- 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-grc2:3.117.1-3.117.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
In the plain of the Aces river under Persian rule, the King blocks the mountain passes with gates, causing water shortages for the surrounding peoples who must plead at his gates and pay heavy fees to have them opened.
ἔστι δὲ πεδίον ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ περικεκληιμένον ὄρεϊ πάντοθεν, διασφάγες δὲ τοῦ ὄρεος εἰσὶ πέντε. τοῦτο τὸ πεδίον ἦν μὲν κοτὲ Χορασμίων, ἐν οὔροισι ἐὸν Χορασμίων τε αὐτῶν καὶ Ὑρκανίων καὶ Πάρθων καὶ Σαραγγέων καὶ Θαμαναίων, ἐπείτε δὲ Πέρσαι ἔχουσι τὸ κράτος, ἐστὶ τοῦ βασιλέος.1
There is a plain in Asia shut in on all sides by a mountain, and there are five passes through the mountain. This plain belonged once to the Chorasmians, being on the boundaries of these Chorasmians themselves, and of the Hyrcanians, Parthians, Sarangians, and Thamanaeans; but since the Persians have held the power, it belongs to the King.
ἐκ δὴ ὦν τοῦ περικληίοντος ὄρεος τούτου ῥέει ποταμὸς μέγας, οὔνομα δέ οἱ ἐστὶ Ἄκης. οὗτος πρότερον μὲν ἄρδεσκε διαλελαμμένος πενταχοῦ τούτων τῶν εἰρημένων τὰς χώρας, διὰ διασφάγος ἀγόμενος ἑκάστης ἑκάστοισι·2 ἐπείτε δὲ ὑπὸ τῷ Πέρσῃ εἰσί, πεπόνθασι τοιόνδε·
Now from this enclosing mountain there flows a great river, and its name is Aces. This river formerly, being divided into five channels, used to water the lands of these peoples mentioned, being led through each pass to each people; but since they have been under the Persian, they have suffered as follows:
τὰς διασφάγας τῶν ὀρέων ἐνδείμας ὁ βασιλεὺς πύλας ἐπʼ ἑκάστῃ διασφάγι ἔστησε· ἀποκεκληιμένου δὲ τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ἐξόδου τὸ πεδίον τὸ ἐντὸς τῶν ὀρέων πέλαγος γίνεται, ἐνδιδόντος μὲν τοῦ ποταμοῦ, ἔχοντος δὲ οὐδαμῇ ἐξήλυσιν.
The King, having built up the passes of the mountains, set gates at each pass; and the water being shut off from its outlet, the plain within the mountains becomes a sea, since the river pours into it and has nowhere an outlet.
οὗτοι ὦν οἵ περ ἔμπροσθε ἐώθεσαν χρᾶσθαι τῷ ὕδατι, οὐκ ἔχοντες αὐτῷ χρᾶσθαι συμφορῇ μεγάλῃ διαχρέωνται. τὸν μὲν γὰρ χειμῶνα ὕει σφι ὁ θεὸς3 ὥσπερ καὶ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἀνθρώποισι, τοῦ δὲ θέρεος σπείροντες μελίνην καὶ σήσαμον χρηίσκονται τῷ ὕδατι.
Those, therefore, who were formerly accustomed to use the water, not being able to use it, suffer a great calamity. For in the winter indeed the god rains upon them as upon other men, but in the summer, when they sow millet and sesame, they stand in need of the water.
ἐπεὰν ὦν μηδέν σφι παραδιδῶται τοῦ ὕδατος, ἐλθόντες ἐς τοὺς Πέρσας αὐτοί τε καὶ γυναῖκες, στάντες κατὰ τὰς θύρας τοῦ βασιλέος βοῶσι ὠρυόμενοι, ὁ δὲ βασιλεὺς τοῖσι δεομένοισι αὐτῶν μάλιστα ἐντέλλεται ἀνοίγειν τὰς πύλας τὰς ἐς τοῦτο φερούσας.
So when no water is granted to them, they come to Persia, both themselves and their wives, and standing at the gates of the King they howl and cry; and the King commands them to open the gates which lead to the land of those who stand most in need of it.
ἐπεὰν δὲ διάκορος ἡ γῆ σφεων γένηται πίνουσα τὸ ὕδωρ, αὗται μὲν αἱ πύλαι ἀποκληίονται, ἄλλας δʼ ἐντέλλεται ἀνοίγειν ἄλλοισι τοῖσι δεομένοισι μάλιστα τῶν λοιπῶν. ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ οἶδα ἀκούσας, χρήματα μεγάλα πρησσόμενος4 ἀνοίγει πάρεξ τοῦ φόρου.
And when their land is sated with drinking the water, those gates are shut, and he commands them to open others for those of the remaining who are most in need. And as I know by hearsay, he opens them only after exacting large sums of money, besides the tribute.
- 3.117.1ἦν μὲν κοτὲ Χορασμίων ... ἐστὶ τοῦ βασιλέος
The genitives Χορασμίων and τοῦ βασιλέος used predicatively with ἦν and ἐστί denote possession or ownership ("belonged to...", "is the King's").
- 3.117.2ἑκάστης ἑκάστοισι
The juxtaposition of two forms of the distributive pronoun in different cases (the feminine singular genitive ἑκάστης referring to the pass, and the masculine plural dative ἑκάστοισι referring to the peoples) concisely expresses the distribution: "through each (pass) to each (people)."
- 3.117.4ὕει σφι ὁ θεός
In this expression of weather, the subject ὁ θεός (the god) is explicitly expressed with ὕει (rains), and the dative σφι (Ionic form of the third-person plural dative σφίσι) indicates the persons affected ("for them" or "on their land").
- 3.117.6χρήματα μεγάλα πρησσόμενος
The verb πρησσομαι (Ionic middle of πράσσω) takes a double accusative meaning "to exact (something) from (someone)." Here, the person from whom money is exacted is omitted, and only the thing exacted (χρήματα μεγάλα) is expressed in the accusative.