- 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-grc2:2.6.1-2.6.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
The author states that the length of Egypt along the sea is sixty schoinoi, and explains how different units of measurement (fathoms, stadia, parasangs, and schoinoi) are used depending on the scale of landholdings, along with their conversion rates.
αὖτις δὲ αὐτῆς ἐστι Αἰγύπτου μῆκος τὸ παρὰ θάλασσαν ἑξήκοντα σχοῖνοι, κατὰ ἡμεῖς διαιρέομεν εἶναι Αἴγυπτον1 ἀπὸ τοῦ Πλινθινήτεω κόλπου μέχρι Σερβωνίδος λίμνης, παρʼ ἣν τὸ Κάσιον ὄρος τείνει· ταύτης ὦν ἄπο οἱ ἑξήκοντα σχοῖνοι εἰσί.
Furthermore, the length of Egypt itself along the sea is sixty schoinoi, according to how we define Egypt to be from the Plinthinetan Gulf as far as the Serbonian lake, alongside which Mount Casius stretches; from this lake, then, are the sixty schoinoi.
ὅσοι μὲν γὰρ γεωπεῖναι2 εἰσὶ ἀνθρώπων, ὀργυιῇσι μεμετρήκασι τὴν χώρην, ὅσοι δὲ ἧσσον γεωπεῖναι, σταδίοισι, οἳ δὲ πολλὴν ἔχουσι, παρασάγγῃσι, οἳ δὲ ἄφθονον λίην, σχοίνοισι.
For those of men who are land-poor measure their land in fathoms, and those who are less land-poor, in stadia, and those who have much land, in parasangs, and those who have an extremely abundant amount, in schoinoi.
δύναται δὲ ὁ παρασάγγης τριήκοντα στάδια, ὁ δὲ σχοῖνος, μέτρον ἐὸν Αἰγύπτιον, ἑξήκοντα στάδια.
And the parasang is equal to thirty stadia, and the schoinos, which is an Egyptian measure, is sixty stadia.
- 2.6.1κατὰ ἡμεῖς διαιρέομεν εἶναι Αἴγυπτον
The preposition κατά here functions virtually as a relative adverb (equivalent to κατ' ἅ, 'according to what' or 'as'). The infinitive εἶναι acts as the complement of διαιρέομεν ('we divide/define'), forming an accusative and infinitive construction with Αἴγυπτον as its subject, meaning 'according to how we define Egypt to be.'
- 2.6.2γεωπεῖναι
Nominative plural of the compound γεωπείνης (from γῆ 'land' and πεινάω 'to hunger'), referring to those who are land-hungry or possess very little land. The four-tier contrast with ἧσσον γεωπεῖναι (less land-poor), πολλὴν ἔχουσι (having much), and ἄφθονον λίην (having extremely abundant land) illustrates how the unit of measurement scales up with the size of landholdings.