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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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About the same time Philip, king of the Macedonians, who had been victorious over the
Illyrians1 in a great battle and had
made subject all the people who dwelt there as far as the lake called Lychnitis,2 now
returned to Macedonia, having arranged a noteworthy peace with the Illyrians and won great
acclaim among the Macedonians for the successes due to his valour.
[2]
Thereupon, finding that the people of Amphipolis3 were ill-disposed toward him and offered many
pretexts for war, he entered upon a campaign against them with a considerable force. By
bringing siege-engines against the walls4 and launching severe and continuous assaults, he
succeeded in breaching a portion of the wall with his battering rams, whereupon, having entered
the city through the breach and struck down many of his opponents, he obtained the mastery of
the city and exiled those who were disaffected toward him, but treated the rest
considerately.5
[3]
Since this city was favourably situated with regard to Thrace
and the neighbouring regions, it contributed greatly to the aggrandizement of Philip. Indeed he
immediately reduced Pydna,6 and made an
alliance with the Olynthians7 in the terms of which he agreed to take over for them Potidaea, a city which
the Olynthians had set their hearts on possessing.
[4]
Since the
Olynthians inhabited an important city and because of its huge population had great influence
in war, their city was an object of contention for those who sought to extend their supremacy.
For this reason the Athenians and Philip were rivals against one another for the alliance with
the Olynthians.
[5]
However that may be, Philip, when he had
forced Potidaea to surrender, led the Athenian garrison out of the city and, treating it
considerately, sent it back to Athens—for he was particularly solicitous toward the
people of Athens on account of the importance and repute of their city—but, having
sold the inhabitants into slavery, he handed it over to the Olynthians, presenting them also at
the same time with all the properties in the territory of Potidaea.
[6]
After this he went to the city of Crenides,8 and having increased its size with a large number of
inhabitants, changed its name to Philippi, giving it his own name, and then, turning to the
gold mines in its territory, which were very scanty and insignificant, he increased their
output so much by his improvements that they could bring him a revenue of more than a thousand
talents.
[7]
And because from these mines he had soon amassed a
fortune, with the abundance of money he raised the Macedonian kingdom higher and higher to a
greatly superior position, for with the gold coins which he struck, which came to be known from
his name as Philippeioi,9 he organized a large force of mercenaries, and by using these
coins for bribes induced many Greeks to become betrayers of their native lands. But concerning
these matters the several events, when recorded, will explain everything in detail, and we
shall now shift our account back to the events in the order of their occurrence.
1 See chap. 4.
2 Western border of Macedonia by Lyncestis and Orestis.
3 See chap. 3.3 and explanatory note; also 4.1.
4 See Wilcken, Alexander, 33.
5 A good account of Philip's seizures of Amphipolis, Pydna, Potidaea, and Crenides is found in Pickard-Cambridge, Cambridge Ancient History, 6.207-208. This account omits, as does Diodorus, Athens' declaration of war on Philip's retention of Amphipolis, which is attested by Isoc. 5.2; Aeschin. 2.21, 70, 72, Aeschin. 3.54; and IG, 2（2）. 127 (πόλεμος πρὸς Φίλιππον) of the year 356. For Amphipolis see also note on chap. 3.3; Theopompus fr. 43 (Oxford); Dem. 1.8; 2.6; 7.27-28; and on the exiles also Dittenberger, Sylloge, 1（3）. 194.
6 For Pydna see Dem. 20.63; Dem. 1.5.
7 For the alliance between Philip and Olynthus see Dem. 23.108; Dem. 2.14; Dem. 6.20; also Robinson, Transactions of the American Philological Association, 65 (1934), 103-122.
8 On Crenides see chap. 3.7 and note.
9 Worth about $6.25. According to Seltman, Greek Coins, 200-201, the issue of Philippi bore the name of the town ΦΙΛΙΠΠΩΝ (see Plate XLVI 7) and only after 348 began the issue of Philippeioi. See also West, "The Early Diplomacy of Philip II of Macedon Illustrated by his Coins," Numismatic Chronicle, 3 (1923), 169 ff.
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
(7):
- Harper's, Aurum
- A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890), AURUM
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), CASSANDREIA
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), LYCHNI´TIS
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), PHILIPPI
- Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), THRA´CIA
- Smith's Bio, Philippus Ii.
- Cross-references in notes from this page (8):
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(3):
- LSJ, φι^λίππειος
- LSJ, προσφέρω
- LSJ, πτῶμα
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