- 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-grc2:1.89.1-1.89.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
Croesus advises Cyrus to station guards at all the gates to confiscate a tenth of the plundered wealth under the pretext of offering it to Zeus, thereby preventing the Persians from becoming rich and rebellious.
Κύρῳ δὲ ἐπιμελὲς ἐγένετο τὰ Κροῖσος εἶπε· μεταστησάμενος δὲ τοὺς ἄλλους, εἴρετο Κροῖσον ὅ τι οἱ ἐνορῴη1 ἐν τοῖσι ποιευμένοισι. ὁ δὲ εἶπε ἐπείτε με θεοὶ ἔδωκαν δοῦλον σοί, δικαιῶ, εἴ τι ἐνορέω πλέον, σημαίνειν σοί.
What Croesus said became a matter of concern to Cyrus; and having removed the others, he asked Croesus what he saw in what was being done. And he said: “Since the gods have given me to you as a slave, I think it right, if I see anything more, to point it out to you.
Πέρσαι φύσιν ἐόντες ὑβρισταὶ εἰσὶ ἀχρήματοι. ἢν ὦν σὺ τούτους περιίδῃς διαρπάσαντας καὶ κατασχόντας χρήματα μεγάλα, τάδε τοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπίδοξα γενέσθαι.2 ὃς ἂν αὐτῶν πλεῖστα κατάσχῃ, τοῦτον προσδέκεσθαί τοι ἐπαναστησόμενον. νῦν ὦν ποίησον ὧδε, εἲ τοι ἀρέσκει τὰ ἐγὼ λέγω·
The Persians, being by nature arrogant, are without wealth. If, therefore, you allow them to plunder and possess great wealth, you must expect the following consequences from them: that whoever of them possesses the most, you must expect this man to rise in rebellion against you. Now therefore, if what I say pleases you, do as follows:
κάτισον τῶν δορυφόρων ἐπὶ πάσῃσι τῇσι πύλῃσι φυλάκους, οἳ λεγόντων πρὸς τοὺς ἐκφέροντας τὰ χρήματα ἀπαιρεόμενοι ὡς σφέα ἀναγκαίως ἔχει3 δεκατευθῆναι τῷ Διί. καὶ σύ τέ σφι οὐκ ἀπεχθήσεαι βίῃ ἀπαιρεόμενος τὰ χρήματα, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι συγγνόντες ποιέειν σε δίκαια ἑκόντες προήσουσι.
station guards from among your bodyguards at all the gates, and let them take away the wealth from those who are carrying it out, saying that it must of necessity be tithed for Zeus. Thus you will not be hated by them for taking away the wealth by force, and they, recognizing that you are doing what is just, will yield it willingly.”
- 1.89.1ὅ τι οἱ ἐνορῴη
The verb ἐνορῴη in the indirect question is in the oblique optative (optativus obliquus) because the main verb εἴρετο is in a past tense (imperfect). The pronoun οἱ is the third-person singular dative, here used indirectly reflexively to refer to Croesus himself, the subject of the indirect question.
- 1.89.2ἐπίδοξα γενέσθαι
The adjective ἐπίδοξος (likely, expected) is followed by the infinitive γενέσθαι. The copula (ἐστί) is omitted, and the phrase as a whole has an impersonal force meaning "it is to be expected that these things will happen."
- 1.89.3ἀναγκαίως ἔχει
An impersonal construction combining the verb ἔχω with the adverb ἀναγκαίως, synonymous with ἀναγκαῖόν ἐστι (it is necessary). It takes the passive infinitive δεκατευθῆναι (to be tithed) and its subject accusative σφέα (them, i.e., the wealth, in the Ionic neuter plural), forming an accusative-with-infinitive construction.