- 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-grc2:1.180.1-1.180.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
Describes the layout of Babylon, which is bisected by the Euphrates River, the structure of the riverbank brick walls, and the grid-like system of straight streets with bronze gates leading to the river.
ἐτετείχιστο μέν νυν ἡ Βαβυλὼν τρόπῳ τοιῷδε, ἔστι δὲ δύο φάρσεα τῆς πόλιος. τὸ γὰρ μέσον αὐτῆς ποταμὸς διέργει, τῷ οὔνομα ἐστὶ Εὐφρήτης· ῥέει δὲ ἐξ Ἀρμενίων, ἐὼν μέγας καὶ βαθὺς καὶ ταχύς· ἐξιεῖ δὲ οὗτος ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν.
So Babylon had been fortified in this manner; and there are two divisions of the city. For a river divides the middle of it, the name of which is Euphrates; it flows from the land of the Armenians, being great, deep, and swift; and it discharges into the Red Sea.
τὸ ὦν δὴ τεῖχος ἑκάτερον τοὺς ἀγκῶνας1 ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν ἐλήλαται· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου αἱ ἐπικαμπαὶ2 παρὰ χεῖλος ἑκάτερον τοῦ ποταμοῦ αἱμασιὴ πλίνθων ὀπτέων παρατείνει.
Now, the wall on either side has its elbows driven down to the river; and from this point onward, a wall of baked bricks extends along each bank of the river as the returns.
τὸ δὲ ἄστυ αὐτό, ἐὸν πλῆρες οἰκιέων τριωρόφων καὶ τετρωρόφων, κατατέτμηται τὰς ὁδοὺς ἰθέας3 τάς τε ἄλλας καὶ τὰς ἐπικαρσίας τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν ἐχούσας.4
The city itself, which is full of three- and four-story houses, is cut up into straight streets, both the other streets and the transverse ones that lead down to the river.
κατὰ δὴ ὦν ἑκάστην ὁδὸν ἐν τῇ αἱμασιῇ τῇ παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν πυλίδες ἐπῆσαν, ὅσαι περ αἱ λαῦραι, τοσαῦται ἀριθμόν· ἦσαν δὲ καὶ αὗται χάλκεαι φέρουσαι ἐς αὐτὸν τὸν ποταμόν.
Along each of these streets, in the wall along the river, there were small gates, just as many in number as the alleys; and these too were of bronze, leading to the river itself.
- 1.180.2τοὺς ἀγκῶνας
Meaning 'elbows' or 'bends'. Here it refers to the corners or terminal points where the outer walls reach the riverbanks and bend. The accusative τοὺς ἀγκῶνας functions as an accusative of respect (or retained accusative) with the perfect passive verb ἐλήλαται.
- 1.180.2τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου αἱ ἐπικαμπαὶ
τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου is used adverbially to mean 'from this point onward'. The subject of the singular verb παρατείνει is αἱμασιὴ (singular). αἱ ἐπικαμπαὶ (nominative plural, 'the returns' or 'bends') stands in apposition to αἱμασιὴ or acts as a loose nominative in pendens explaining the nature of the wall's continuation.
- 1.180.3κατατέτμηται τὰς ὁδοὺς ἰθέας
The verb κατατέτμηται is perfect passive. τὰς ὁδοὺς is an accusative of respect/retained object with the passive verb, meaning 'is cut up as to its streets.' ἰθέας (accusative feminine plural of ἰθύς) is used predicatively to describe the state of the streets ('straight').
- 1.180.3ἐχούσας
The participle ἐχούσας is used intransitively with the prepositional phrase ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμὸν to mean 'leading' or 'trending toward' the river. This is an idiomatic use of ἔχω in an intransitive sense meaning 'to stretch' or 'to head.'