regularly takes its object in the genitive case when it implies physical contact or grasping.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §20.112.1-20.112.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.112.1-20.112.4

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