- 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-grc2:1.99.1-1.99.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-30
After completing the walls of Agbatana, Deioces established strict court etiquette, including a ban on direct access and sight of the king, to preserve his authority among his peers.
ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ὁ Δηιόκης ἑωυτῷ τε ἐτείχεε καὶ περὶ τὰ ἑωυτοῦ οἰκία, τὸν δὲ ἄλλον δῆμον πέριξ ἐκέλευε τὸ τεῖχος οἰκέειν. οἰκοδομηθέντων δὲ πάντων κόσμον τόνδε Δηιόκης πρῶτος ἐστὶ ὁ καταστησάμενος, μήτε ἐσιέναι παρὰ βασιλέα μηδένα, διʼ ἀγγέλων δὲ πάντα χρᾶσθαι,1 ὁρᾶσθαι τε βασιλέα ὑπὸ μηδενός, πρός τε τούτοισι ἔτι γελᾶν τε καὶ ἀντίον πτύειν καὶ ἅπασι εἶναι τοῦτό γε αἰσχρόν.
These indeed were the walls that Deioces built for himself and around his own palace, and he ordered the rest of the people to dwell in a circle around the wall. When all had been built, Deioces was the first to establish this protocol: that no one should enter into the presence of the king, but that all business should be transacted through messengers, and that the king should be seen by no one, and furthermore, that to laugh or to spit in his presence should be considered disgraceful for everyone.
ταῦτα δὲ περὶ ἑωυτὸν ἐσέμνυνε τῶνδε εἵνεκεν, ὅκως ἂν μὴ ὁρῶντες οἱ ὁμήλικες, ἐόντες σύντροφοί τε ἐκείνῳ καὶ οἰκίης οὐ φλαυροτέρης2 οὐδὲ ἐς ἀνδραγαθίην λειπόμενοι, λυπεοίατο3 καὶ ἐπιβουλεύοιεν, ἀλλʼ ἑτεροῖός σφι δοκέοι εἶναι μὴ ὁρῶσι.
He assumed this solemn state around himself for the following reason: so that his equals in age, who had been brought up with him and were of no meaner birth nor falling behind him in manly virtue, might not be grieved by seeing him and plot against him, but that he might seem to them to be of a different nature since they did not see him.
- 1.99.1χρᾶσθαι
The present infinitive χρᾶσθαι (from χράομαι, meaning "to deal with, transact") is used substantively to explain the details of the protocol (κόσμον τόνδε). Its implied subject is the general public.
- 1.99.2οἰκίης οὐ φλαυροτέρης
The genitive οἰκίης οὐ φλαυροτέρης ("of no meaner house") is a genitive of origin or source, acting as a complement to the participle ἐόντες to describe the birth of Deioces' equals (οἱ ὁμήλικες).
- 1.99.2ὅκως ἂν ... λυπεοίατο
Within the purpose clause introduced by ὅκως ἂν, the optative λυπεοίατο (Ionic third-person plural present optative passive, equivalent to Attic λυπέοιντο) is used. The use of ἂν in a purpose clause with the optative is a feature of Homeric and Herodotus' Greek, suggesting a conditional or potential purpose.