- 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-grc2:2.177.1-2.177.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
On the unprecedented prosperity of Egypt under King Amasis and the law requiring all residents to declare their means of livelihood annually. It is also mentioned that Solon introduced this law to Athens.
ἐπʼ Ἀμάσιος δὲ βασιλέος λέγεται Αἴγυπτος μάλιστα δὴ τότε εὐδαιμονῆσαι καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ1 τῇ χώρῃ γινόμενα καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τῆς χώρης τοῖσι ἀνθρώποισι, καὶ πόλις2 ἐν αὐτῇ γενέσθαι τὰς ἁπάσας τότε δισμυρίας τὰς οἰκεομένας.
Under the reign of King Amasis, it is said that Egypt then enjoyed its greatest prosperity, both in what the river brought to the land and in what the land brought to the people, and that the inhabited cities in it became in all twenty thousand at that time.
νόμον τε Αἰγυπτίοισι τόνδε Ἄμασις ἐστὶ ὁ καταστήσας, ἀποδεικνύναι3 ἔτεος ἑκάστου τῷ4 νομάρχῃ πάντα τινὰ Αἰγυπτίων ὅθεν βιοῦται· μὴ δὲ ποιεῦντα ταῦτα μηδὲ ἀποφαίνοντα δικαίην ζόην ἰθύνεσθαι θανάτῳ. Σόλων δὲ ὁ Ἀθηναῖος λαβὼν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου τοῦτον τὸν νόμον Ἀθηναίοισι ἔθετο· τῷ ἐκεῖνοι ἐς αἰεὶ χρέωνται ἐόντι ἀμώμῳ νόμῳ.
And Amasis is the one who established this law for the Egyptians, namely, that every Egyptian must declare each year to the governor of his district whence he gets his living; and that he who does not do this, or does not show a righteous livelihood, shall be punished with death. Solon the Athenian, having taken this law from Egypt, established it for the Athenians; and they use it forever, it being a blameless law.
- 2.177.1τὰ ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ
The neuter plural accusative article and the following prepositional phrase function as an accusative of respect, modifying the infinitive εὐδαιμονῆσαι, specifying the respects in which Egypt prospered (what the river brought to the land and what the land brought to the people).
- 2.177.1πόλις
πόλις is the accusative plural in the Ionic dialect (equivalent to Attic πόλεις), serving as the subject of the infinitive γενέσθαι in the accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction introduced by the main verb λέγεται.
- 2.177.2ἀποδεικνύναι
A present infinitive serving as an appositional (or imperatival) infinitive defining and describing the specific contents of the law (νόμον τόνδε) mentioned in the preceding sentence. The subsequent ἰθύνεσθαι functions in the same manner.
- 2.177.2τῷ
The dative form of the relative pronoun in the Ionic dialect (equivalent to Attic ᾧ), agreeing in gender and number with its antecedent νόμῳ (masculine singular dative).