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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §20.20.1-20.20.4

Polyperchon's Championing of Heracles and Mobilization

Passage 208 of 301 · Greek

Summary

Polyperchon, aiming to oppose Cassander, champions Heracles, the son of Alexander the Great, and forms an alliance with the Aetolians and others to assemble a massive army and prepare for war.

§20.20.1ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Πολυπέρχων περὶ Πελοπόννησον διατρίβων καὶ Κασάνδρῳ μὲν ἐγκαλῶν, τῆς δὲ Μακεδόνων ἡγεμονίας πάλαι ὀρεγόμενος ἐκ Περγάμου μετεπέμψατο τὸν ἐκ Βαρσίνης Ἡρακλέα, ὃς ἦν Ἀλεξάνδρου μὲν υἱός, τρεφόμενος δὲ ἐν Περγάμῳ, τὴν δʼ ἡλικίαν περὶ ἑπτακαίδεκα ἔτη γεγονώς.
While these things were being done, Polyperchon, who was lingering in the Peloponnese and accusing Cassander, and who had long been grasping for the hegemony of the Macedonians, summoned from Pergamon Heracles, the son of Barsine, who was a son of Alexander, reared in Pergamon, and about seventeen years of age.
§20.20.2ὁ δʼ οὖν Πολυπέρχων διαπέμπων πολλαχοῦ πρὸς τοὺς ἰδιοξένους καὶ τοὺς ἀλλοτρίως διακειμένους πρὸς Κάσανδρον ἠξίου κατάγειν τὸ μειράκιον ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν βασιλείαν.
So, Polyperchon, sending messengers to many places to his own guest-friends and to those who were hostilely disposed toward Cassander, requested them to restore the young man to his ancestral kingdom.
§20.20.3ἔγραψε δὲ καὶ πρὸς τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Αἰτωλῶν, ἀξιῶν δίοδόν τε δοῦναι καὶ συστρατεύειν, ἐπαγγελλόμενος πολλαπλασίους χάριτας ἀποδώσειν, ἐὰν συγκατάγωσι τὸ μειράκιον ἐπὶ τὴν πατρῴαν βασιλείαν.
He also wrote to the league of the Aetolians, requesting them to grant a passage and to join the campaign, promising to return many times greater favors if they should help restore the young man to his ancestral kingdom.
τῶν δὲ πραγμάτων αὐτῷ κατὰ νοῦν γενομένων, προθύμως θʼ ὑπακουόντων τῶν Αἰτωλῶν καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων συντρεχόντων ἐπὶ τὴν κάθοδον τοῦ βασιλέως οἱ σύμπαντες ἠθροίσθησαν πεζοὶ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοὺς δισμυρίους, ἱππεῖς δʼ οὐκ ἐλάττους χιλίων.
Since things were turning out according to his mind, with the Aetolians eagerly complying and many others flocking together for the return of the king, they were assembled in all to more than twenty thousand infantry and no fewer than a thousand cavalry.
§20.20.4καὶ Πολυπέρχων μὲν περὶ τὰς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον παρασκευὰς γινόμενος χρήματά τε συνῆγε καὶ πρὸς τοὺς οἰκείως ἔχοντας τῶν Μακεδόνων διαπεμπόμενος ἠξίου συνεργεῖν.
And Polyperchon, being occupied with the preparations for the war, collected money and, sending messengers to those of the Macedonians who were friendly to him, requested them to cooperate.

Notes

  1. 20.20.1ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις — Since the preposition ἅμα ("at the same time as") regularly governs the dative, it is here construed with the dative plural phrase τούτοις πραττομένοις (present passive participle), meaning "at the same time as these things were being done," functioning as an adverbial clause similar to a genitive absolute.
  2. 20.20.1τὴν δʼ ἡλικίαν — An accusative of respect (or relationship), used with the perfect participle γεγονώς (having become) to add the specification "with respect to age."
  3. 20.20.3τῶν δὲ πραγμάτων αὐτῷ κατὰ νοῦν γενομένων — Three genitive absolute clauses (τῶν δὲ πραγμάτων... / προθύμως θʼ ὑπακουόντων... / καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων συντρεχόντων...) are coordinated here to express the reasons or attendant circumstances for the main verb ἠθροίσθησαν.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §20.20.1-20.20.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.20.1-20.20.4

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