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Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §20.72.1-20.72.5

Agathocles' Revenge and the Massacre in Syracuse

Passage 260 of 301 · Greek

Summary

In revenge for his sons' murder, Agathocles orders his brother to massacre the relatives of the campaigners in Syracuse. Countless people of all ages are mercilessly executed on the shore, but no one dares to bury the bodies out of fear of being implicated.

§20.72.1ἀκούσας γὰρ τὴν τῶν υἱῶν ἀναίρεσιν καὶ διʼ ὀργῆς ἔχων ἅπαντας τοὺς ἀπολελειμμένους κατὰ Λιβύην ἔπεμψε τῶν φίλων τινὰς εἰς Συρακούσσας πρὸς Ἄντανδρον τὸν ἀδελφόν, διακελευσάμενος τοὺς τῶν συστρατευσάντων ἐπὶ Καρχηδόνα συγγενεῖς ἅπαντας ἀποσφάξαι.
For when Agathocles heard of the murder of his sons and was filled with anger against all those who had been left behind in Libya, he sent some of his friends to Syracuse to his brother Antander, ordering him to slaughter all the relatives of those who had campaigned with him against Carthage.
§20.72.2ταχὺ δὲ τούτου τὸ προσταχθὲν ποιήσαντος ποικιλώτατον γενέσθαι συνέβη φόνον τῶν προγεγονότων· οὐ γὰρ μόνον τοὺς ἀκμάζοντας ταῖς ἡλικίαις ἀδελφοὺς ἢ πατέρας ἢ παῖδας ἐξῆγεν ἐπὶ τὸν θάνατον, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάππους καὶ τούτων, εἰ τύχοι, καὶ πατέρας περιόντας ἐσχατογήρους καὶ ταῖς ὅλαις αἰσθήσεσι διὰ τὸν χρόνον ἤδη παραλελυμένους, ἔτι δὲ νηπίους παῖδας ἐν ἀγκάλαις φερομένους καὶ τῆς ἐπιφερομένης αὐτοῖς συμφορᾶς οὐδεμίαν αἴσθησιν λαμβάνοντας.
And when Antander quickly executed what had been commanded, there occurred a slaughter more varied than any that had gone before; for he led out to death not only brothers or fathers or children in the prime of their age, but also grandfathers and, if they happened to survive, even their fathers, who were in extreme old age and already paralyzed in all their senses because of time, and furthermore, infant children carried in arms and having no perception of the calamity brought upon them.
ἤγοντο δὲ καὶ γυναῖκες ὅσαι μετεῖχον οἰκειότητος ἢ συγγενείας καὶ καθόλου πᾶς ὁ μέλλων τῇ καθʼ αὑτὸν τιμωρίᾳ λύπην ἐμποιῆσαι τοῖς ἐπὶ τῆς Λιβύης ἀπολειφθεῖσι.
And there were also led out all the women who shared any relationship or kinship, and in short, everyone who, by his own punishment, was likely to inflict grief upon those left behind in Libya.
§20.72.3πολλοῦ δὲ πλήθους καὶ παντοίου πρὸς τὴν θάλατταν ἀχθέντος ἐπὶ τὴν τιμωρίαν καὶ τῶν σφαγέων ἐφεστώτων δάκρυα καὶ δεήσεις καὶ θρῆνος ἐγίνετο συμφορητός, ὧν μὲν ἀνηλεῶς φονευομένων, ὧν δὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν πλησίον συμφοραῖς ἐκπληττομένων καὶ διὰ τὸ προσδοκώμενον οὐδὲν διαφερόντων §20.72.4ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν προαποθνησκόντων.
When a great and diverse multitude was led to the sea for execution and the slaughterers stood over them, there arose a combined weeping, supplication, and lamentation, while some were being mercilessly slaughtered, and others were stunned by the calamities of their neighbors, and because of what they expected, differed in no way in their souls from those who were dying before them.
τὸ δὲ πάντων χαλεπώτατον, πολλῶν ἀναιρεθέντων καὶ παρὰ τὸν αἰγιαλὸν ἐρριμμένων τῶν σωμάτων οὔτε συγγενὴς οὐδεὶς οὔτε φίλος ἐτόλμα τινὰ κηδεύειν, φοβούμενος μὴ δόξῃ προσαγγέλλειν ἑαυτὸν μετέχοντα τῆς ἐκείνων οἰκειότητος.
But what was most cruel of all, though many had been slain and their bodies cast along the shore, neither any relative nor friend dared to bury anyone, fearing lest he should seem to declare himself as sharing in their relationship.
§20.72.5διὰ δὲ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν φονευθέντων ἐπὶ τοῦ κύματος συνέβη τὴν θάλατταν ἐφʼ ἱκανὸν τόπον αἵματι κραθεῖσαν πόρρωθεν διαφαίνειν τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς τοῦ πάθους ὠμότητος.
Because of the multitude of those slaughtered upon the surf, it happened that the sea, mixed with blood over a considerable space, revealed even from afar the extreme cruelty of the suffering.

Notes

  1. 20.72.2τούτου τὸ προσταχθὲν ποιήσαντος — Genitive absolute construction. The subject is the pronoun `τούτου`, referring to `Ἄντανδρον` (Antander) mentioned in the previous sentence, and the participle is `ποιήσαντος` (aorist active), with `τὸ προσταχθὲν` (the thing commanded, neuter singular perfect passive participle) functioning as its direct object.
  2. 20.72.2εἰ τύχοι — An insertional conditional clause using the optative mood, literally "if it should so happen." Here, it expresses a hypothetical condition regarding the fathers of the grandfathers (`πάππους`), i.e., great-grandfathers, "if they should happen to still be alive."
  3. 20.72.3διαφερόντων ταῖς ψυχαῖς — The participle `διαφερόντων` agrees with `ὧν δὲ` (genitive) in §20.72.3, and since the verb `διαφέρω` (differ) governs the genitive case, it takes `τῶν προαποθνησκόντων` (those who die before) as its object of comparison. `ταῖς ψυχαῖς` is a dative of respect or manner ("in their souls").
  4. 20.72.4τὸ δὲ πάντων χαλεπώτατον — A neuter singular nominative appositive phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence, functioning appositively to the subsequent clause or situation, and serving as a sentence adverb meaning "what was most cruel of all."
  5. 20.72.4φοβούμενος μὴ δόξῃ προσαγγέλλειν ἑαυτὸν μετέχοντα — This phrase contains a fear clause introduced by the conjunction `μή` ("lest" or "fearing that") with the subjunctive verb `δόξῃ`. The infinitive `προσαγγέλλειν` ("to report" or "to betray"), which complements `δόξῃ` ("should seem"), has a reflexive nuance here ("to betray oneself"). The participle `μετέχοντα` is a predicative participle agreeing with `ἑαυτὸν`, meaning "that he shared in."

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §20.72.1-20.72.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc6:20.72.1-20.72.5

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