Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/2/2025, 10:01:20 PM
Added description
@diodorus_siculus:person {full_name: "Diodorus of Sicily", occupation: "Historian"}
@book_xx:document {title: "Book XX of Bibliotheca Historica", author: @diodorus_siculus, year: @date_307_BCE, language: "Greek", subjects: ["Ancient History","Carthage","Libya","Agathocles","Archagathus","Military Campaigns"]}
@file_pinax -> documents -> @book_xx:document {description: "Metadata record for Book XX, pages 305‑313"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_305 -> contains -> @book_xx:document {pages: "305‑306"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_307 -> contains -> @book_xx:document {pages: "307‑308"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_309 -> contains -> @book_xx:document {pages: "309‑310"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_311 -> contains -> @book_xx:document {pages: "311‑312"}
@file_diodorus_siculus_volume_x_book_xx_page_313 -> contains -> @book_xx:document {pages: "313"}
@libya:place {region: "North Africa"}
@carthage:place {city: "Carthage", country: @tunisia, era: "Punic"}
@sicily:place {island: "Sicily", country: @italy}
@tunis:place {city: "Tunis", country: @tunisia}
@acragas:place {city: "Acragas", modern_name: "Agrigento", country: @italy}
@tunisia:place {modern_country: "Tunisia"}
@italy:place {modern_country: "Italy"}
@archagathus:person {full_name: "Archagathus", role: "Carthaginian commander"}
@agathocles:person {full_name: "Agathocles", role: "Sicilian tyrant"}
@himilco:person {full_name: "Himilco", role: "Carthaginian commander"}
@hanno:person {full_name: "Hanno", role: "Carthaginian commander"}
@eumachus:person {full_name: "Eumachus", role: "Carthaginian officer"}
@atarbas:person {full_name: "Atarbas", role: "Carthaginian commander"}
@leptines:person {full_name: "Leptines", role: "Sicilian commander"}
@xenodocus:person {full_name: "Xenodocus", role: "Carthaginian noble"}
@agathocles_campaign_libya:event {description: "Agathocles' Libyan campaign against Carthage", start: @date_307_BCE, location: @libya}
@siege_of_carthage:event {description: "Siege of Carthage during the Libyan campaign", when: @date_307_BCE, location: @carthage}
@naval_battle_agathocles:event {description: "Naval battle where Agathocles defeated Carthaginian fleet", when: @date_307_BCE, location: @carthage}
@campaign_sicily:event {description: "Sicilian operations concurrent with Libyan war", when: @date_307_BCE, location: @sicily}
@battle_eumachus:event {description: "Engagement involving Eumachus and Carthaginian forces", when: @date_307_BCE, location: @carthage}
@archagathus -> commanded -> @siege_of_carthage:event
@archagathus -> ordered -> @archagathus:person {action: "sent three armies from Carthage"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@archagathus -> sent -> @army_coast:entity {size: "30,000 soldiers", destination: @carthage_coast:place}
@archagathus -> sent -> @army_midland:entity {size: "30,000 soldiers", destination: @carthage_midland:place}
@archagathus -> sent -> @army_interior:entity {size: "30,000 soldiers", destination: @carthage_interior:place}
@army_coast:entity {type: "army"}
@army_midland:entity {type: "army"}
@army_interior:entity {type: "army"}
@carthage_coast:place {subregion: "coastal cities"}
@carthage_midland:place {subregion: "midland region"}
@carthage_interior:place {subregion: "interior"}
@archagathus -> reported -> @siege_of_carthage:event {outcome: "relief of siege, food scarcity alleviated"}
@agathocles -> led -> @agathocles_campaign_libya:event
@agathocles -> built -> @fleet_agathocles:entity {warships: 17, purpose: "aid Archagathus"}
@fleet_agathocles:entity {type: "naval fleet"}
@agathocles -> dispatched -> @fleet_agathocles:entity {destination: @carthage, when: @date_307_BCE}
@agathocles -> ordered -> @leptines:person {action: "plunder Acragas"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@leptines -> plundered -> @acragas:place {result: "captured"}
@himilco -> commanded -> @army_interior:entity {action: "interior campaign"}
@himilco -> left -> @garrison_tunis:entity {size: "adequate"}
@garrison_tunis:entity {type: "garrison", location: @tunis}
@hanno -> ambushed -> @aeschrion:person {casualties: {"foot_soldiers": 4000, "horsemen": 200}} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@aeschrion:person {full_name: "Aeschrion", role: "Carthaginian officer"}
@eumachus -> confronted -> @himilco:person {outcome: "retreated"}
@atarbas -> stationed -> @army_atarbas:entity {distance_from_tunis: "100 stades"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@army_atarbas:entity {type: "army"}
@archagathus -> returned -> @tunis:place {after: @siege_of_carthage:event}
@archagathus -> sent -> @messenger:entity {destination: @sicily, content: "report to father"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@messenger:entity {type: "messenger"}
@agathocles -> achieved -> @naval_battle_agathocles:event {result: "victory"}
@agathocles -> ruled -> @sea:place {control: "Carthaginian waters"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@sea:place {description: "Mediterranean Sea around Carthage"}
@agathocles -> supplied -> @syracuse:place {goods: "abundant"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@syracuse:place {city: "Syracuse", country: @italy}
@agathocles -> ordered -> @leptines:person {action: "attack Xenodocus"} {when: @date_307_BCE}
@xenodocus -> opposed -> @leptines:person {outcome: "defeated"}
@archagathus -> suffered -> @battle_eumachus:event {outcome: "defeat"}Diodorus of Sicily Λιβύῃ κατὰ νοῦν ἅπαντα τὰ πράγματα τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀρχάγαθον ἦν. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῆς γερουσίας ἐν Καρχηδόνι βουλευσαμένης περὶ τοῦ πολέμου καλῶς ἔδοξε τοῖς συνέδροις τρία στρατόπεδα ποιήσαντας ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκπέμψαι, τὸ μὲν ἐπὶ τὰς παραθαλαττίους πόλεις, τὸ δ᾿ εἰς τὴν μεσόγειον, 2τὸ δ᾿ εἰς τοὺς ἄνω τόπους. ἐνόμιζον γὰρ τοῦτο πράξαντες πρῶτον μὲν τὴν πόλιν ἀπαλλάξειν τῆς πολιορκίας ἅμα δὲ καὶ τῆς σιτοδείας· πολλῶν γὰρ καὶ παντοδαπῶν ὄχλων συμπεφευγότων εἰς τὴν Καρχηδόνα συνέβαινε πάντων γεγονέναι σπάνιν, ἐξανηλωμένων ἤδη τῶν ἐπιτηδείων· ἀπὸ1 δὲ τῆς πολιορκίας οὐκ ἦν κίνδυνος, ἀπροσίτου τῆς πόλεως οὔσης διὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν τειχῶν καὶ τῆς θαλάττης 3ὀχυρότητα· ἔπειθ᾿ ὑπελάμβανον καὶ τοὺς συμμάχους διαμένειν μᾶλλον πλειόνων στρατοπέδων ὄντων ἔν ὑπαίθρῳ τῶν παραβοηθούντων· τὸ δὲ μέγιστον, ἤλπιζον καὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἀναγκασθήσεσθαι μερίζειν τὰς δυνάμεις καὶ μακρὰν ἀποσπᾶσθαι τῆς Καρχηδόνος. ἅπερ ἅπαντα κατὰ τὴν ἐπίνοιαν αὐτῶν 4συνετελέσθη· τρισμυρίων μὲν γὰρ στρατιωτῶν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως ἐκπεμφθέντων οἱ καταλειπόμενοι ἔμφρουροι2 οὐχ οἷον ἱκανὰ πρὸς αὐτάρκειαν εἶχον, ἀλλ᾿ ἐκ περιουσίας ἐχρῶντο δαψιλέσι πᾶσιν, οἵ τε σύμμαχοι τὸ πρὸ τοῦ διὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τῶν πολεμίων φόβον ἀναγκαζόμενοι προστίθεσθαι τοῖς πολεμίοις τότε πάλιν θαρρήσαντες ἀνέτρεχον εἰς τὴν προυπάρχουσαν φιλίαν. 60. Ὁ δ᾿ Ἀρχάγαθος ὁρῶν διειλημμένην ἅπασαν τὴν Λιβύην πολεμίοις στρατοπέδοις καὶ αὐτὸς διεῖλε τὴν δύναμιν καὶ μέρος μὲν ἐξέπεμψεν εἰς τὴν 1ἀπὸ Fischer: ὁ.2ἔμφρουροι Madvig; ἐν τῇ πόλει Dindorf; εὐπόρως Post: ἔμποροι.304Book XX been satisfactory to Archagathus. But after this the 307 b.c. senate in Carthage took good counsel about the war and the senators decided to form three armies and send them forth from the city, one against the cities of the coast, one into the midland regions, and one into the interior. They thought that if they did this they would in the first place relieve the city of the siege and at the same time of the scarcity of food; for since many people from all parts had taken refuge in Carthage, there had resulted a general scarcity, the supply of provisions being already exhausted, but there was no danger from the siege since the city was inaccessible because of the protection afforded by the walls and the sea. In the second place, they assumed that the allies would continue more loyal if there were more armies in the field aiding them. And, what was most important, they hoped that the enemy would be forced to divide his forces and to withdraw to a distance from Carthage. All of these aims were accomplished according to their purpose; for when thirty thousand soldiers had been sent out from the city, the men who were left behind as a garrison not only had enough to maintain themselves, but out of their abundance they enjoyed everything in profusion; and the allies, who hitherto, because of their fear of the enemy, were compelled to make terms with him, again gained courage and hastened to return to the formerly existing friendship. 60. When Archagathus saw that all Libya was being occupied in sections by hostile armies, he himself also divided his army; part he sent into the 1About 23 miles.2Or “weasels.”3“Ape-cities”; cp. the Πιθηκοῦσαι νῆσοι, “Ape Islands,” off the coast of Campania (chap. 44. 7).4Cp. Book 1, chap. 83. 1.305
Diodorus of Sicily παραθαλάττιον, τῆς δ᾿ ἄλλης στρατιᾶς ἣν μὲν Αἰσχρίωνι παραδοὺς ἐξέπεμψεν, ἧς δ᾿ αὐτὸς ἡγεῖτο, καταλιπὼν τὴν ἱκανὴν φυλακὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ Τύνητος. 2τοσούτων δὲ στρατοπέδων ἐπὶ τῆς χώρας πανταχῇ πλαζομένων καὶ προσδοκωμένης ἔσεσθαι πραγμάτων ὁλοσχεροῦς1 μεταβολῆς ἅπαντες ἠγωνίων, 3καραδοκοῦντες τὸ τέλος τῶν ἀποβησομένων. Ἄννων μὲν οὖν ἡγούμενος τοῦ κατὰ τὴν μεσόγειον στρατοπέδου θεὶς ἐνέδραν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Αἰσχρίωνα καὶ παραδόξως ἐπιθέμενος ἀνεῖλε πεζοὺς μὲν πλείους τῶν τετρακισχιλίων, ἱππεῖς δὲ περὶ διακοσίους, ἐν οἷς ἦν καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ στρατηγός· τῶν δ᾿ ἄλλων οἱ μὲν ἥλωσαν οἱ δὲ διεσώθησαν πρὸς Ἀρχάγαθον, ἀπέχοντα σταδίους πεντακοσίους. 4Ἰμίλκων δ᾿ ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄνω τόπους στρατεύειν ἀποδειχθεὶς τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἐφήδρευε ἔν τινι2 πόλει προσδεχόμενος3 τὸν Εὔμαχον, ἐφελκόμενον βαρὺ τὸ στρατόπεδον διὰ τὰς ἐκ τῶν ἁλουσῶν πόλεων 5ὠφελείας. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα τῶν Ἑλλήνων ἐκταξάντων τὴν δύναμιν καὶ προκαλουμένων εἰς μάχην Ἰμίλκων μέρος μὲν τῆς στρατιᾶς κατέλιπε διεσκευασμένον ἐν τῇ πόλει, διακελευσάμενος, ὅταν αὐτὸς ἀναχωρῇ προσποιούμενος φεύγειν, ἐπεξελθεῖν τοῖς ἐπιδιώκουσιν· αὐτὸς δὲ προαγαγὼν τοὺς ἡμίσεις τῶν στρατιωτῶν καὶ μικρὸν πρὸ τῆς παρεμβολῆς συνάψας μάχην εὐθὺς ἔφευγεν ὡς καταπεπληγμένος. 6οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Εὔμαχον ἐπαρθέντες τῇ νίκῃ καὶ τῆς τάξεως οὐδὲν φροντίσαντες ἐδίωκον καὶ τεθορυβημένως τῶν ὑποχωρούντων ἐξήπτοντο· 1ὁλοσχεροῦς Dindorf: ὁλοσχερῶν.2ἔν τινι Holm: τῇ MSS., Fischer.3προσδεχόμενος Reiske: πρὸς MSS., Fischer.306Book XX coastal region, and of the rest of his forces he gave 307 b.c. part to Aeschrion and sent him forth, and part he led himself, leaving an adequate garrison in Tunis. When so many armies were wandering everywhere in the country and when a decisive crisis in the campaign was expected, all anxiously awaited the final outcome. Now Hanno,1 who commanded the army of the midland region, laid an ambush for Aeschrion and fell on him suddenly, slaying more than four thousand foot-soldiers and about two hundred mounted troops, among whom was the general himself; of the others some were captured and some escaped in safety to Archagathus, who was about five hundred stades distant.2 As for Himilco, who had been appointed to conduct the campaign into the interior, at first he rested in a certain city lying in wait for Eumachus, who was dragging along his army heavily loaded with the spoils from the captured cities. Then when the Greeks drew up their forces and challenged him to battle, Himilco left part of his army under arms in the city, giving them orders that, when he retired in pretended flight, they should burst out upon the pursuers. He himself, leading out half of his soldiers and joining battle a little distance in front of the encampment, at once took to flight as if panic-stricken. Eumachus’ men, elated by their victory and giving no thought at all to their formation, followed, and in confusion pressed hard upon those who were withdrawing; but when 1To be distinguished from the Hanno of chaps. 10. 1. and 12. 3, who is now dead. Nothing further is known of this Hanno.2About 57 miles.307
Diodorus of Sicily ἄφνω δὲ καθ᾿ ἕτερον μέρος τῆς πόλεως ἐκχυθείσης τῆς δυνάμεως κατεσκευασμένης καὶ πλήθους ἱκανοῦ πρὸς ἓν παρακέλευσμα συναλαλάξαντος κατεπλάγησαν. 7ἐμβαλόντων οὖν τῶν βαρβάρων εἰς ἀσυντάκτους καὶ πεφοβημένους διὰ τὸ παράδοξον, ταχὺ τροπὴν συνέβη γενέσθαι τῶν Ἑλλήνων. ὑποτεμομένων δὲ τῶν Καρχηδονίων τὴν εἰς τὴν στρατοπεδείαν ἀποχώρησιν τῶν πολεμίων ἠναγκάσθησαν οἱ περὶ τὸν Εὔμαχον καταφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν πλησίον 8λόφον ὕδατος σπανίζοντα. περιστρατοπεδευσάντων δὲ τὸν τόπον τῶν Φοινίκων ἅμα μὲν ὑπὸ τοῦ δίψους καταπονηθέντες, ἅμα δ᾿ ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων κρατούμενοι σχεδὸν ἅπαντες ἀνῃρέθησαν· ἀπὸ μὲν γὰρ πεζῶν ὀκτακισχιλίων τριάκοντα μόνον διεσώθησαν, ἀπὸ δ᾿ ἱππέων ὀκτακοσίων τετταράκοντα διέφυγον τὸν κίνδυνον. 61. Ὁ δ᾿ Ἀρχάγαθος τηλικαύτῃ συμφορᾷ περιπεσὼν ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς Τύνητα. καὶ τῶν μὲν ἐκπεμφθέντων στρατιωτῶν τοὺς περιλειπομένους μετεπέμπετο πανταχόθεν, εἰς δὲ τὴν Σικελίαν ἐξέπεμψε τοὺς δηλώσοντας τῷ πατρὶ τὰ συμβεβηκότα καὶ παρακαλέσοντας βοηθεῖν τὴν ταχίστην. 2τοῖς δὲ προγεγονόσιν ἀτυχήμασιν ἑτέρα τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐλάττωσις ἐπεγένετο· ἀπέστησαν μὲν γὰρ ἀπ᾿ αὐτῶν πλὴν ὀλίγων ἅπαντες οἱ σύμμαχοι, συνεστράφησαν δὲ αἱ τῶν πολεμίων δυνάμεις καὶ 3πλησίον ποιησάμενοι παρεμβολὰς ἐφήδρευον. Ἰμίλκων μὲν γὰρ κατελάβετο τὰ στενὰ καὶ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας ἐκβολῶν1 ἀπέκλεισε τοὺς ἐναντίους, ἀπέχοντας σταδίους ἑκατόν· ἐκ δὲ θατέρου μέρους ἐστρατοπέδευσεν Ἀτάρβας ἀπὸ τεσσαράκοντα σταδίων 4τοῦ Τύνητος. διόπερ τῶν πολεμίων οὐ μόνον 1ἐκβολῶν Post: εἰσβολῶν.308Book XX suddenly from another part of the city there poured 307 b.c. forth the army all ready for battle and when a great host shouted at a single command, they became panic-stricken. Accordingly, when the barbarians fell upon an enemy who had been thrown into disorder and frightened by the sudden onslaught, the immediate result was the rout of the Greeks. Since the Carthaginians cut off the enemy’s return to his camp, Eumachus was forced to withdraw to the nearby hill, which was ill supplied with water. When the Phoenicians invested the place, the Greeks, who had become weak from thirst and were being overpowered by the enemy, were almost all killed. In fact, of eight thousand foot-soldiers only thirty were saved, and of eight hundred horsemen forty escaped from the battle. 61. After meeting with so great a disaster Archagathus returned to Tunis. He summoned from all sides the survivors of the soldiers who had been sent out; and he sent messengers to Sicily to report to his father what had happened and to urge him to come to his aid with all possible speed. In addition to the preceding disasters, another loss befell the Greeks; for all their allies except a few deserted them, and the armies of the enemy gathered together and, pitching camp near by, lay in wait for them. Himilco occupied the passes and shut off his opponents, who were at a distance of a hundred stades,1 from the routes leading from the region; and on the other side Atarbas camped at a distance of forty stades2 from Tunis. Therefore, since the enemy 1About 11½ miles.2About 4½ miles.309
Diodorus of Sicily τῆς θαλάττης ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς χώρας κυριευόντων, σιτοδείᾳ τε συνέβαινε συνέχεσθαι τοὺς Ἕλληνας καὶ τῷ φόβῳ πάντοθεν κατείχοντο. 5Ἐν ἀθυμίᾳ δὲ δεινῇ πάντων ὄντων Ἀγαθοκλῆς ὡς ἐπύθετο τὰ κατὰ τὴν Λιβύην ἐλαττώματα, παρεσκευάσατο ναῦς1 μακρὰς ἑπτακαίδεκα, διανοούμενος βοηθεῖν τοῖς περὶ τὸν Ἀρχάγαθον. καὶ τῶν κατὰ Σικελίαν δὲ πραγμάτων ἐπὶ τὸ χεῖρον αὐτῷ μεταβεβληκότων διὰ τὸ τοὺς περὶ Δεινοκράτην φυγάδας ηὐξῆσθαι ἐπὶ πλεῖον, τὸν μὲν ἐν τῇ νήσῳ πόλεμον τοῖς περὶ Λεπτίνην στρατηγοῖς ἐνεχείρισεν, αὐτὸς δὲ πληρώσας τὰς ναῦς ἐπετήρει τὸν τοῦ πλοῦ καιρόν, ἐφορμούντων τῶν Καρχηδονίων τριάκοντα 6ναυσί. καθ᾿ ὃν δὴ χρόνον ἐκ Τυρρηνίας αὐτῷ κατέπλευσαν ὀκτωκαίδεκα ναῦς ἐπὶ βοήθειαν, αἳ διὰ νυκτὸς εἰς τὸν λιμένα εἰσπεσοῦσαι τοὺς Καρχηδονίους ἔλαθον. ὁ δ᾿ Ἀγαθοκλῆς ταύτης τυχὼν τῆς ἀφορμῆς κατεστρατήγησε τοὺς πολεμίους, τοῖς μὲν συμμάχοις μένειν παραγγείλας μέχρι ἂν αὐτὸς ἐκπλεύσας ἐπισπάσηται τοὺς Φοίνικας πρὸς τὸν διωγμόν, αὐτὸς δέ, καθάπερ ἦν συντεθειμένος, ἐκ τοῦ λιμένος ἀνήχθη κατὰ σπουδὴν τοῖς ἑπτακαίδεκα 7σκάφεσιν. εἶθ᾿ οἱ μὲν ἐφορμοῦντες ἐδίωκον, οἱ δὲ περὶ τὸν Ἀγαθοκλέα κατανοήσαντες τοὺς Τυρρηνοὺς παραφαινομένους ἐκ τοῦ λιμένος ἄφνω τὰς ναῦς ἐπέστρεψαν καὶ καταστάντες εἰς ἐμβολὴν διεναυμάχουν τοῖς βαρβάροις. οἱ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι διά τε τὸ παράδοξον καὶ διὰ τὸ τῶν πολεμίων εἰς μέσον ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι τὰς ἰδίας τριήρεις καταπλαγέντες 8ἔφυγον. εἶθ᾿ οἱ μὲν Ἕλληνες πέντε νεῶν αὐτάνδρων ἐκυρίευσαν, ὁ δὲ τῶν Καρχηδονίων στρατηγὸς ἁλισκομένης ἤδη τῆς ναυαρχίδος ἀπέσφαξεν 1τε after ναῦς omitted by Dindorf.310Book XX controlled not only the sea but also the land, the 307 b.c. Greeks both suffered from famine and were beset by fear on every side. While all were in deep despair, Agathocles, when he learned of the reverses in Libya, made ready seventeen warships intending to go to the aid of Archagathus. Although affairs in Sicily had also shifted to his disadvantage because of the increase in the strength of the exiles who followed Deinocrates, he entrusted the war on the island to Leptines as general; and he himself, manning his ships, watched for a chance to set sail, since the Carthaginians were blockading the harbour with thirty ships. Now at this very time eighteen ships arrived from Etruria as a reinforcement for him, slipping into the harbour at night without the knowledge of the Carthaginians. Gaining this resource, Agathocles outgeneralled his enemies; ordering the allies to remain until he should have sailed out and drawn the Carthaginians into the chase, he himself, just as he had planned, put to sea from the harbour at top speed with his seventeen ships. The ships on guard pursued, but Agathocles, on seeing the Etruscans appearing from the harbour, suddenly turned his ships, took position for ramming, and pitted his ships against the barbarians. The Carthaginians, terror-stricken by the surprise and because their own triremes were cut off between the enemy fleets, fled. Thereupon the Greeks captured five ships with their crews; and the commander of the Carthaginians, when his flagship was on the point of being captured, lulled 311
Diodorus of Sicily ἑαυτόν, προκρίνας τὸν θάνατον τῆς προσδοκηθείσης αἰχμαλωσίας. οὐ μὴν ἐφάνη γε εὖ βεβουλευμένος· ἡ γὰρ ναῦς φοροῦ πνεύματος ἐπιλαβομένη τοῦ δόλωνος ἀρθέντος ἐξέφυγε τὸν κίνδυνον. 62. Ἀγαθοκλῆς μὲν οὖν οὐδ᾿ ἐλπίδας ἔχων τοῦ κατὰ θάλατταν περιέσεσθαί ποτε Καρχηδονίων ἐνίκησε ναυμαχίᾳ παραδόξως καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν θαλασσοκρατῶν παρείχετο τοῖς ἐμπόροις τὴν ἀσφάλειαν. διόπερ οἱ Συρακόσιοι, πάντοθεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς κομιζομένης ἀγορᾶς, ἀντὶ τῆς τῶν ἐπιτηδείων σπάνεως 2ταχέως πάντων ἔσχον δαψίλειαν. ὁ δὲ δυνάστης μετεωρισθεὶς τῷ γεγονότι προτερήματι Λεπτίνην ἐξαπέστειλε λεηλατήσοντα τὴν πολεμίαν καὶ μάλιστα τὴν Ἀκραγαντίνην. ὁ γὰρ Ξενόδοκος διὰ τὴν γεγενημένην ἧτταν βλασφημούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν 3ἀντιπολιτευομένων ἐστασίαζε πρὸς αὐτούς. παρήγγειλε μὲν οὖν τῷ Λεπτίνῃ πειρᾶσθαι προκαλέσασθαι τὸν ἄνδρα πρὸς μάχην1· ῥᾳδίως γὰρ προτερήσειν ὡς στασιαζούσης δυνάμεως καὶ προηττημένης. 4ὅπερ καὶ συνετελέσθη· ὁ μὲν γὰρ Λεπτίνης ἐμβαλὼν εἰς τὴν Ἀκραγαντίνην τὴν χώραν ἐδῄου, ὁ δὲ Ξενόδοκος τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἡσυχίαν εἶχεν, οὐ νομίζων αὑτὸν ἀξιόμαχον εἶναι, ὀνειδιζόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν πολιτῶν εἰς δειλίαν προήγαγε τὴν στρατιάν, τῷ μὲν ἀριθμῷ βραχὺ λειπομένην τῶν ἐναντίων, τῇ δ᾿ ἀρετῇ πολὺ καταδεεστέραν οὖσαν, ὡς ἂν τῆς μὲν 1τὴν before μάχην omitted by Hertlein.312Book XX himself, preferring death to the anticipated captivity. 307 b.c. But in truth he was shown by the event to have judged unwisely; for his ship caught a favouring wind, raised its jury mast1 and fled from the battle. 62. Agathocles, who had no hope of ever getting the better of the Carthaginians on the sea, unexpectedly defeated them in a naval battle, and thereafter he ruled the sea and gave security to his merchants. For this reason the people of Syracuse, goods being brought to them from all sides, in place of scarcity of provisions soon enjoyed an abundance of everything. The tyrant, encouraged by the success that had been won, dispatched Leptines to plunder the country of the enemy and, in particular, that of Acragas. For Xenodocus, vilified by his political opponents because of the defeat he had suffered,2 was at strife with them. Agathocles therefore ordered Leptines to try to entice the man out to a battle; for, he said, it would be easy to defeat him since his army was seditious and had already been overcome. And indeed this was accomplished; for when Leptines entered the territory of Acragas and began plundering the land, Xenodocus at first kept quiet, not believing himself strong enough for battle; but when he was reproached by the citizens for cowardice, he led out his army, which in number fell little short of that of his opponents but in morale was far inferior since the citizen army had been formed 1The δόλων was either a light spar that could be rigged at the prow of the warship, extending forward like a high bowsprit, or a square sail hung on a crossarm at the end of such a spar. We hear of this rig only on Phoenician and Roman craft. Since it could be set up more quickly than the ordinary mast, which was stowed before battle, it seems often to have been used as here. Cp. Livy, 36. 44. 3, 45. 1; 37. 30. 7: Polybius, 16. 15. 2.2Cp. chap. 56. 2.313
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