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Contents of the Twelfth Book of Diodorus
chapter 1chapter 2chapter 3chapter 4chapter 5chapter 6chapter 7chapter 8chapter 9chapter 10chapter 11chapter 12chapter 13chapter 14chapter 15chapter 16chapter 17chapter 18chapter 19chapter 20chapter 21chapter 22chapter 23chapter 24chapter 25chapter 26chapter 27chapter 28chapter 29chapter 30chapter 31chapter 32chapter 33chapter 34chapter 35chapter 36chapter 37chapter 38chapter 39chapter 40chapter 41chapter 42chapter 43chapter 44chapter 45chapter 46chapter 47chapter 48chapter 49chapter 50chapter 51chapter 52chapter 53chapter 54chapter 55chapter 56chapter 57chapter 58chapter 59chapter 60chapter 61chapter 62chapter 63chapter 64chapter 65chapter 66chapter 67chapter 68chapter 69chapter 70chapter 71chapter 72chapter 73chapter 74chapter 75chapter 76chapter 77chapter 78chapter 79chapter 80chapter 81chapter 82chapter 83chapter 84
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In the same period Sitalces, the king of
the Thracians, had succeeded to the kingship of a small land indeed but nonetheless by his
personal courage and wisdom he greatly increased his dominion, equitably governing his
subjects, playing the part of a brave soldier in battle and of a skilful general, and
furthermore giving close attention to his revenues. In the end he attained to such power that
he ruled over more extensive territory than had any who had preceded him on the throne of
Thrace.
[2]
For the
coastline of his kingdom began at the territory of the Abderites and stretched as far as the
Ister1 River, and for a man
going from the sea to the interior the distance was so great that a man on foot travelling
light required thirteen days for the journey. Ruling as he did over a territory so extensive he
enjoyed annual revenues of more than a thousand talents;
[3]
and
when he was waging war in the period we are discussing he mustered from Thrace more than one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and
fifty thousand cavalry. But with respect to this war we must set forth its causes, in order
that the discussion of it may be clear to our readers.Now
Sitalces, since he had entered into a treaty of friendship with the Athenians,2 agreed to support them in their war in Thrace; and consequently, since he desired, with the help of the
Athenians, to subdue the Chalcidians, he made ready a very considerable army.
[4]
And since he was at the same time on bad terms with Perdiccas, the king
of the Macedonians, he decided to bring back Amyntas, the son of Philip, and place him upon the
Macedonian throne.3 It was for these two reasons, therefore, as we have described them, that
he was forced to raise an imposing army. When all his preparations for the campaign had been
made, he led forth the whole army, marched through Thrace, and invaded Macedonia.
[5]
The Macedonians, dismayed at the great size of the army, did not dare
face him in battle, but they removed both the grain and all the property they could into their
most powerful strongholds, in which they remained inactive.
[6]
The Thracians, after placing Amyntas upon the throne, at the outset made an effort to win
over the cities by means of parleys and embassies, but when no one paid any attention to them,
they forthwith made an assault on the first stronghold and took it by storm.
[7]
After this some of the cities and strongholds submitted to them of their
own accord through fear. And after plundering all Macedonia and appropriating much booty the Thracians turned against the Greek
cities in Chalcidice.
1 Abdera was on the Nestus River facing the Aegean Sea; the Ister is the Danube.
2 In 431 B.C. The war described below opened two years later.
3 Perdiccas had driven his brother Philip from the kingdom, and Philip had taken refuge at the court of Sitalces; cp. Thuc. 2.95.
Diodorus Siculus. Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4-8. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989.
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References (5 total)
- Cross-references to this page
(4):
- Harper's, Perdiccas
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), O´DRYSAE
- Smith's Bio, Perdiccas Ii.
- Smith's Bio, Sitalces
- Cross-references in notes from this page
(1):
- Thucydides, Histories, 2.95
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