Diodorus Siculus, Library, Book XVI, Chapter 14

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In Greece Alexander, tyrant of Pherae, was assassinated by his own wife Thebe and her brothers Lycophron and Tisiphonus.¹ The brothers at first received great acclaim as tyrannicides, but later, having changed their purpose and bribed the mercenaries, they disclosed themselves as tyrants, slew many of their opponents, and, having contrived to make their forces imposing, retained the government by force. [2] Now the faction among the Thessalians called Aleuadae, who enjoyed a far-flung reputation by reason of their noble birth, began to oppose the tyrants. But not being of sufficient strength to fight by themselves they took on Philip, the king of the Macedonians, as ally. And he, entering Thessaly, defeated the tyrants and, when he had vindicated the independence of their cities, showed himself very friendly to the Thessalians. Wherefore in the course of subsequent events not merely Philip himself but his son Alexander after him had the Thessalians always as confederates. [3]

Among historians Demophilus,² the son of the chronicler Ephorus, who treated in his work the history of what is known as the Sacred War, which had been passed over by his father, began his account with the capture of the shrine at Delphi and the pillaging of the oracle by Philomelus the Phocian. This war lasted eleven years³ until the annihilation of those who had divided amongst themselves the sacred property. [4] And Callisthenes⁴ wrote the history of the events in the Hellenic world in ten books and closed with the capture of the shrine and the impious act of Philomelus the Phocian. [5] Diyllus⁵ the Athenian began his history with the pillaging of the shrine and wrote twenty-six books, in which he included all the events which occurred in this period both in Greece and in Sicily.

1 Diodorus has this event one year too late. It should be 358/7, counting eleven years from Book 15.61.2 (see Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.2.83-84). For the story see Xen. Hell. 6.4.35 ff.; Plut. Pelopidas 35; Cicero De Officiis 2.7.25; Valerius Maximus 9.13, ext. 3. Peitholaus, the third brother, here omitted, is mentioned chap. 37.3.

2 From chap. 76.5 we learn that the work of Ephorus was in thirty books and that it closed with the capture of Perinthus. What Demophilus probably wrote was book 30, since books 28 and 29 (fr. 149-150) contained the history of the West and book 27 (fr. 148) contained the early years of Philip's reign. See Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.2.25 and Athenaeus 6.232d.

3 Compare for the beginning and end chaps. 23.1 (355/4) and 59.1 (346/5). The Sacred War is accorded ten years by Aeschin. 2.131, Aeschin. 3.148, Paus. 9.6.4; was said to be closed in the tenth year by Duris (fr. 2); Paus. 10.3.1.

4 Of Olynthus, the nephew and pupil of Aristotle. He wrote the history of the Sacred War probably as a sequel to his Hellenica (see Book 14.117.8). Cp. Beloch, Griechische Geschichte （2）, 3.2.25 and 12. He was war reporter to Alexander.

5 Much uncertainty reigns as to the number and arrangement of the books of his history. The usual reading of the editors here, 27, conflicts with 26 in Book 21.5. Beloch (op. cit. 3.2.26) believes 27 in this passage correct and 26 in Book 21.5 a scribal error. Rühl in Neue Jahrbücher für Philologie, 137 (1888), 123 ff. thinks Diyllus wrote a history in three parts, συντάξεις of 27 books, nine in each part, beginning with the Sacred War and ending with the death of Cassander.

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 (12):
- Harper's, Diyllus
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), TAGUS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), THESSA´LIA
- Smith's Bio, Aleuas
- Smith's Bio, Alexander
- Smith's Bio, Calli'sthenes
- Smith's Bio, Demo'phius
- Smith's Bio, Diyllus
- Smith's Bio, E'phorus
- Smith's Bio, Ly'cophron
- Smith's Bio, Tisi'phonus
- Smith's Bio, Xe'nophon
Cross-references in notes from this page (8):
- Aeschines, Against Ctesiphon, 148
- Aeschines, On the Embassy, 131
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, 10.3.1
- Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.6.4
- Xenophon, Hellenica, 6.4.35
- Cicero, De Officiis, 2.7
- Plutarch, Pelopidas, 35
- Valerius Maximus, Facta et Dicta Memorabilia, 9.13
Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (3):
- LSJ, ἀνακτάομαι
- LSJ, ἱεροσυ?λ-ησις
- LSJ, τυ^ραννόκτον-ος

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