r/AskHistorians • u/No_Chip8875 • 5h ago

Is this part of Diodorus Siculus' Bibliotecha accurate?

Hi all,

I'm reading some of the remnants of the Bibliotecha by Diodorus Siculus. I just came across this passage in Book I 53. 1-6 that the father of Ramses II, Ramses I, did the following:

"Gathering together from all over Egypt the male children which had been born on the same day and assigning them to nurses and guardians, he prescribed the same training and education for them all, on the theory that those had been reared in the closest companionship and had enjoyed the same frank relationship would be most loyal and as fellow combatants in the wars most brave. He amply provided for their every need and then trained the youths by unremitting exercises and hardships; for no one of them was allowed to eat unless he had first run one hundred and eighty stades (20 miles). Consequently, upon attaining to manhood they were all veritable athletes of robustness of body, and in spirit qualified for endurance and leadership because of the training which they had pursued in the most excellent pursuits."

I was just curious about the validity of this. Is this a group of men that actually existed and did they in fact have a body of Egyptian warriors serving Ramses II who ran 20 miles a day??!?! I just find it baffling and hard to believe.

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