- 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-grc2:1.181.1-1.181.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-01
The passage describes the inner wall of Babylon and the structures of the royal palace and the sacred precinct of Zeus Belus, including its eight-layered tower and the temple on top.
τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τὸ τεῖχος θώρηξ ἐστί, ἕτερον δὲ ἔσωθεν τεῖχος περιθέει, οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ1 ἀσθενέστερον τοῦ ἑτέρου τείχεος, στεινότερον δέ.
Now this wall is as it were a breastplate, but another wall runs round inside it, not much weaker than the other wall, but narrower.
ἐν δὲ φάρσεϊ ἑκατέρῳ τῆς πόλιος ἐτετείχιστο ἐν μέσῳ ἐν τῷ μὲν τὰ βασιλήια περιβόλῳ μεγάλῳ τε καὶ ἰσχυρῷ, ἐν δὲ τῷ ἑτέρῳ Διὸς Βήλου ἱρὸν χαλκόπυλον, καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἔτι τοῦτο ἐόν, δύο σταδίων πάντῃ, ἐὸν τετράγωνον.
In the middle of each of the two divisions of the city a fortress was built: in the one, the royal palace with a great and strong wall around it; in the other, the sacred precinct of Zeus Belus with bronze gates, which still existed in my time, being a square of two stades on every side.
ἐν μέσῳ δὲ τοῦ ἱροῦ πύργος στερεὸς οἰκοδόμηται, σταδίου καὶ τὸ μῆκος καὶ τὸ εὖρος, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ τῷ πύργῳ ἄλλος πύργος ἐπιβέβηκε, καὶ ἕτερος μάλα ἐπὶ τούτῳ, μέχρι οὗ ὀκτὼ πύργων.
In the middle of the sacred precinct a solid tower has been built, measuring a stade both in length and in width, and upon this tower another tower is placed, and another again upon this, up to the number of eight towers.
ἀνάβασις δὲ ἐς αὐτοὺς ἔξωθεν κύκλῳ περὶ πάντας τοὺς πύργους ἔχουσα πεποίηται. μεσοῦντι δέ κου τῆς ἀναβάσιος2 ἐστὶ καταγωγή τε καὶ θῶκοι ἀμπαυστήριοι, ἐν τοῖσι κατίζοντες ἀμπαύονται οἱ ἀναβαίνοντες.
The ascent to them is made on the outside, running in a circle round all the towers. About halfway up the ascent there is a landing place and seats for resting, where those who go up sit down and rest.
ἐν δὲ τῷ τελευταίῳ πύργῳ νηὸς ἔπεστι μέγας· ἐν δὲ τῷ νηῷ κλίνη μεγάλη κέεται εὖ ἐστρωμένη, καὶ οἱ τράπεζα παρακέεται χρυσέη. ἄγαλμα δὲ οὐκ ἔνι οὐδὲν αὐτόθι ἐνιδρυμένον, οὐδὲ νύκτα οὐδεὶς ἐναυλίζεται ἀνθρώπων ὅτι μὴ3 γυνὴ μούνη τῶν ἐπιχωρίων, τὴν ἂν ὁ θεὸς ἕληται ἐκ πασέων, ὡς λέγουσι οἱ Χαλδαῖοι ἐόντες ἱρέες τούτου τοῦ θεοῦ.
On the topmost tower there is a great temple; and in the temple is laid a great couch well furnished, and by it stands a golden table. No image is set up there, nor does any human being spend the night there, except only one woman of the natives, whom the god chooses for himself out of them all, as the Chaldeans say, who are the priests of this god.
- 1.181.1οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ
πολλῷ is the dative of degree of difference modifying the comparative ἀσθενέστερον. τεῳ is the Ionic form of the dative neuter singular τινί from the indefinite pronoun τις. The entire phrase means 'not by any large amount', i.e., 'not much [weaker]'.
- 1.181.4μεσοῦντι ... τῆς ἀναβάσιος
μεσοῦντι is the dative masculine singular of the active present participle of μεσόω (to be in the middle). It functions as a dative of relation or reference ('to one who is halfway up'). τῆς ἀναβάσιος is the genitive dependent on the participle ('reaching the middle of the ascent').
- 1.181.5ὅτι μὴ
ὅτι μή is an idiomatic conjunctive phrase meaning 'except' or 'save only'. It corresponds to the English 'except', limiting the preceding negative οὐδείς.