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Contents of the Fourteenth 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 84chapter 85chapter 86chapter 87chapter 88chapter 89chapter 90chapter 91chapter 92chapter 93chapter 94chapter 95chapter 96chapter 97chapter 98chapter 99chapter 100chapter 101chapter 102chapter 103chapter 104chapter 105chapter 106chapter 107chapter 108chapter 109chapter 110chapter 111chapter 112chapter 113chapter 114chapter 115chapter 116chapter 117
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In fact the catapult was invented at this time in
Syracuse,1 since the ablest
skilled workmen had been gathered from everywhere into one place. The high wages as well as the
numerous prizes offered the workmen who were judged to be the best stimulated their zeal. And
over and above these factors, Dionysius circulated daily among the workers, conversed with them
in kindly fashion, and rewarded the most zealous with gifts and invited them to his table.
[2]
Consequently the workmen brought unsurpassable devotion to
the devising of many missiles and engines of war that were strange and capable of rendering
great service. He also began the construction of quadriremes and quinqueremes, being the first
to think of the construction of such ships.
[3]
For, hearing that
triremes had first been built in Corinth, he was intent, in his city that had been settled by a
colony from there, on increasing the scale of naval construction.
[4]
After obtaining leave to transport timber from Italy he dispatched half of his woodmen
to Mount Aetne, on which there were heavy stands at that time of both excellent fir and pine,
while the other half he dispatched to Italy, where he got ready teams to convey the timber to
the sea, as well as boats and crews to bring the worked wood speedily to Syracuse.
[5]
When Dionysius had collected an adequate supply of wood, he began at one
and the same time to build more than two hundred ships and to refit the one hundred and ten he
already had; and he also constructed all about the Great Harbour, as it is now called, one
hundred and sixty costly shipsheds, most of which could accommodate two vessels, and repaired
the one hundred and fifty which were already there.
1 Machines for throwing heavy missiles were known to the Assyrians several centuries before this and their use was probably brought to the west by the Carthaginians, from whom the western Greeks learned of them.
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 (8 total)
- Cross-references to this page
(5):
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), EXE´RCITUS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), NAVIS
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), TORMENTUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), AETNA
- Smith's Bio, Diony'sius or Diony'sius the Elder or the Elder Diony'sius
- Cross-references in notes to this page
(1):
- Isocrates, To Philip, Isoc. 5 65
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(2):
- LSJ, καταπάλτ-ης
- LSJ, συνδείπν-ιον
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