- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.103.1-1.103.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Cyaxares succeeds Phraortes, reforms the military, and unifies Asia; however, while besieging the Assyrian city of Ninus, his territory is invaded by a massive Scythian army pursuing the Cimmerians.
Φραόρτεω δὲ τελευτήσαντος ἐξεδέξατο Κυαξάρης ὁ Φραόρτεω τοῦ Δηιόκεω παῖς. οὗτος λέγεται πολλὸν ἔτι γενέσθαι ἀλκιμώτερος τῶν προγόνων, καὶ πρῶτός τε ἐλόχισε κατὰ τέλεα τοὺς ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ καὶ πρῶτος διέταξε χωρὶς ἑκάστους εἶναι, τούς τε αἰχμοφόρους καὶ τοὺς τοξοφόρους καὶ τοὺς ἱππέας· πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ἀναμὶξ ἦν πάντα ὁμοίως ἀναπεφυρμένα.
Phraortes having died, Cyaxares, the son of Phraortes and grandson of Deioces, succeeded to the throne. He is said to have been far more warlike than his ancestors, and was the first to divide the peoples of Asia into separate military contingents, and the first to organize each of them to be apart—the spearmen, the archers, and the cavalry; before his time, they had all been mixed together in confusion.
οὗτος ὁ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι ἐστὶ μαχεσάμενος1 ὅτε νὺξ ἡ ἡμέρη ἐγένετό σφι μαχομένοισι, καὶ ὁ τὴν Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ ἄνω Ἀσίην πᾶσαν συστήσας ἑωυτῷ. συλλέξας δὲ τοὺς ὑπʼ ἑωυτῷ ἀρχομένους πάντας ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τὴν Νίνον, τιμωρέων τε τῷ πατρὶ καὶ τὴν πόλιν ταύτην θέλων ἐξελεῖν.
This is the king who fought against the Lydians when the day became night during their battle, and who united under his rule the whole of Asia that lies above the river Halys. Having assembled all his subjects, he marched against Ninus, wishing both to avenge his father and to destroy that city.
καί οἱ, ὡς συμβαλὼν ἐνίκησε τοὺς Ἀσσυρίους, περικατημένῳ τὴν Νίνον ἐπῆλθε2 Σκυθέων στρατὸς μέγας, ἦγε δὲ αὐτοὺς βασιλεὺς ὁ Σκυθέων Μαδύης Προτοθύεω παῖς· οἳ ἐσέβαλον μὲν ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην Κιμμερίους ἐκβαλόντες ἐκ τῆς Εὐρώπης, τούτοισι δὲ ἐπισπόμενοι φεύγουσι οὕτω ἐς τὴν Μηδικὴν χώρην ἀπίκοντο.
And while he was besieging Ninus, after having met and defeated the Assyrians in battle, a great army of Scythians came upon him, led by Madyes, the king of the Scythians and son of Protothyes. They had invaded Asia after driving the Cimmerians out of Europe, and by pursuing them as they fled, they had thus arrived in the Median territory.
- 1.103.2οὗτος ὁ τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι ἐστὶ μαχεσάμενος
The demonstrative pronoun οὗτος acts as the subject, with the copula ἐστί (here enclitic as ἐστὶ), and the articular participles ὁ μαχεσάμενος and the following ὁ συστήσας serve as predicate nouns in apposition. Translated as 'This is the one who fought... and who united...'.
- 1.103.3καί οἱ ... περικατημένῳ ... ἐπῆλθε
The dative pronoun οἱ (referring to Cyaxares) is modified by the dative participle περικατημένῳ (besieging), both functioning as the indirect object of the intransitive verb ἐπῆλθε (came upon). Although the structure is interrupted by the insertion of the temporal clause introduced by ὡς, the core syntax is 'a great army of Scythians came upon him as he was besieging Ninus'.