Diodorus Siculus, Library, Book XIV, Chapter 37

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At this same time a group of the soldiers who had served in the campaign with Cyrus¹ and had got back safe to Greece went off each to his own country, but the larger part of them, about five thousand in number, since they had become accustomed to the life of a soldier, chose Xenophon for their general. [2] And Xenophon with this army set out to make war on the Thracians who dwell around Salmydessus.² The territory of this city, which lies on the left side of the Pontus, stretches for a great distance and is the cause of many shipwrecks.³ [3] Accordingly the Thracians made it their practice to lie in wait in those parts and seize the merchants who were cast ashore as prisoners. Xenophon with the troops he had gathered invaded their territory, defeated them in battle, and burned most of their villages. [4] After this, when Thibron sent for the soldiers with the promise to hire them, they withdrew to join him and made war with the Lacedaemonians against the Persians. [5]

While these events were taking place, Dionysius founded in Sicily a city just below the crest of Mount Aetne and named it Adranum, after a certain famous temple.⁴ [6] In Macedonia King Archelaus was unintentionally struck while hunting by Craterus, whom he loved, and met his end, after a reign of seven⁵ years. He was succeeded on the throne by Orestes, who was still a boy and was slain by Aeropus, his guardian, who held the throne for six years. [7] In Athens Socrates the philosopher, who was accused by Anytus and Meletus of impiety and of corrupting the youth, was condemned to death and met his end by drinking the hemlock. But since the accusation had been undeserved, the people repented, considering that so great a man had been put to death; consequently they were angered at the accusers and ultimately put them to death without trial.⁶

1 Cp. chaps. 19-31.

2 A city on the west shore of the Black Sea some sixty miles from the Bosphorus.

3 Xen. Anab. 7.5.12 states that "shoals extend far and wide".

4 That of the god Adranus, the reputed father of the Palici, who were worshipped throughout all Sicily. See Book 11.88.6-89; Plut. Timoleon 12.2.

5 Archelaus was king 413-399 B.C.

6 This statement is to be doubted in the case of Meletus and is definitely false with respect to the other accusers of Socrates.

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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Cross-references to this page (8):
- Harper's, Melētus
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), ADRA´NUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MACEDO´NIA or MACEDON
- Smith's Bio, Adranus
- Smith's Bio, Ae'ropus
- Smith's Bio, Archela'us
- Smith's Bio, Charmi'nus
- Smith's Bio, Mele'tus
Cross-references in notes from this page (2):
- Xenophon, Anabasis, 7.5.12
- Plutarch, Timoleon, 12.2
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (2):
- LSJ, αἰχμα^λ-ωτίζω
- LSJ, πολεμέω

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