Textus Originalis
LIBRI XIII. XXV
Cap. 72. Thrasybulus Thasum et Abdera ad partes Atheniensium adigit. Agis Lacedaemoniorum rex Athenas subito invadit. Repulsus et Atticam populatus in Peloponnesum redit. 73. Alcibiades qui Cumam sociam urbem iniuste vexaverat, domi accusatur. 74. Athenienses creant decem duces. Alcibiades Pactyen in Thraciam exsulatum abit. 75. Synoris ludis Olympicis adiecta est. Plistonax rex Lacedaemoniorum moritur. Hermocrates caesorum ossa Himera Syracusas transportanda curavit; cum autem vi Syracusas redire tentaret, ipse cum magna amicorum manu in foro obtruncatur. Ol. 93, 2 : 407 a. Chr. 76. Apud Lacedaemonios Callicratidas in imperio Lysandro succedit. Is tota recepta classe in Chio, apud Teios, ad Lesbum rem prospere contra Athenienses gerit. 77. Conon classe hosti ad Lesbum instat. Ad Mytilenen proelium commissum. 78. Atheniensium classis triginta navibus perditis in portum Mytilenes se recipit; urbem ipsam oppugnat Callicratidas. 79. Athenienses acerrime resistentes vincuntur, Mytilene circumsedetur. 80. Thermae urbs in Sicilia a Carthaginiensibus condita. Ol. 93, 3 : 406 a. Chr. 80. Carthaginienses novam expeditionem in Siciliam parant Hannibale et Imilcone ducibus. Praemissae quadraginta naves proelio apud Erycem a Syracusanis funduntur; Hannibal sequitur cum quinquaginta navibus. 81. Syracusani exterorum auxilia appetunt. Agrigentini moenibus sua tutantur. Excurrit historicus in descriptionem urbis et agri Agrigentini tum fertilitate et opulentia florentissimi. 82. Aedium Agrigenti magnificentia. 83. Gellias (sive Tellias) Agrigentinus, singulare divitiarum et summae liberalitatis exemplum.
Traduzione
English — scholarly
ARETHE Knowledge Engineering DivisionBOOK XIII. XXV
Ch. 72. Thrasybulus brings Thasos and Abdera over to the side of the Athenians. Agis, king of the Lacedaemonians, suddenly invades Athens. Repulsed and having ravaged Attica, he returns to the Peloponnese. 73. Alcibiades, who had unjustly harassed Cumae, an allied city, is accused at home. 74. The Athenians appoint ten commanders. Alcibiades goes into exile to Pactye in Thrace. 75. A synoris (chariot race) was added to the Olympic games. Plistonax, king of the Lacedaemonians, dies. Hermocrates took care to transport the bones of the slain from Himera to Syracuse; when he attempted to return to Syracuse by force, he himself, with a large band of friends, is cut down in the forum. Ol. 93, 2 : 407 BC 76. Among the Lacedaemonians, Callicratidas succeeds Lysander in command. He, having taken over the entire fleet at Chios, fares successfully against the Athenians near Teos and at Lesbos. 77. Conon presses the enemy fleet hard at Lesbos. A battle was fought at Mytilene. 78. The Athenian fleet, having lost thirty ships, withdraws into the harbor of Mytilene; Callicratidas attacks the city itself. 79. The Athenians, resisting most fiercely, are defeated; Mytilene is besieged. 80. The city of Thermae is founded in Sicily by the Carthaginians. Ol. 93, 3 : 406 BC 80. The Carthaginians prepare a new expedition to Sicily under the command of Hannibal and Himilco. Forty ships sent ahead are routed by the Syracusans in a battle near Eryx; Hannibal follows with fifty ships. 81. The Syracusans seek the aid of foreigners. The Agrigentines defend themselves with their walls. The historian digresses into a description of the city and territory of Agrigentum, at that time most flourishing in fertility and wealth. 82. The magnificence of the buildings at Agrigentum. 83. Gellias (or Tellias) of Agrigentum, a singular example of wealth and utmost liberality.
Commentario Arethe
Agrigentinorum urbem... fertilitate et opulentia florentissimi
Diodorus' excursus on Agrigentum (modern Agrigento) in XIII 81–84 is one of the most celebrated passages in ancient literature about Sicilian wealth and splendor. Acragas/Agrigentum, founded 580 BC by colonists from Gela and Rhodes, became one of the wealthiest cities in the Greek world. Diodorus describes its buildings, temples, the artificial lake (Colymbetra), the extraordinary private wealth of citizens like Gellias/Tellias and Antisthenes, and the luxurious lifestyle of the population. The bull of Phalaris — the notorious bronze torture device attributed to the 6th-century tyrant — was among the spoils taken by Carthage in 406 BC (and later returned by Scipio Aemilianus in 146 BC). Timaeus' denial of its existence is refuted by Diodorus.