Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/2/2025, 10:00:27 PM
Added description
@agathocles:person {full_name: "Agathocles", role: "Tyrian ruler of Syracuse", active: @date_307}
@agatharchus:person {full_name: "Agatharchus", role: "Son of Agathocles, commander in Libya"}
@archagathus:person {full_name: "Archagathus", role: "General left by Agathocles in Libya"}
@xenodocus:person {full_name: "Xenodocus", role: "General of the Acragantines"}
@leptines:person {full_name: "Leptines", role: "Sicilian commander"}
@demophilus:person {full_name: "Demophilus", role: "Sicilian commander"}
@eumachus:person {full_name: "Eumachus", role: "Commander under Archagathus"}
@deinocrates:person {full_name: "Deinocrates", role: "Leader of the exiles, champion of liberty"}
@hippu_acra:place {description: "Citadel known as 'the cape of the horse', identified with modern Bisertê"}
@centoripa:place {ancient_city: true}
@apollonia:place {ancient_city: true}
@pithecusae:place {ancient_city: true, meaning: "Greek for 'ape islands'"}
@phelline:place {ancient_city: true}
@meschela:place {ancient_city: true, founded_by: "Greek colonists from Troy"}
@miltine:place {ancient_city: true}
@acris:place {ancient_city: true}
@acris:place {ancient_city: true}
@selinus:place {ancient_city: true}
@heraclea:place {ancient_city: true}
@therma:place {ancient_city: true}
@cephaloedium:place {ancient_city: true}
@nomads:people {description: "Nomadic peoples of interior Libya"}
@phoenicians:people {description: "Phoenician settlers occupying Carthage"}
@libyphoenicians:people {description: "Libyan-Phoenician mixed communities along the coast"}
@libyan:people {description: "Indigenous Libyan population"}
@acragantines:people {description: "Inhabitants of Acragas (modern Agrigento)"}
@archagathus:person {full_name: "Archagathus", role: "General left by Agathocles in Libya"}
@siege_hippu_acra:event {description: "Siege and capture of Hippu Acra by Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @hippu_acra}
@division_libya:event {description: "Division of Libya among four peoples", when: @date_307, where: @libya}
@battle_acragas:event {description: "Battle between Xenodocus and Agathocles' forces near Acragas", when: @date_307, where: @acragantines}
@capture_selinus:event {description: "Capture of Selinus by Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @selinus}
@capture_heraclea:event {description: "Capture of Heraclea by Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @heraclea}
@capture_therma:event {description: "Treaty and safe conduct granted to Therma by Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @therma}
@capture_cephaloedium:event {description: "Capture of Cephaloedium by Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @cephaloedium}
@capture_tocae:event {description: "Capture of Tocae by Eumachus", when: @date_307, where: @tocae:place {ancient_city: true}}
@capture_phelline:event {description: "Capture of Phelline by Archagathus", when: @date_307, where: @phelline}
@capture_meschela:event {description: "Capture of Meschela by Archagathus", when: @date_307, where: @meschela}
@capture_acris:event {description: "Capture of Acris by Archagathus", when: @date_307, where: @acris}
@capture_miltine:event {description: "Capture of Miltine by Archagathus", when: @date_307, where: @miltine}
@capture_pithecusae:event {description: "Capture of Pithecusae by Eumachus", when: @date_307, where: @pithecusae}
@campaign_libya:event {description: "Agathocles' military campaign in Libya", when: @date_307, where: @libya}
@campaign_sicily:event {description: "Agathocles' military operations in Sicily", when: @date_307, where: @sicily}
@deinocrates_rebellion:event {description: "Deinocrates' uprising against Agathocles", when: @date_307, where: @libya}
@file_pinax -> documents -> @campaign_libya:event {source: "PINAX metadata"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_295 -> documents -> @siege_hippu_acra:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_295 -> documents -> @division_libya:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_297 -> documents -> @battle_acragas:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_297 -> documents -> @capture_selinus:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_297 -> documents -> @capture_heraclea:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_297 -> documents -> @capture_therma:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_297 -> documents -> @capture_cephaloedium:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_299 -> documents -> @centoripa:place
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_299 -> documents -> @apollonia:place
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_299 -> documents -> @pithecusae:place
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_299 -> documents -> @deinocrates_rebellion:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_301 -> documents -> @capture_tocae:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_301 -> documents -> @capture_phelline:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_301 -> documents -> @capture_meschela:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_301 -> documents -> @capture_acris:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_301 -> documents -> @capture_miltine:event
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_303 -> documents -> @capture_pithecusae:event
@agathocles -> led -> @campaign_libya:event
@agathocles -> led -> @campaign_sicily:event
@agathocles -> commanded -> @siege_hippu_acra:event
@agathocles -> appointed -> @archagathus:person {role: "General in Libya"}
@agathocles -> appointed -> @agatharchus:person {role: "Commander of fleet to Sicily"}
@archagathus -> commanded -> @capture_tocae:event
@archagathus -> commanded -> @capture_phelline:event
@archagathus -> commanded -> @capture_meschela:event
@archagathus -> commanded -> @capture_acris:event
@archagathus -> commanded -> @capture_miltine:event
@eumachus -> commanded -> @capture_pithecusae:event
@xenodocus -> opposed -> @agathocles:person
@xenodocus -> fought at -> @battle_acragas:event
@leptines -> co-led -> @battle_acragas:event
@demophilus -> co-led -> @battle_acragas:event
@deinocrates -> led -> @deinocrates_rebellion:event
@deinocrates -> gathered -> @people:people {count: 20000, type: "foot-soldiers"} {when: @date_307}
@deinocrates -> gathered -> @people:people {count: 1500, type: "mounted men"} {when: @date_307}Diodorus of Sicily ἱερὰ καταφευγόντων δι᾿ ὀργῆς αὐτοὺς ἔχων φόνου τὴν πόλιν ἐπλήρωσε. τοὺς μὲν γὰρ ἐν χειρῶν νόμῳ διέφθειρε, τοὺς δ᾿ ἁλόντας ἐκρέμασε, τοὺς δ᾿ ἐπὶ θεῶν ἱερὰ καὶ βωμοὺς καταφυγόντας διαψευσθῆναι 3τῆς ἐλπίδος ἐποίησεν. διαφορήσας δὲ τὰς κτήσεις καὶ φυλακὴν ἀπολιπὼν ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως ἐστρατοπέδευσεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἵππου καλουμένην ἄκραν, ὠχυρωμένην φυσικῶς τῇ παρακειμένῃ λίμνῃ. πολιορκήσας δὲ αὐτὴν ἐνεργῶς καὶ τῶν ἐγχωρίων ναυμαχίᾳ περιγενόμενος κατὰ κράτος εἷλε. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ τρόπῳ τὰς πόλεις χειρωσάμενος τῶν τε ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ τόπων τῶν πλείστων ἐκυρίευσεν καὶ τῶν τὴν μεσόγειον οἰκούντων πλὴν τῶν Νομάδων· ὧν τινὲς μὲν φιλίαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐποιήσαντο, τινὲς δ᾿ 4ἐκαραδόκουν τὴν τῶν ὅλων κρίσιν. τέτταρα γὰρ τὴν Λιβύην διείληφε γένη, Φοίνικες μὲν οἱ τὴν Καρχηδόνα τότε κατοικοῦντες, Λιβυφοίνικες δὲ πολλὰς ἔχοντες πόλεις ἐπιθαλαττίους καὶ κοινωνοῦντες τοῖς Καρχηδονίοις ἐπιγαμίας, οἷς ἀπὸ τῆς συμπεπλεγμένης συγγενείας συνέβη τυχεῖν ταύτης τῆς προσηγορίας· ὁ δὲ πολὺς λαὸς τῶν ἐγχωρίων, ἀρχαιότατος ὤν, Λίβυς ὠνομάζετο, μισῶν διαφερόντως τοὺς Καρχηδονίους διὰ τὸ βάρος τῆς ἐπιστασίας· οἱ δὲ τελευταῖοι Νομάδες ὑπῆρχον, πολλὴν τῆς Λιβύης νεμόμενοι μέχρι τῆς ἐρήμου. 5Ἀγαθοκλῆς δὲ τοῖς μὲν κατὰ Λιβύην συμμάχοις καὶ ταῖς δυνάμεσιν ὑπερέχων τῶν Καρχηδονίων, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐν Σικελίᾳ πραγμάτων ἀγωνιῶν ἄφρακτα καὶ πεντηκοντόρους ναυπηγησάμενος ἐνεβίβασε 294Book XX Agathocles, enraged as he was against them, filled 307 b.c. the city with slaughter. Some he killed in hand-to-hand fighting; those who were captured he hanged, and those who had fled to temples and altars of the gods he cheated of their hopes. When he had sacked the movable property, he left a garrison in possession of the city, and led his army into position against the place called Hippu Acra,1 which was made naturally strong by the marsh that lay before it. After laying siege to this with vigour and getting the better of its people in a naval battle, he took it by storm. When he had conquered the cities in this way, he became master both of most of the places along the sea and of the peoples dwelling in the interior except the Nomads, of whom some arrived at terms of friendship with him and some awaited the final issue. For four stocks have divided Libya: the Phoenicians, who at that time occupied Carthage; the Libyphoenicians, who have many cities along the sea and intermarry with the Carthaginians, and who received this name as a result of the interwoven ties of kinship. Of the inhabitants the race that was most numerous and oldest was called Libyan, and they hated the Carthaginians with a special bitterness because of the weight of their overlordship; and last were the Nomads, who pastured their herds over a large part of Libya as far as the desert. Now that Agathocles was superior to the Carthaginians by reason of his Libyan allies and his own armies but was much troubled about the situation in Sicily, he constructed light ships and penteconters 1Literally, “The citadel of the horse” or “The cape of the horse,” identified with Hippos Diarrhytus, the modern Bisertê; cp. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte2, 4. 1. 195, note 2. Here Agathocles gathered material for the construction of his fleet, Appian, African Wars, 110.295
Diodorus of Sicily στρατιώτας δισχιλίους. καταλιπὼν δὲ τῶν ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ πραγμάτων στρατηγὸν Ἀγάθαρχον τὸν υἱὸν ἀνήχθη ταῖς ναυσίν, ἐπὶ Σικελίαν τὸν πλοῦν ποιούμενος. 56. Ἅμα δὲ τούτοις πραττομένοις Ξενόδοκος ὁ τῶν Ἀκραγαντίνων στρατηγὸς πολλὰς μὲν τῶν πόλεων ἠλευθερωκώς, ἐλπίδας δὲ μεγάλας παρεσχηκὼς τοῖς Σικελιώταις τῆς καθ᾿ ὅλην τὴν νῆσον αὐτονομίας ἐξήγαγε τὴν δύναμιν ἐπὶ τοὺς Ἀγαθοκλέους στρατηγούς, οὖσαν πεζῶν μὲν πλειόνων ἢ μυρίων, 2ἱππέων δὲ σχεδὸν χιλίων. οἱ δὲ περὶ Λεπτίνην καὶ Δημόφιλον ἐκ τῶν Συρακουσσῶν καὶ τῶν φρουρίων ἐπιλέξαντες ὅσους ἠδύναντο πλείστους1 ἀντεστρατοπέδευσαν πεζοῖς μὲν ὀκτακισχιλίοις καὶ διακοσίοις, ἱππεῦσι δὲ χιλίοις καὶ διακοσίοις. γενομένης οὖν παρατάξεως ἰσχυρᾶς ἡττηθεὶς ὁ Ξενόδοκος ἔφυγεν εἰς τὸν Ἀκράγαντα καὶ τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀπέβαλεν οὐκ ἐλάττους τῶν χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων. 3οἱ μὲν οὖν Ἀκραγαντῖνοι ταύτῃ τῇ συμφορᾷ περιπεσόντες διέλυσαν ἑαυτῶν μὲν τὴν καλλίστην ἐπιβολήν, τῶν δὲ συμμάχων τὰς τῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐλπίδας· Ἀγαθοκλῆς δὲ τῆς μάχης ἄρτι γεγενημένης καταπλεύσας τῆς Σικελίας εἰς Σελινοῦντα Ἡρακλεώτας μὲν ἠλευθερωκότας τὴν πόλιν ἠνάγκασε πάλιν ὑποτάττεσθαι, παρελθὼν δὲ ἐπὶ θάτερον μέρος τῆς νήσου Θερμίτας μὲν προσαγαγόμενος ὑποσπόνδους ἀφῆκε τῶν Καρχηδονίων τοὺς φρουροῦντας2 ταύτην τὴν πόλιν, Κεφαλοίδιον δὲ ἐκπολιορκήσας Λεπτίνην μὲν ταύτης ἐπιμελητὴν 1ὅσους ἠδύναντο πλείστους Dindorf: οὓς ἠδύναντο πλείους.2τοὺς φρουροῦντας Reiske, Madvig; approved by Fischer in apparatus φρουρούντων.296Book XX and placed upon them two thousand soldiers.1 Leaving 307 b.c. his son Agatharchus2 in command of affairs in Libya, he put out with his ships and made the voyage to Sicily. 56. While this was happening, Xenodocus,3 the general of the Acragantines, having freed many of the cities and roused in the Sicilians great hopes of autonomy throughout the whole island, led his army against the generals of Agathocles. It consisted of more than ten thousand foot-soldiers and nearly a thousand horsemen. Leptines and Demophilus, assembling from Syracuse and the fortresses as many men as they could, took up a position opposite him with eighty-two hundred foot-soldiers and twelve hundred horse. In a bitter fight that ensued, Xenodocus was defeated and fled to Acragas, losing not less than fifteen hundred of his soldiers. The people of Acragas after meeting with this reverse put an end to their own most noble enterprise and, at the same time, to their allies’ hopes of freedom. Shortly after this battle had taken place, Agathocles put in at Selinus in Sicily and forced the people of Heraclea, who had made their city free, to submit to him once more. Having crossed to the other side of the island, he attached to himself by a treaty the people of Therma, granting safe conduct to the Carthaginian garrison. Then, after taking Cephaloedium and leaving Leptines as its governor, he himself marched 1The fleet was constructed at Hippu Acra, cp. Appian, African Wars, 110.2Usually called Archagathus, cp. chap. 11. 1, and note.3Cp. chap. 31. 4.297
Diodorus of Sicily ἀπέλιπεν, αὐτὸς δὲ διὰ τῆς μεσογείου ποιούμενος τὴν πορείαν ἐπεβάλετο μὲν νυκτὸς εἰς τὰ Κεντόριπα παρεισπεσεῖν εἰσδεχομένων αὐτόν τινων πολιτικῶν ἀνδρῶν, καταφανοῦς δὲ τῆς ἐπιβουλῆς γενομένης καὶ τῶν φρουρῶν παραβοηθησάντων ἐξέπεσεν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, ἀποβαλὼν τῶν στρατιωτῶν πλείους 4πεντακοσίων. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτά τινων ἐκ τῆς Ἀπολλωνίας μεταπεμπομένων αὐτὸν καὶ τὴν πατρίδα προδώσειν ἐπαγγελλομένων ἧκε πρὸς τὴν πόλιν· τῶν δὲ προδοτῶν καταφανῶν γενομένων καὶ κολασθέντων κατὰ μὲν πρώτην ἡμέραν πολιορκήσας ἄπρακτος ἐγένετο, τῇ δ᾿ ὑστεραίᾳ πολλὰ κακοπαθήσας καὶ συχνοὺς ἀποβαλὼν μόλις εἷλε τὴν πόλιν καὶ τῶν Ἀπολλωνιατῶν τοὺς πλείστους ἀποσφάξας διήρπασε τὰς κτήσεις. 57. Τούτου δὲ περὶ ταῦτ᾿ ὄντος Δεινοκράτης ὁ τῶν φυγάδων ἡγούμενος ἀναλαβὼν τὴν Ἀκραγαντίνων προαίρεσιν καὶ προστάτην αὑτὸν ἀναδείξας τῆς κοινῆς ἐλευθερίας ἐποίησε πολλοὺς ἁπανταχόθεν 2συνδραμεῖν πρὸς αὐτόν· οἱ μὲν γὰρ διὰ τὴν ἔμφυτον πᾶσιν ἐπιθυμίαν τῆς αὐτονομίας, οἱ δὲ διὰ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέους φόβον προθύμως ὑπήκουον τοῖς παραγγελλομένοις. ἠθροισμένων δ᾿ αὐτῷ1 πεζῶν μὲν οὐ πολὺ ἐλάττων δισμυρίων, ἱππέων δὲ χιλίων καὶ πεντακοσίων καὶ πάντων τούτων ἐν φυγαῖς καὶ μελέταις τοῦ πονεῖν συνεχῶς γεγονότων κατεστρατοπέδευσεν ἐν ὑπαίθρῳ, προκαλούμενος τῇ μάχῃ 3τὸν δυνάστην. τοῦ δ᾿ Ἀγαθοκλέους λειπομένου πολὺ ταῖς δυνάμεσι καὶ φυγομαχοῦντος ἐκ ποδὸς ἠκολούθει συνεχῶς, ἀκονητὶ περιπεποιημένος τὴν νίκην. Ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα 1αὐτῷ Dindorf: αὐτῶν.298Book XX through the interior and attempted to slip by night 307 b.c. into Centoripa, where some of the citizens were to admit him. When their plan was discovered, however, and the guard came to the defence, he was thrown out of the city, losing more than five hundred of his soldiers. Thereupon, men from Apollonia having invited him and promised to betray their fatherland, he came to that city. As the traitors had become known and had been punished, he attacked the city but without effect for the first day, and on the next, after suffering heavily and losing a large number of men, he barely succeeded in taking it. After slaughtering most of the Apolloniates, he plundered their possessions. 57. While Agathocles was engaged on these matters, Deinocrates, the leader of the exiles, taking over the policy of the Acragantines and proclaiming himself champion of the common liberty, caused many to flock to him from all sides; for some eagerly gave ear to his appeals because of the desire for independence inborn in all men, and others because of their fear of Agathocles. When Deinocrates had collected almost twenty thousand foot-soldiers and fifteen hundred mounted men, all of them men who had had uninterrupted experience of exile and hardship, he camped in the open, challenging the tyrant to battle. However, when Agathocles, who was far inferior in strength, avoided battle, he steadily followed on his heels, having secured his victory without a struggle. From this time on the fortunes of Agathocles, not 299
Diodorus of Sicily συνέβαινε πρὸς τὸ χεῖρον μεταβάλλειν οὐ μόνον τὰ κατὰ Σικελίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ κατὰ Λιβύην 4πράγματα. Ἀρχάγαθος γὰρ ὁ καταλειφθεὶς ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ στρατηγὸς μετὰ τὴν ἀναγωγὴν τοῦ πατρὸς τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐπλεονέκτει, πέμψας εἰς τοὺς ἄνω τόπους μέρος τι τῆς δυνάμεως, ἧς ἦν ἡγεμὼν Εὔμαχος. οὗτος γὰρ Τώκας πόλιν εὐμεγέθη χειρωσάμενος πολλοὺς προσηγάγετο τῶν πλησίον κατοικούντων 5Νομάδων. εἶθ᾿ ἑτέραν ἐκπολιορκήσας, τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Φελλίνην, ἠνάγκασε πειθαρχεῖν τοὺς τὴν ἑξῆς χώραν νεμομένους, τοὺς καλουμένους Ἀσφοδελώδεις, ὄντας τῷ χρώματι παραπλησίους τοῖς 6Αἰθίοψι. τρίτην δ᾿ εἷλε Μεσχέλαν, μεγίστην οὖσαν, ᾠκισμένην δὲ τὸ παλαιὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐκ Τροίας ἀνακομιζομένων Ἑλλήνων, περὶ ὧν ἐν τῇ τρίτῃ βίβλῳ προειρήκαμεν, ἑξῆς δὲ τὴν ὀνομαζομένην ἄκραν Ἵππου τὴν ὁμώνυμον τῇ χειρωθείσῃ κατὰ κράτος ὑπ᾿ Ἀγαθοκλέους καὶ τελευταίαν τὴν προσαγορευομένην Ἀκρίδα πόλιν αὐτόνομον, ἣν ἐξανδραποδισάμενος ἐξέδωκε τοῖς στρατιώταις διαρπάσαι. 58. Ἐμπλήσας δ᾿ ὠφελείας τὸ στρατόπεδον κατέβη πρὸς τοὺς περὶ τὸν Ἀρχάγαθον καὶ δόξας ἀγαθὸς ἀνὴρ γεγονέναι πάλιν ἐστράτευσεν εἰς τοὺς ἄνω τῆς Λιβύης τόπους. ὑπερβαλὼν δὲ τὰς πόλεις ὧν πρότερον ἐγεγόνει κύριος, παρεισέπεσεν εἰς τὴν καλουμένην Μιλτινὴν πόλιν, ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐπιφανείς· 2συστραφέντων δ᾿ ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν τῶν βαρβάρων καὶ κρατησάντων ἐν ταῖς ὁδοῖς ἐξεβλήθη παραλόγως καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν στρατιωτῶν ἀπέβαλεν. ἐντεῦθεν 300Book XX only in Sicily but also in Libya, suffered a change for 307 b.c. the worse. Archagathus, who had been left by him as general, after the departure of his father at first gained some advantage by sending into the inland regions a part of the army under the command of Eumachus. This leader, after taking the rather large city of Tocae, won over many of the Nomads who dwelt near by. Then, capturing another city called Phellinê, he forced the submission of those who used the adjacent country as pasture, men called the Asphodelodes,1 who are similar to the Ethiopians in colour. The third city that he took was Meschela, which was very large and had been founded long ago by the Greeks who were returning from Troy, about whom we have already spoken in the third Book.2 Next he took the place called Hippu Acra, which has the same name as that captured by storm by Agathocles,3 and finally the free city called Acris, which he gave to his soldiers for plundering after he had enslaved the people.4 58. After sating his army with booty, he returned to Archagathus; and since he had gained a name for good service, he again led an army into the inland regions of Libya. Passing by the cities that he had previously mastered, he gained an entrance into the city called Miltinê, having appeared before it without warning; but when the barbarians gathered together against him and overpowered him in the streets, he was, to his great surprise, driven out and lost many of his men. Departing thence, he marched through 1The name means “like the asphodel.”2There is nothing about this incident in Book 3; and chronologically it belongs in Book 7, of which only fragments are extant; cp. Vol. III. pp. 358–359.3Cp. chap. 55. 3.4None of the cities or peoples mentioned in this paragraph can be identified with certainty.301
Diodorus of Sicily δ᾿ ἀναζεύξας προῆγεν δι᾿ ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ παρήκοντος ἐπὶ σταδίους διακοσίους, πλήρους δ᾿ ὄντος αἰλούρων, ἐν ᾧ συνέβαινε μηδὲν ὅλως πτηνὸν νεοττεύειν μήτε ἐπὶ τοῖς δένδρεσι μήτε ἐν1 ταῖς φάραγξι διὰ τὴν 3ἀλλοτριότητα τῶν προειρημένων ζῴων. διελθὼν δὲ τὴν ὀρεινὴν ταύτην ἐνέβαλεν εἰς χώραν ἔχουσαν πλῆθος πιθήκων καὶ πόλεις τρεῖς τὰς ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ζῴων ὀνομαζομένας εἰς τὸν Ἑλληνικὸν τρόπον 4τῆς διαλέκτου μεθερμηνευομένας Πιθηκούσσας. ἐν δὲ ταύταις οὐκ ὀλίγα τῶν νομίμων πολὺ παρήλλαττε τῶν παρ᾿ ἡμῖν. τάς τε γὰρ αὐτὰς οἰκίας οἱ πίθηκοι κατῴκουν τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, θεοὶ παρ᾿ αὐτοῖς νομιζόμενοι καθάπερ παρ᾿ Αἰγυπτίοις οἱ κύνες, ἔκ τε τῶν παρεσκευασμένων ἐν τοῖς ταμιείοις τὰ ζῷα τὰς τροφὰς ἐλάμβανον ἀκωλύτως ὁπότε βούλοιντο. καὶ τὰς προσηγορίας δ᾿ ἐτίθεσαν οἱ γονεῖς τοῖς παισὶ κατὰ τὸ πλεῖστον ἀπὸ τῶν πιθήκων, 5ὥσπερ παρ᾿ ἡμῖν ἀπὸ τῶν θεῶν. τοῖς δ᾿ ἀποκτείνασι τοῦτο τὸ ζῷον ὡς ἠσεβηκόσι τὰ μέγιστα θάνατος ὥριστο πρόστιμον· διὸ δὴ καὶ παρά τισιν ἐνίσχυσεν ἐν παροιμίας μέρει λεγόμενον ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνατεὶ κτεινομένων ὅτι πιθήκου αἷμ᾿ ἀποτίσειαν. 6ὁ δ᾿ οὖν Εὔμαχος μίαν μὲν τούτων τῶν πόλεων ἑλὼν κατὰ κράτος διήρπασε, τὰς δὲ δύο προσηγάγετο. πυνθανόμενος δὲ τοὺς περιοικοῦντας βαρβάρους ἀθροίζειν ἐπ᾿ αὐτὸν μεγάλας δυνάμεις προῆγε συντονώτερον, διεγνωκὼς ἐπανιέναι πρὸς τοὺς ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ τόπους. 59. Μέχρι μὲν δὴ τούτων τῶν καιρῶν ἐν τῇ 1ἐν Reiske: ἐπὶ.302Book XX a high mountain range that extended for about two 307 b.c. hundred stades1 and was full of wildcats,2 in which, accordingly, no birds whatever nested either among the trees or the ravines because of the rapacity of the aforementioned beasts. Crossing this range, he came out into a country containing a large number of apes and to three cities called from these beasts Pithecusae,3 if the name is translated into the Greek language. In these cities many of the customs were very different from those current among us. For the apes lived in the same houses as the men, being regarded among them as gods, just as the dogs are among the Egyptians,4 and from the provisions laid up in the storerooms the beasts took their food without hindrance whenever they wished. Parents usually gave their children names taken from the apes, just as we do from the gods. For any who killed this animal, as if he had committed the greatest sacrilege, death was established as the penalty. For this reason, among some there was current a proverbial saying about those slain with impunity that they were paying the penalty for a monkey’s blood. However this may be, Eumachus, after taking one of these cities by storm, destroyed it, but the other two he won over by persuasion. When, however, he heard that the neighbouring barbarians were collecting great forces against him, he pushed on more vigorously, having decided to go back to the regions by the sea. 59. Up to this time all the campaign in Libya had 303
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