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Contents of the Thirteenth 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 114
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"The people of the Athenians have
received a punishment their own folly deserved, first of all from the hands of the gods and
then from us whom they had wronged.
[2]
Good it is indeed that the
deity involves in unexpected disasters those who begin an unjust war and do not bear their own
superiority as men should.
[3]
For who could have expected that
the Athenians, who had removed ten thousand talents1 from Delos to Athens and had dispatched to
Sicily two hundred triremes and more than forty
thousand men to fight, would ever suffer disasters of such magnitude? for from the preparations
they made on such a scale not a ship, not a man has returned home, so that not even a survivor
is left to carry to them word of the disaster.
[4]
Knowing,
therefore, men of Syracuse, that the arrogant are
hated among gods and men, do you, humbling yourselves before Fortune, commit no act that is
beyond man's powers. What nobility is there in slaying the man who lies at your feet? What
glory is there in wreaking vengeance on him? He who maintains his savagery unalterable amid
human misfortunes also fails to take proper account2 of the common weakness of mankind.
[5]
For no man is so wise that his strength can prevail over Fortune, which
of its nature finds delight in the sufferings of men and works swift changes in
prosperity."Some, perhaps, will say, 'They have committed a
wrong, and we have the power to punish them.'
[6]
But have you,
then, not inflicted a many times greater punishment on the Athenian people, and are you not
satisfied with your chastisement of the prisoners? For they have surrendered themselves
together with their arms, trusting in the reasonableness of their conquerors; it is, therefore,
not seemly that they should be cheated of our expected humaneness.
[7]
For those who maintained unalterable their enmity toward us have died fighting, but
these who delivered themselves into our hands have become suppliants, no longer enemies. For
those who in battle deliver their persons into the hands of their opponents do so in the hope
of saving their lives; and should the men who have shown this trust receive so severe a
punishment, though the victims will accept their misfortune, yet the punishers would be called
hard-hearted.
[8]
But those who lay claim to leadership, men of
Syracuse, should not strive to make themselves
strong in arms so much as they should show themselves reasonable in their character.
1 Given as "some eight thousand" in Book 12.38.2.
2 Literally "do an injustice to." The "weakness" of mankind lies in their being subject to the whim of Fortune. The conqueror of to-day may to-morrow be pleading for mercy from to-day's conquered. We should not shut our eyes to the universal law that a turn of Fortune may make the weak strong, the unfortunate favoured of Fortune. The same thought recurs twice below, chap. 24.4 (ἀδικεῖν) and 6 (ὑπερφρονεῖν τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν), where the role of Fortune in the affairs of men is specifically mentioned.
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 (2 total)
- Cross-references in notes to this page
(1):
- Isocrates, On the Peace, Isoc. 8 86
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(1):
- LSJ, ὑποπίπτω
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