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Contents of the Eleventh 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 92
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The Greeks who were in assembly, when
word came to them that the Persian forces were near, took action to dispatch the ships of war
with all speed to Artemisium in Euboea, recognizing that this place was well situated for
meeting the enemy, and a considerable body of hoplites to Thermopylae to forestall them in occupying the passes at the narrowest part of
the defile and to prevent the barbarians from advancing against Greece; for they were eager to throw their protection inside of Thermopylae about those who had chosen the cause of the
Greeks and to do everything in their power to save the allies.
[2]
The leader of the entire expedition was Eurybiades the Lacedaemonian, and of the troops sent
to Thermopylae the commander was Leonidas the
king of the Spartans, a man who set great store by his courage and generalship. Leonidas, when
he received the appointment, announced that only one thousand men should follow him on the
campaign.
[3]
And when the ephors said that he was leading
altogether too few soldiers against a great force and ordered him to take along a larger
number, he replied to them in secret, "For preventing the barbarians from getting through the
passes they are few, but for the task to which they are now bound they are many."
[4]
Since this reply proved riddle-like and obscure, he was asked again
whether he believed he was leading the soldiers to some paltry task. Whereupon he replied,
"Ostensibly I am leading them to the defence of the passes, but in fact to die for the freedom
of all; and so, if a thousand set forth, Sparta
will be the more renowned when they have died, but if the whole body of the Lacedaemonians take
the field, Lacedaemon will be utterly destroyed, for
not a man of them, in order to save his life, will dare to turn in flight."
[5]
There were, then, of the Lacedaemonians one thousand, and with them
three hundred Spartiates,1 while the rest of the
Greeks who were dispatched with them to Thermopylae were three thousand.
[6]
Leonidas, then, with four thousand soldiers advanced to Thermopylae. The Locrians, however, who dwelt in the
neighbourhood of the passes had already given earth and water to the Persians, and had promised
that they would seize the passes in advance; but when they learned that Leonidas had arrived at
Thermopylae, they changed their minds and
went over to the Greeks.
[7]
And there gathered at Thermopylae also a thousand Locrians, an equal number of
Melians,2 and almost a thousand
Phocians, as well as some four hundred Thebans of the other party; for the inhabitants of
Thebes were divided against each other with
respect to the alliance with the Persians. Now the Greeks who were drawn up with Leonidas for
battle, being as many in number as we have set forth, tarried in Thermopylae, awaiting the arrival of the Persians.
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 (5 total)
- Cross-references to this page
(2):
- Smith's Bio, Leo'nidas I.
- Smith's Bio, Leonti'ades
- Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page
(3):
- LSJ, κατεπ-αγγέλλομαι
- LSJ, προσαπ-αγγέλλω
- LSJ, συνεκ-πέμπω
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