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Contents of the Sixteenth 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 95
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While these things were
going on, Andromachus of Tauromenium,1 who was the father of Timaeus,
the author of the Histories, and distinguished for his wealth and nobility of spirit, gathered
together the men who had survived the razing of Naxos by Dionysius. Having settled the hill
above Naxos called Tauros and remained there a considerable time, he called it Tauromenium from
his "remaining on Tauros."2 And as the city made quick progress, the inhabitants
laid up great wealth, and the city, which had won considerable repute, finally in our own
lifetime, after Caesar3 had
expelled the inhabitants of Tauromenium from their native land, received a colony of Roman
citizens.
[2]
While these things
were going on, the inhabitants of Euboea fell into strife among themselves, and when one party
summoned the Boeotians to its assistance and the other the Athenians, war broke out over all
Euboea. A good many close combats and skirmishes occurred in which sometimes the Thebans were
superior and sometimes the Athenians carried off the victory. Although no important pitched
battle was fought to a finish, yet when the island had been devastated by the intestinal
warfare and many men had been slain on both sides, at long last admonished by the disasters,
the parties came to an agreement and made peace with one another.4Now the Boeotians returned home and remained quiet,
[3]
but the Athenians, who had suffered the revolt of Chios, Rhodes, and Cos and, moreover, of
Byzantium, became involved in the war called the Social War which lasted three years.5 The
Athenians chose Chares and Chabrias as generals and dispatched them with an army. The two
generals on sailing into Chios found that allies had arrived to assist the Chians from
Byzantium, Rhodes, and Cos, and also from Mausolus,6 the tyrant of Caria. They then drew up their forces and began to besiege
the city both by land and by sea. Now Chares, who commanded the infantry force, advanced
against the walls by land and began a struggle with the enemy who poured out on him from the
city; but Chabrias, sailing up to the harbour, fought a severe naval engagement and was worsted
when his ship was shattered by a ramming attack.
[4]
While the men
on the other ships withdrew in the nick of time and saved their lives, he, choosing death with
glory instead of defeat, fought on for his ship and died of his wounds.7
1 See chap. 68.8 and Plut. Timoleon 10.4.
2 For a different story see Book 14.59.2. Naxos (three miles from Tauromenium) was destroyed by Dionysius in 403 (Book 14.15.2) and its territory assigned to neighbouring Siculi (ibid. 3). These occupied the hill of Taurus to the north of Naxos and gave it the name Tauromenium. The Siculi in 394 warded off a surprise winter attack of Dionysius (Book 14.87-88). By the peace of 392 Dionysius regained Tauromenium, expelled the Siculi, and settled his mercenaries on the spot (Book 14.96.4). Probably this present settlement by Andromachus is to be regarded as a new foundation. See Wesseling's note on Book 14.59.
3 Since Tauromenium had been a stronghold of Sextus Pompey, Augustus, as a precautionary measure and because of its strong position commanding the coast road between Syracuse and Messene, expelled the former inhabitants to make room for new colonists. It may have been one of the Sicilian cities colonized by Augustus in Dio Cassius, 54.7.1 (21 B.C.)
4 Diodorus has placed the Euboean war wrongly in the archonship of Cephisodotus (358/7). The war lasted only thirty days according to Aeschin. 3.85 and occurred under Agathocles (357/6). Diocles was the Athenian commander (Dem. 21.174) and he was general in 357/6 (Dittenberger, Sylloge, 1（3）. 190.23 and note 9). The treaty of peace is also dated under the archonship of Agathocles (ibid. 20 = IG, 2（2）. 124). That the Social War had already begun is proved by the intentional erasure of Chabrias' (chap. 7.3) name from this inscription. He was no longer general when the treaty was signed since he had fallen at Chios. For discussion see Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.2.258 and 3.1.238, note 2.
5 Again Diodorus is wrong in the dating of the Social War. The war opened with the attack on Chios in which Chabrias fell. For reasons given in the preceding note this must be the year 357/6. Diodorus (chap. 22.2) closes the war in the year of Elpines, 356/5, after it has lasted "four" years. Dionysius (Dion. Hal. De Lysia Iudicium 12, p. 480) placed the Social War in the years of Agathocles and Elpines (357/6 and 356/5), which seems to be the correct dating. For discussion see Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.2.260-262.
6 Mausolus was the prime instigator of the Social War (see Dem. 15.3). Yet Byzantium, Rhodes, and Chios had joined forces previously when stirred up by Epameinondas (see Book 15.79.1).
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 (18 total)
- Cross-references to this page
(11):
- Harper's, Andromăchus
- Harper's, Timotheus
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), NAXOS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), THEBAE
- Smith's Bio, Andro'machus
- Smith's Bio, Cha'brias
- Smith's Bio, Chares
- Smith's Bio, Mauso'lus
- Smith's Bio, Philippus Ii.
- Smith's Bio, Timaeus
- Smith's Bio, Timo'theus
- Cross-references in notes from this page (6):
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(1):
- LSJ, ἀμφότερος
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