- 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-grc2:1.152.1-1.152.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
The envoys of the Ionians and Aeolians arrive in Sparta and plead for aid through Pythermus the Phocaean, but the Spartans refuse. Nevertheless, the Spartans send spies to Ionia and dispatch Lacrines to warn Cyrus not to harm any Greek cities.
ὡς δὲ ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὴν Σπάρτην τῶν Ἰώνων καὶ Αἰολέων οἱ ἄγγελοι (κατὰ γὰρ δὴ τάχος ἦν ταῦτα πρησσόμενα), εἵλοντο πρὸ πάντων λέγειν τὸν Φωκαέα, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Πύθερμος. ὁ δὲ πορφύρεόν τε εἷμα περιβαλόμενος, ὡς ἂν πυνθανόμενοι πλεῖστοι συνέλθοιεν1 Σπαρτιητέων, καὶ καταστὰς ἔλεγε πολλὰ τιμωρέειν ἑωυτοῖσι χρηίζων.
When the envoys of the Ionians and Aeolians arrived in Sparta (for these matters were being transacted with great speed), they chose above all others to speak for them the Phocaean, whose name was Pythermus. And he, putting on a purple robe—so that as many Spartans as possible might gather on hearing the news—stood forward and spoke at length, requesting them to aid them.
Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὔ κως ἐσήκουον, ἀλλʼ ἀπέδοξέ σφι μὴ τιμωρέειν Ἴωσι. οἳ μὲν δὴ ἀπαλλάσσοντο, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἀπωσάμενοι τῶν Ἰώνων τοὺς ἀγγέλους ὅμως ἀπέστειλαν πεντηκοντέρῳ ἄνδρας, ὡς μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκέει, κατασκόπους τῶν τε Κύρου πρηγμάτων καὶ Ἰωνίης.
But the Lacedaemonians would in no way listen, but resolved not to aid the Ionians. So they indeed departed, but the Lacedaemonians, although they had rejected the envoys of the Ionians, nevertheless dispatched men in a fifty-oared ship, as it seems to me, as spies of Cyrus’s affairs and of Ionia.
ἀπικόμενοι δὲ οὗτοι ἐς Φώκαιαν ἔπεμπον ἐς Σάρδις σφέων αὐτῶν τὸν δοκιμώτατον, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Λακρίνης, ἀπερέοντα Κύρῳ Λακεδαιμονίων ῥῆσιν, γῆς τῆς Ἑλλάδος μηδεμίαν πόλιν σιναμωρέειν, ὡς αὐτῶν οὐ περιοψομένων.2
And these, having arrived in Phocaea, sent to Sardis the most esteemed of their own number, whose name was Lacrines, to declare to Cyrus the mandate of the Lacedaemonians, that he should harm no city of the Greek land, as they would not overlook it.
- 1.152.1ὡς ἂν πυνθανόμενοι πλεῖστοι συνέλθοιεν
The construction ὡς ἄν with the optative mood is used to express a purpose with a potential or conditional nuance ('in order that they might gather'). The participle πυνθανόμενοι agrees with the subject of the purpose clause, indicating their spontaneous reaction upon hearing the news.
- 1.152.3ὡς αὐτῶν οὐ περιοψομένων
This is a genitive absolute construction with ὡς and the future participle περιοψομένων, where αὐτῶν refers to the Lacedaemonians. The particle ὡς indicates a subjective reason or intention, meaning 'on the ground that they would not overlook it'.