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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §20.13.1-20.13.4

Battle Casualties, Carthaginian Shackles, and the Reversal of Fate

Passage 201 of 301 · Greek

Summary

The casualties of the battle on both sides are recorded, and the discovery of handcuffs prepared by the Carthaginians for the Greeks is described. The author reflects on the reversal of fortunes in Sicily and Libya as a work of Fate.

§20.13.1ἔπεσον δʼ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ τῶν μὲν Ἑλλήνων εἰς διακοσίους, τῶν δὲ Καρχηδονίων οὐ πλείους χιλίων, ὡς δʼ ἔνιοι γεγράφασιν, ὑπὲρ τοὺς ἑξακισχιλίους.
There fell in the battle about two hundred of the Greeks, and of the Carthaginians not more than a thousand, though as some have written, over six thousand.
ἐν δὲ τῇ τῶν Καρχηδονίων παρεμβολῇ σὺν ταῖς ἄλλαις ὠφελείαις εὑρέθησαν ἅμαξαι πλείους, ἐν αἷς ἐκομίζετο ζεύγη χειροπεδῶν πλείω τῶν δισμυρίων·
In the camp of the Carthaginians, along with the other booty, many wagons were found, in which were carried more than twenty thousand pairs of handcuffs.
§20.13.2ἐξ ἑτοίμου γὰρ οἱ βάρβαροι κρατήσειν ὑπειληφότες τῶν Ἑλλήνων παρηγγέλκεισαν ἀλλήλοις ζωγρεῖν ὡς πλείστους καὶ δήσαντες εἰς συνεργασίαν ἐμβαλεῖν.
For the barbarians, assuming beforehand that they would conquer the Greeks, had ordered one another to take as many alive as possible, and having bound them, to throw them into forced labor.
§20.13.3ἀλλʼ, οἶμαι, τὸ δαιμόνιον ὥσπερ ἐπίτηδες τοῖς ὑπερηφάνως διαλογιζομένοις τὸ τέλος τῶν κατελπισθέντων εἰς τοὐναντίον μετατίθησιν.
But, I think, the deity, as if on purpose, turns the end of things expected into the opposite for those who calculate with arrogance.
Ἀγαθοκλῆς μὲν οὖν Καρχηδονίους παραλόγως νικήσας τειχήρεις συνεῖχεν, ἡ τύχη δὲ ἐναλλὰξ τὰ προτερήματα τοῖς ἐλαττώμασιν ἐπεισαγαγοῦσα τοὺς ὑπερέχοντας ἴσον ἐταπείνωσε τοῖς ἡττωμένοις·
Agathocles, then, having defeated the Carthaginians contrary to expectation, held them shut up within their walls; but Fortune, introducing successes alternately with reverses, humbled the superior to the same level as the defeated.
§20.13.4ἐν Σικελίᾳ μὲν γὰρ Καρχηδόνιοι μεγάλῃ νενικηκότες παρατάξει Ἀγαθοκλέα τὰς Συρακούσσας ἐπολιόρκουν, ἐν Λιβύῃ δὲ Ἀγαθοκλῆς τηλικαύτῃ μάχῃ προτερήσας εἰς πολιορκίαν ἐνέκλεισε Καρχηδονίους, καὶ τὸ θαυμασιώτατον, ὁ δυνάστης κατὰ μὲν τὴν νῆσον ἀκεραίους ἔχων τὰς δυνάμεις ἐλείπετο τῶν βαρβάρων, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἠπείρου τῷ μέρει τῆς προηττημένης στρατιᾶς περιεγένετο τῶν νενικηκότων.
For in Sicily, the Carthaginians, having defeated Agathocles in a great pitched battle, were besieging Syracuse; but in Libya, Agathocles, having gained the upper hand in so great a battle, shut up the Carthaginians in a siege. And, what is most wonderful, the ruler, while keeping his forces intact on the island, was inferior to the barbarians, yet on the continent, with a part of the army that had previously been defeated, he got the better of those who had been victorious.

Notes

  1. 20.13.1εἰς διακοσίους — The preposition εἰς with a numeral functions adverbially to indicate an approximate number, here meaning 'about two hundred'.
  2. 20.13.1οὐ πλείους χιλίων — The comparative adjective πλείους (contracted form of πλείονες) governs the genitive of comparison χιλίων, meaning 'not more than a thousand'.
  3. 20.13.2ἐξ ἑτοίμου — An idiomatic adverbial phrase composed of the preposition ἐκ (ἐξ) and the genitive neuter singular of the adjective ἑτοίμου, meaning 'readily', 'beforehand', or 'with certainty'.
  4. 20.13.3τὰ προτερήματα τοῖς ἐλαττώμασιν ἐπεισαγαγοῦσα — The participle of the verb ἐπεισάγω (to introduce in addition) governs the accusative τὰ προτερήματα (successes) and the dative τοῖς ἐλαττώμασιν (reverses), depicting the unpredictable turns of Fortune bringing successes on the heels of defeats.
  5. 20.13.4τῷ μέρει τῆς προηττημένης στρατιᾶς — The dative of means or accompaniment τῷ μέρει (with a part) is modified by the genitive phrase τῆς προηττημένης στρατιᾶς (of the army previously defeated). This highlights the paradox that Agathocles conquered the victorious Carthaginians with only a portion of his previously defeated forces.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §20.13.1-20.13.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.13.1-20.13.4

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