mail: Bill Thayer	Help	Up	Home
previous: XIII.91‑114 This webpage reproduces a portion of The Library of History of Diodorus Siculus published in Vol. VI of the Loeb Classical Library edition, 1954 The text is in the public domain. This page has been carefully proofread and I believe it to be free of errors. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: XIV.19‑31

(Vol. VI) Diodorus Siculus
Library of History

 p3  Book XIV (beginning)

 p11  1 1 All men, perhaps naturally, are disinclined to listen to obloquies that are uttered against them. Indeed even those whose evil-doing is in every respect so manifest that it cannot even be denied, none the less deeply resent it when they are the objects of censure and endeavour to make a reply to the accusation. Consequently all men should take every possible care not to commit any evil deed, and those especially who aspire to leader­ship or have been favoured by some striking gift of Fortune; 2 for since the life of such men is in all things an open book because of their distinction, it cannot conceal its own unwisdom. Let no man, therefore, who has gained some kind of pre-eminence, cherish the hope that, if he commits great crimes, he will for all time escape notice and go uncensured. For even if during his own lifetime he eludes the sentence of rebuke, let him expect that at a later time Truth will find him out, frankly proclaiming abroad matters long hidden from mention. 3 It is, therefore, a hard fate for wicked men that at  p13 their death they leave to posterity an undying image, so to speak, of their entire life; for even if those things that follow after death do not concern us, as certain philosophers keep chanting, nevertheless the life which has preceded death becomes far worse throughout all time for the evil memory that it enjoys. Manifest examples of this may be found by those who read the detailed story contained in this Book.

2 1 Among the Athenians, for example, thirty men who became tyrants from their own lust of gain, not only involved their native land in great misfortunes but themselves soon lost their power and have bequeathed a deathless memorial of their own disgrace. The Lacedaemonians, after winning for themselves the undisputed sovereignty of Greece, were shorn of it from the moment when they sought to carry out unjust projects at the expense of their allies. For the superiority of those who enjoy leader­ship is maintained by goodwill and justice, and is overthrown by acts of injustice and by the hatred of their subjects. 2 Similarly Dionysius, the tyrant of the Syracusans, although he has been the most fortunate of such rulers, was incessantly plotted against while alive, was compelled by fear to wear an iron corselet under his tunic, and has bequeathed since his death his own life as an outstanding example unto all ages for the maledictions of men.

3 But we shall record each one of these illustrations with more detail in connection with the appropriate period of time; for the present we shall take up the continuation of our account, pausing only to define our dates. 4 In the preceding Books we have set down a record of events from the capture of Troy to the end  p15 of the Peloponnesian War and of the Athenian Empire, covering a period of seven hundred and seventy-nine years.​4 In this Book, as we add to our narrative the events next succeeding, we shall commence with the establishment of the thirty tyrants and stop with the capture of Rome by the Gauls, embra­cing a period of eighteen years.

3 1 There was no archon in Athens because of the overthrow of the government,​5 it being the seven hundred and eightieth year from the capture of Troy, and in Rome four military tribunes succeeded to the consular magistracy, Gaius Fulvius, Gaius Servilius, Gaius Valerius, and Numerius Fabius; and in this year the Ninety-fourth Olympiad was celebrated, that in which Corcinas​6 of Larisa was victor.​7 2 At this time the Athenians, completely reduced by exhaustion, made a treaty with the Lacedaemonians whereby they were bound to demolish the walls of their city and to employ the polity of their fathers. They demolished the walls, but were unable to agree among themselves regarding the form of government. 3 For those who were bent on oligarchy asserted that the ancient constitution should be revived, in which only a very few represented the state, whereas the greatest number, who were partisans of democracy, made the government of their fathers their platform and declared that this was by common consent a democracy.

 p17  4 After a controversy over this had continued for some days, the oligarchic party sent an embassy to Lysander the Spartan, who, at the end of the war, had been dispatched to administer the governments of the cities and had established oligarchies in the greater number of them, for they hoped that, as well he might, he would support them in their design. Accordingly they sailed across to Samos, for it happened that Lysander was tarrying there, having just seized the city. 5 He gave his assent to their pleas for co-operation, appointed Thorax the Spartan harmost​8 of Samos, and put in himself at the Peiraeus with one hundred ships. Calling an assembly of the Athenians, he advised them to choose thirty men to head the government and to manage all the affairs of the state. 6 And when Theramenes opposed him and read to him the terms of the peace, which agreed that they should enjoy the government of their fathers, and declared that it would be a terrible thing if they should be robbed of their freedom contrary to the oaths, Lysander stated that the terms of peace had been broken by the Athenians, since, he asserted, they had destroyed the walls later than the days of grace agreed upon. He also invoked the direst of threats against Theramenes, saying that he would have him put to death if he did not stop opposing the Lacedaemonians. 7 Consequently Theramenes and the people, being struck with terror, were compelled to dissolve the democracy by a show of hands. Accordingly thirty men were elected with power to manage the affairs of the state, as directors ostensibly but tyrants in fact.

 p19  4 1 The people, observing the fair dealing of Theramenes and believing that his honourable principles would act to some extent to check the encroachments of the leaders, elected him also as one of the thirty officials. It was the duty of those selected to appoint both a Council and the other magistrates and to draw up laws in accordance with which they were to administer the state. 2 Now they kept postponing the drawing up of laws, always putting forth fine-sounding excuses, but a Council and the other magistrates they appointed from their personal friends, so that these men bore the name indeed of magistrates but actually were underlings of the Thirty. At first they brought to trial the lowest elements of the city and condemned them to death; and thus far the most honourable citizens approved of their actions. 3 But after this, desiring to commit acts more violent and lawless, they asked the Lacedaemonians for a garrison, saying that they were going to establish a form of government that would serve the interests of the Lacedaemonians. For they realized that they would be unable to accomplish murders without foreign armed aid, since all men, they knew, would unite to support the common security. 4 When the Lacedaemonians sent a garrison and Callibius to command it, the Thirty won the commander over by bribes and other accommodations. Then, choosing out from the rich such men as suited their ends, they proceeded to arrest them as revolutionaries, put them to death, and confiscated their possessions. 5 When Theramenes opposed his colleagues and threatened to join the ranks of those who claimed the right to be secure, the Thirty called a meeting of the Council. Critias was their spokesman, and in a long speech accused  p21 Theramenes of betraying this government of which he was a voluntary member; but Theramenes in his reply cleared himself of the several charges and gained the sympathy of the entire Council.​9 6 Critias, fearing that Theramenes might overthrow the oligarchy, threw about him a band of soldiers with drawn swords. They were going to arrest him, but, forestalling them, Theramenes leaped up to the altar of Hestia of the Council Chamber, crying out, 7 "I flee for refuge to the gods, not with the thought that I shall be saved, but to make sure that my slayers will involve themselves in an act of impiety against the gods."

5 1 When the attendants​10 came forward and were dragging him off, Theramenes bore his bad fortune with a noble spirit, since indeed he had had no little acquaintance with philosophy in company with Socrates; the multitude, however, in general mourned the ill-fortune of Theramenes, but had not the courage to come to his aid since a strong armed guard stood around him. 2 Now Socrates the philosopher and two of his intimates ran forward and endeavoured to hinder the attendants. But Theramenes entreated them to do nothing of the kind; he appreciated, he said, their friendship and bravery, but as for himself, it would be the greatest grief if he should be the cause of the death of those who were so intimately associated with him. 3 Socrates and his helpers, since they had no aid from anyone else and saw the intransigence of those in authority increasing, made no move. Then those who had received their  p23 orders dragged Theramenes from the altar and hustled him through the centre of the market-place to his execution; 4 and the populace, terror-stricken at the arms of the garrison, were filled with pity for the unfortunate man and shed tears, not only over his fate, but also over their own slavery. For all the common sort, when they saw a man of such virtue as Theramenes treated with such contumely, had concluded that they in their weakness would be sacrificed without a thought.

5 After the death of Theramenes the Thirty drew up a list of the wealthy, lodged false charges against them, put them to death, and seized their estates. They slew even Niceratus, the son of Nicias who had commanded the campaign against the Syracusans, a man who had conducted himself toward all men with fairness and humanity, and who perhaps first of all Athenians in wealth and reputation. 6 It came about, therefore, that every house was filled with pity for the end of the man, as fond thoughts due to their memory of his honest ways provoked them to tears. Nevertheless, the tyrants did not cease from their lawless conduct; rather their madness became so much the more acute that of the metics they slaughtered sixty of the wealthiest in order to gain possession of their property, and as for the citizens, since they were being killed daily, the well-to‑do among them fled from the city almost to a man. 7 They also slew Autolycus,​11 an outspoken man, and, in a word, selected​12 the most respectable citizens. So far did their wasting of the city go that more than half of the Athenians took to flight.

 p25  6 1 The Lacedaemonians, seeing the city of the Athenians abased in power and having no desire that the Athenians should ever gain strength, were delighted and made their attitude clear; for they voted that the Athenian exiles should be delivered up to the Thirty from all over Greece and that anyone who attempted to prevent this should be liable to fine of five talents. 2 Though this decree was shocking, all the rest of the cities, dismayed at the power of the Spartans, obeyed it, with the exception of the Argives who, hating as they did the cruelty of the Lacedaemonians and pitying the hard lot of the unfortunate, were the first to receive the exiles in a spirit of humanity. 3 Also the Thebans voted that anyone who witnessed an exile being led off and did not render him all aid within his power should be subject to a fine.

Such, then, was the state of the affairs of the Athenians.

7 1 In Sicily, Dionysius, the tyrant of the Siceli,​13 after concluding peace with the Carthaginians, planned to busy himself more with the strengthening of his tyranny; for he assumed that the Syracusans, now that they were relieved of the war, would have plenty of time to see after the recovery of their liberty. 2 And, perceiving that the Island​14 was the strongest section of the city and could be easily defended, he divided it from the rest of the city by an expensive wall, and in this he set high towers at close intervals, while before it he built places of business and stoas capable of accommodating a multitude of  p27 the populace. 3 He also constructed on the Island at great expense a fortified acropolis as a place of refuge in case of immediate need, and within its wall he enclosed the dockyards which are connected with the small harbour that is known as Laccium. The dockyards could accommodate sixty triremes and had an entrance that was closed off, through which only one ship could enter at a time. 4 As for the territory of Syracuse, he picked out the best of it and distributed it in gifts to his friends as well as to higher officers, and divided the rest of it in equal portions both to aliens and to citizens, including under the name of citizens the manumitted slaves whom he designated as New Citizens. 5 He also distributed the dwellings among the common people, except those on the island, which he gave to his friends and the mercenaries.

When Dionysius thought that he had now organized his tyranny properly, he led forth his army against the Siceli, being eager to bring all the independent peoples under his control, and the Siceli in particular, because of their previous alliance with the Carthaginians. 6 Accordingly he advanced against the city of the Herbessini and made preparations for its siege. But the Syracusans who were in the army, now that they had arms in their hands, began to gather in groups and upbraid each other that they had not joined with the cavalry in overthrowing the tyrant.​15 The man appointed by Dionysius to command the men at first warned one of those who were freespoken, and when the man retorted, stepped boldly up to him to give him a blow. 7 The soldiers, in anger at this, slew the commander, whose name was Doricus, and, crying  p29 to the citizens to strike for their freedom, sent for the cavalry from Aetnê; for the cavalry, who had been banished at the beginning of the tyranny, occupied this outpost.

8 1 Dionysius, terror-stricken at the revolt of the Syracusans, broke off the siege and hastened to Syracuse, being eager to secure the city. Upon his flight those who had revolted chose as generals the men who had slain the commander, and gathering to their number the cavalry from Aetnê, they pitched a camp fa­cing the tyrant on the height called Epipolae, and blocked his passage to the countryside. 2 And they at once dispatched ambassadors to the Messenians and the Rhegians, urging these people to join in the bid for freedom by action at sea; for it had been the practice of these cities at this time to man no less than eighty triremes. These triremes the cities dispatched at that time to the Syracusans, being eager to support them in the cause of freedom. 3 The revolters also proclaimed a large reward to any who would slay the tyrant and promised citizen­ship to any mercenaries who would come over to them. They also constructed engines of war with which to shatter and destroy the walls, launched daily assaults upon the Island, and kindly received any of the mercenaries who came over to them.

4 Dionysius, being shut off as he now was from access to the countryside and constantly being abandoned by the mercenaries, gathered together his friends to counsel with them on the situation; for he had so completely despaired of maintaining his tyrannical power that he no longer was studying how to defeat  p31 the Syracusans but rather how to meet death in such a way as to end his rule not altogether ingloriously. 5 Now Heloris, one of his friends, or as some say, his adopted father, declared to him, "Tyranny is a fair winding-sheet"; but Polyxenus, his brother-in‑law, advised him to use his swiftest horse and ride off into the domain of the Carthaginians to the Campanians, whom Himilcon had left behind to guard the districts of Sicily. Philistus, however, who composed his history after these events, declared in opposition to Polyxenus that it was not fitting to dash from the tyranny on a galloping horse but to be cast out, dragged by the leg.​16 6 Dionysius agreed with Philistus and decided to submit to anything rather than abandon the throne of his free will. Consequently he sent ambassadors to those in revolt and urged them to allow him and his companions to leave the city, while he secretly dispatched messengers to the Campanians and promised them any price they should ask for the duration of the siege.

9 1 After the events we have described the Syracusans, having given the tyrant permission to sail away with five ships, took matters with rather less concern; the cavalry, since they were of no use in the siege, they discharged, while as for the infantry, most of them roved off into the countryside, assuming that the tyranny was already at an end. 2 The Campanians, being elated at the promises they had  p33 received, first of all came to Agyrium, and leaving their baggage there with Agyris, the ruler of the city, they set forth unencumbered for Syracuse, being in number twelve hundred cavalry. 3 Completing the journey in quick time, they came upon the Syracusans unexpectedly and, slaying many of them, they forced their way through to Dionysius. At this same time three hundred mercenaries had also landed to aid the tyrant, so that his hopes revived. 4 The Syracusans, as the despotic power again gathered strength, were at odds among themselves, some maintaining that they should remain and continue the siege and others that they should disband their forces and abandon the city.

5 As soon as Dionysius learned of this, he led his army out against them, and falling on them while they were disordered, he easily routed them near the New City, as it is called. Not many of them, however, were slain, since Dionysius, riding among his men, stopped them from killing the fugitives. The Syracusans were forthwith scattered over the countryside, but a little later more than seven thousand of them were gathered with the cavalry at Aetnê. 6 Dionysius, after burying the Syracusans who had fallen, dispatched ambassadors to Aetnê, asking the exiles to accept terms and return to their native land, and giving his pledged word that he would not bear enmity against them. 7 Now certain of them, who had left behind children and wives, felt compelled to accept the offer; but the rest replied, when the ambassadors cited the benefaction Dionysius had performed in the burial of the dead, that he deserved the same favour, and they prayed to the gods that  p35 they might, the sooner the better, see him obtain it. 8 These men accordingly, who would by no means put any trust in the tyrant, remained in Aetnê, watching for an opportunity against him. Dionysius treated with humanity the exiles who returned, wishing to encourage the rest to return to their native land too. To the Campanians he awarded the gifts that were due and then dispatched them from the city, having regard to their fickleness. 9 These made their way to Entella and persuaded the men of the city to receive them as fellow-inhabitants; then they fell upon them by night, slew the men of military age, married the wives of the men with whom they had broken faith, and possessed themselves of the city.

10 1 In Greece the Lacedaemonians, now that they had brought the Peloponnesian War to an end, held the supremacy by common acknowledgement both on land and on sea. Appointing Lysander admiral, they ordered him to visit the cities and set up in each the magistrates they call harmosts;​17 for the Lacedaemonians, who had a dislike for the democracies, wished the cities to have oligarchic governments. 2 They also levied tribute upon the peoples they had conquered, and although before this time they had not used coined money, they now collected yearly from the tribute more than a thousand talents.18

When the Lacedaemonians had settled the affairs of Greece to their own taste, they dispatched Aristus,​19 one of their distinguished men, to Syracuse, ostensibly  p37 pretending that they would overthrow the government, but in truth with intent to increase the power of the tyranny; for they hoped that by helping to establish the rule of Dionysius they would obtain his ready service because of their benefactions to him. 3 Aristus, after having put ashore at Syracuse and discussed secretly with the tyrant the matters we have mentioned, kept stirring up the Syracusans and promised to restore their liberty; then he slew Nicoteles the Corinthian, a leader of the Syracusans, made strong the tyrant by betraying those who put their faith in him, and by such conduct brought disgrace both upon himself and upon his native land. 4 Dionysius, sending the Syracusans out to harvest their crops,​20 entered their homes and carried off the arms of them all; after this he built a second wall about the acropolis, constructed war vessels, and also collected a great number of mercenaries; and he made every other provision to safeguard the tyranny, since he had learned by experience that the Syracusans would endure anything to escape slavery.

11 1 While these events were taking place, Pharnabazus, the satrap​21 of King Darius, seized Alcibiades the Athenian and put him to death. But since Ephorus recounts that his death was sought for other reasons, I think it not unprofitable to set forth the plot against Alcibiades as the historian has described it. 2 He states in the Seventeenth Book that Cyrus and the Lacedaemonians were making secret plans for a joint war against Cyrus' brother Artaxerxes, and Alcibiades, learning of Cyrus' purpose from certain  p39 parties, went to Pharnabazus and told him of it in detail; and he asked him for someone to conduct him on a mission to Artaxerxes, since he wished to be the first to disclose the plot to the King. 3 But Pharnabazus, on hearing the story, usurped the function of reporter and sent trusted men to disclose the matter to the King. When Pharnabazus did not provide escorts to the capital, Ephorus continues, Alcibiades set out to the satrap of Paphlagonia in order to make the trip with his assistance; but Pharnabazus, fearing lest the King should hear the truth of the affair, sent men after Alcibiades to slay him on the road. 4 These came upon him where he had taken shelter in a village of Phrygia, and in the night enclosed the place with a mass of fuel. When a strong fire was kindled, Alcibiades endeavoured to save himself, but came to his death from the fire and the javelins of his attackers.22

5 About the same time Democritus​23 the philosopher died at the age of ninety. And Lasthenes the Theban, who was the victor in the Olympic Games of this year, won a race, we are told, against a race horse, the course being from Coroneia to the city of the Thebans.24

6 In Italy the Roman garrison of Erruca,​25 a city of the Volsci, was attacked by the enemy, who captured the city and slew most of the defenders.

12 1 When the events of this year had come to an  p41 end, Eucleides was archon in Athens, and in Rome four military tribunes succeeded to the consular magistracy, Publius Cornelius, Numerius Fabius, and Lucius Valerius.​26 2 After these magistrates had taken office, the Byzantines were in serious difficulties both because of factional strife and of a war that they were waging with the neighbouring Thracians; and since they were unable to devise a settlement of their mutual differences, they asked the Lacedaemonians for a general. The Spartans, accordingly, sent them Clearchus to bring order to the affairs of the city; 3 and he, after being entrusted with supreme authority, and having gathered a large body of mercenaries, was no longer their president but their tyrant. First of all, he invited their chief magistrates to attend a festival of some kind and put them to death, and after this, since there was no government in the city, he seized a group of thirty prominent Byzantines, put a cord about their necks, and strangled them to death. After appropriating for himself the property of those he had slain, he also picked out the wealthy among the rest of the citizens, and launching false charges against them, he put some to death and drove others into exile. Having thus acquired a large amount of money and assembled a great body of mercenaries, he made his tyrannical power secure.

4 When the cruelty and power of the tyrant became noised abroad, the Lacedaemonians first of all dispatched ambassadors to him to prevail upon him to lay down his tyrannical power, but when he paid no heed to their requests, they sent an army against him under the command of Panthoedas. 5 Clearchus,  p43 on learning of his approach, transferred his army to Selymbria, being master also of this city, for he assumed that after the many crimes he had committed against the Byzantines, he would have as enemies not only the Lacedaemonians, but also the inhabitants of the city. 6 Consequently, having decided that Selymbria would be a safer base for the war, he removed both his treasure and his army to that place. When he learned that the Lacedaemonians were close at hand, he advanced to meet them and joined battle with the troops of Panthoedas at the place called Porus. 7 The struggle lasted a long while, but the Lacedaemonians fought splendidly and the forces of the tyrant were destroyed. Clearchus with a few of his companions was at first shut up in Selymbria and besieged there, but later he was fearful and slipped away by night, and crossed over to Ionia, where he became intimate with Cyrus, the brother of the Persian King, and won command of his troops. 8 For Cyrus, who had been appointed supreme commander of the satrapies lying on the sea​27 and was afire with ambition, was planning to lead an army against his brother Artaxerxes. 9 Observing, therefore, that Clearchus possessed daring and a prompt boldness, he supplied him with funds and instructed him to enroll as many mercenaries as he could, believing that he would have in Clearchus an apt partner for his bold undertakings.

13 1 Lysander the Spartan, after he had introduced governments in all the cities under the Lacedaemonians in accordance with the will of the ephors, establishing a rule of ten men in some and oligarchies  p45 in others, was the cynosure of Sparta. For by bringing the Peloponnesian War to an end he had bestowed upon his native land the supreme power, acknowledged by all, both on land and on sea. 2 Consequently, he conceived the idea of putting an end to the kingship of the Heracleidae​28 and making every Spartan eligible to election as king; for he hoped that the kingship would very soon come to him because of his achievements, which were very great and glorious. 3 Knowing that the Lacedaemonians gave very great heed to the responses of oracles, he attempted to bribe the prophetess in Delphi, since he believed that, if he should receive an oracular response favourable to the designs he entertained, he should easily carry his project to a successful end. 4 But when he could not win over the attendants of the oracle, despite the large sum he promised them, he opened negotiations on the same matter with the priestesses of the oracle of Dodonê, through a certain Pherecrates, who was a native of Apollonia and intimate with the attendants of the shrine.

5 Meeting with no success, he made a journey to Cyrenê, offering as his reason payment of vows to Ammon,​29 but actually for the purpose of bribing the oracle; and he took with him a great sum of money with which he hoped to win over the attendants of the shrine. 6 And in fact Libys, the king of those regions, was a guest-friend of his father, and it so happened that Lysander's brother had been named Libys by reason of the friendship with the king.  p47 7 With the king's help, then, and the money he brought, he hoped to win them, but not only did he fail of his design, but the overseers of the oracle sent ambassadors to lay charges against Lysander for his effort to bribe the oracle. When Lysander arrived at Lacedaemon, a trial was proposed, but he presented a persuasive defence of his conduct. 8 Now at that time the Lacedaemonians knew nothing of Lysander's purpose to abolish the kings in line of descent from Heracles; but some time later, after his death, when some documents were being searched for in his house, they found a speech, composed at greatest expense,​30 which he had prepared to deliver to the people, to persuade them that the kings should be elected from all the citizens.

14 1 Dionysius, the tyrant of the Syracusans, after he had made peace with the Carthaginians and had got free of the uprisings in the city, was eager to attach to himself the neighbouring cities of the Chalcidians,​31 namely, Naxos, Catanê, and Leontini. 2 He was eager to be lord of them because they lay on the borders of Syracuse and possessed many advantages for further increase of his tyrannical power. First of all, then, he encamped near Aetnê and won the fortress, the exiles there being no match for an army of such size; 3 and after this he advanced to Leontini and pitched his camp near the city along the river Teria. Then he at first led out his army in battle-order and dispatched a herald to the Leontines, commanding them to surrender the city and  p49 believing that he had struck terror into the inhabitants. 4 But when the Leontines paid no attention to him and had made every preparation to withstand a siege, Dionysius, having no engines of war, gave up the siege for the time being, but plundered their entire territory. 5 From there he set out against the Siceli, pretending that he was engaging in war against them in order that the Catanians and Naxians might become slacker in the defence of their cities. 6 And while he was tarrying in the neighbourhood of Enna, he persuaded Aeimnestus, a native of the city, to make a bid for tyranny, promising to aid him in the undertaking. 7 But when Aeimnestus had succeeded in his design and then did not admit Dionysius into the city, Dionysius in anger changed sides and urged the Ennaeans to overthrow the tyrant. These streamed into the market-place with their arms, contending for their freedom, and the city was filled with tumult. 8 Dionysius, on learning of the strife, took his light-armed troops, speedily broke through an unoccupied place into the city, seized Aeimnestus, and handed him over to the Ennaeans to be punished. He himself, refraining from all injustice, departed from the city. This he did, not so much because he had regard for right as because he wanted to encourage the other cities to put faith in him.

15 1 From Enna Dionysius set out to the city of the Herbitaeans and attempted to ravage it. But accomplishing nothing, he made peace with them and led his army to Catanê, for Arcesilaüs, the general of the Catanians, had offered to betray the city to him.  p51 Consequently, being admitted by Arcesilaüs about midnight, he became master of Catanê. After taking their arms from the citizens, he placed an adequate garrison in the city. 2 After this Procles, the commander of the Naxians, on being won over by great promises, delivered over his native city to Dionysius, who, after paying the promised gifts to the traitor and granting him his kinsmen, sold the inhabitants into slavery, turned their property over to the soldiers to plunder, and razed the walls and the dwellings. 3 He also meted out a similar treatment to the Catanians, selling the captives he took as booty in Syracuse. Now the territory of the Naxians he gave as a present to the neighbouring Siceli and granted to the Campanians the city of the Catanians as their dwelling-place. 4 After this he advanced to Leontini with his entire armed strength and laid siege to the city, and sending ambassadors to the inhabitants, he ordered them to hand over their city and enjoy citizen­ship in Syracuse. The Leontines, expecting that they would receive no help and reflecting on the fate of the Naxians and Catanians, were struck with terror in fear that they would suffer the same misfortune. Consequently, yielding to the exigency of the moment, they assented to the proposal, left their city, and removed to Syracuse.

16 1 Archonides, the leader of Herbitê, after the citizen-body of the Herbitaeans had concluded peace with Dionysius, determined to found a city. For he had not only many mercenaries but also a mixed throng who had streamed into the city in connection with the war against Dionysius; and many of the destitute among the Herbitaeans had promised him to  p53 join in the colony. 2 Consequently, taking the multitude of refugees, he occupied a hill lying eight stades from the sea, on which he founded the city of Halaesa; and since there were other cities of Sicily with the same name, he called it Halaesa Archonidion after himself. 3 When, in later times, the city grew greatly both because of the trade by sea and because the Romans exempted it from tribute, the Halaesians denied their kinship with the Herbitaeans, holding it a disgrace to be deemed colonists of an inferior city. 4 Nevertheless, up to the present time numerous ties of relation­ships are to be found among both peoples, and they administer their sacrifices at the temple of Apollo with the same routine. But there are those who state that Halaesa was founded by the Carthaginians at the time when Himilcon concluded his peace with Dionysius.

5 In Italy a war arose between the Romans and the people of Veii for the following reasons.​32 In this campaign the Romans voted for the first time to give annual pay to the soldiers for their support. They also reduced by siege the city of the Volsci which was called at that time Anxor​33 but now has the name Tarracinê.

17 1 At the close of the year Micion was archon in Athens, and in Rome three military tribunes took over the consular magistracy, Titus Quinctius, Gaius Julius, and Aulus Mamilus. After these magistrates had entered office, the inhabitants of Oropus fell into civil strife and exiled some of their citizens. 2 For a  p55 time the exiles undertook to effect their return by their own resources, but finding themselves unable to carry through their purpose, they persuaded the Thebans to send an army to assist them. 3 The Thebans took the field against the Oropians, and becoming masters of the city, resettled the inhabitants some seven stades from the sea; and for some time they allowed them to have their own government, but after this they gave them Theban citizen­ship and attached their territory to Boeotia.

4 While these events were taking place, the Lacedaemonians brought a number of charges against the Eleians, the most serious being that they had prevented Agis, their king, from offering sacrifices to the god​34 and that they had not allowed the Lacedaemonians to compete in the Olympic Games. 5 Consequently, having decided to wage war on the Eleians, they dispatched ten ambassadors to them, ordering them, in the first place, to allow their subject cities to be independent, and after that they demanded of them their quota of the cost of the war against the Athenians. 6 This they did in quest of specious pretexts for themselves and of plausible openings for war. When the Eleians not only paid no heed to them but even accused them besides of enslaving the Greeks, they dispatched Pausanias, the other of their two kings, against them with four thousand soldiers. 7 He was accompanied by many soldiers also from practically all the allies except the Boeotians and Corinthians. They, being offended  p57 by the proceedings of the Lacedaemonians, took no part in the campaign against Elis.

8 Pausanias, then, entered Elis by way of Arcadia and straightway took the outpost of Lasion at the first assault; then, leading his army through Acroreia, he won to his side the four cities of Thraestus, Halium, Epitalium, and Opus. 9 Moving thence, he straightway encamped near Pylus and took this place, which was about seventy stades from Elis. After this, advancing to Elis proper, he pitched his camp on the hills across the river.​35 A short time before this the Eleians had got from the Aetolians a thousand élite troops to help them, to whom they had given the region about the gymnasion to guard. 10 When Pausanias first of all started to lay siege to this place, and in a careless manner, not supposing that the Eleians would ever dare to make a sortie against him, suddenly both the Aetolians and many of the citizens, pouring forth from the city, struck terror into the Lacedaemonians and slew some thirty of them. 11 At the time Pausanias raised the siege, but after this, since he saw that the city would be hard to take, he traversed its territory, laying it waste and plundering it, even though it was sacred soil, and gathered great stores of booty. 12 Since the winter was already at hand, he built walled outposts in Elis and left adequate forces in them, and himself passed the winter with the rest of the army in Dymê.

18 1 In Sicily Dionysius, the tyrant of the Siceli,​36 since his government was making satisfactory progress, determined to make war upon the Carthaginians;  p59 but being not yet sufficiently prepared, he concealed this purpose of his while making the necessary preparations for the coming encounters. 2 And realizing that in the war with Athens the city had been blocked off by a wall that ran from the sea to the sea,​37 he took care that he should never, when caught at a similar disadvantage, be cut off from contact with the countryside; for he saw that the site of Epipolae, as it is called, naturally commanded the city of the Syracusans. 3 Sending, therefore, for his master-builders, in accord with their advice he decided that he must fortify Epipolae at the point where there stands now the Wall with the Six Gates. 4 For this place, which faces north, is precipitous in its entirety, and so steep that access is hardly to be won from the outside. Wishing to complete the building of the walls rapidly, he gathered the peasants from the countryside, from whom he selected some sixty thousand capable men and parcelled out to them the space to be walled. 5 For each stade he appointed a master-builder and for each plethron​38 a mason, and the labourers from the common people assigned to the task numbered two hundred for each plethron. Besides these, other workers, a multitude in number, quarried out the rough stone, and six thousand yoke of oxen brought it to the appointed place. 6 And the united labour of so many workers struck the watchers with great amazement, since all were zealous to complete the task assigned them. For Dionysius, in order to excite the enthusiasm of the multitude,  p61 offered valuable gifts to such as finished first, special ones for the master-builders, and still others for the masons and in turn for the common labourers; and he in person, together with his friends, oversaw the work through all the days required, visiting every section and ever lending a hand to the toilers. 7º Speaking generally, he laid aside the dignity of his office and reduced himself to the ranks. Putting his hands to the hardest tasks, he endured the same toil as the other workers, so that great rivalry was engendered and some added even a part of the night to the day's labour, such eagerness had infected the multitude for the task. 8 As a result, contrary to expectation, the wall was brought to completion in twenty days. It was thirty stades in length and of corresponding height, and the added strength of the wall made it impregnable to assault; for there were lofty towers at frequent intervals and it was constructed of stones four feet long and carefully joined.

---

The Loeb Editor's Notes:

1 Damon in Diodorus' text.

❦

2 Abacaenê in Diodorus' text.

❦

3 Thibron in Diodorus' text.

❦

4 i.e. from 1184 B.C. to 405 B.C. Athens capitulated in April 404 B.C., but Diodorus' year is the Athenian archon year, in this case July 405 to July 404.

❦

5 The name of Pythodorus, the archon of the year, was not used by the Athenians to mark the year since he was not elected legally (cp. Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.1).

❦

6 Crocinas in Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.1).

❦

7 In the "stadion."

❦

8 Commander of the Spartan garrison and governor of the city.

❦

9 The speeches of Critias and Theramenes are given in Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.24‑49.

❦

10 i.e. of The Eleven, a Board which had charge of condemned prisoners and of the execution of the death sentence (cp. Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.54).

❦

11 A pancratiast (boxer and wrestler) whom Xenophon makes the chief character in his Symposium. See Plutarch, Lysander, 15.

❦

12 As victims.

❦

13 "Siceli" must be an error for "Sicilian Greeks" or "Syracusans."

❦

14 Ortygia.

❦

15 Cp. Book 13.112.

❦

16 Cp. Plutarch, Dion, 35.5.

❦

17 Governors from Sparta. After Aegospotami Lysander had appointed boards of ten citizens in each conquered city to form an oligarchic government. See Xenophon, Hell. 3.4.2.

❦

18 Diodorus is the only authority for such a figure, which can scarcely be credited.

❦

19 Named Aretes in chap. 70.3.

❦

20 Wurm suggests "sending them to the theatre."

❦

21 Satrap of Phrygia and Bithynia.

❦

22 A very different account of the circumstances of the murder of Alcibiades is given by Plutarch, Alcibiades, 38.3 f.

❦

23 The famous developer of the "atomic" theory.

❦

24 A distance of about thirty miles.

❦

25 Verrugo (Livy, 4.58).

❦

26 Most of the manuscripts add "and Terentius Maximus."

❦

27 The Aegean Sea. Xenophon (Anab. 1.1.2) states that he had been made "general of all the forces that muster in the plain of Castolus."

❦

28 The two lines of Spartan kings claimed to be "Descendants of Heracles."

❦

29 Zeus-Ammon, whose shrine was in the Oasis of Siwah.

❦

30 Or more likely, "composed with great care"; see critical note.

❦

31 i.e. colonies of Chalcis.

❦

32 There is probably a lacuna here. The "reasons" are given in Livy, 4.58.

❦

33 Anxur.

❦

34 Olympian Zeus.

❦

35 The Peneus.

❦

36 See note 1, p25.

❦

37 See Book 13.7.

❦

38 The sixth of a stade, roughly one hundred feet.

◂ previous						next ▸
Images with borders lead to more information. The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)
Thanks to Jona Lendering of Livius for sharing in the labor of proofreading the Web transcription of this Book.
UP TO:		Diodorus	Latin & Greek Texts	LacusCurtius	Home
A page or image on this site is in the public domain ONLY if its URL has a total of one *asterisk. If the URL has two **asterisks, the item is copyright someone else, and used by permission or fair use. If the URL has none the item is © Bill Thayer. See my copyright page for details and contact information.

Accessibility