- 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-grc2:3.57.1-3.57.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The Samian rebels set sail for Siphnos to secure funds. Siphnos was highly prosperous due to its mines and had previously received a Delphic oracle warning of danger when their town-hall and marketplace became white.
οἱ δʼ ἐπὶ τὸν Πολυκράτεα στρατευσάμενοι Σαμίων, ἐπεὶ οἱ Λακεδαιμόνιοι αὐτοὺς ἀπολιπεῖν ἔμελλον, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἀπέπλεον ἐς Σίφνον, χρημάτων γὰρ ἐδέοντο, τὰ δὲ τῶν Σιφνίων πρήγματα ἤκμαζε τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον, καὶ νησιωτέων μάλιστα ἐπλούτεον, ἅτε ἐόντων αὐτοῖσι1 ἐν τῇ νήσῳ χρυσέων καὶ ἀργυρέων μετάλλων, οὕτω ὥστε ἀπὸ τῆς δεκάτης τῶν γινομένων αὐτόθεν χρημάτων θησαυρὸς ἐν Δελφοῖσι ἀνάκειται ὅμοια τοῖσι πλουσιωτάτοισι·2 αὐτοὶ δὲ τὰ γινόμενα τῷ ἐνιαυτῷ ἑκάστῳ χρήματα διενέμοντο.
The Samian exiles who had campaigned against Polycrates, when the Lacedaemonians were about to abandon them, themselves also set sail for Siphnos. For they were in need of money, and the affairs of the Siphnians were at their height at this time, and they were the wealthiest of the islanders, since there were gold and silver mines for them on the island, so that from a tenth of the money accruing from there, a treasury is dedicated at Delphi equal to the wealthiest ones; and they themselves used to divide among themselves the money accruing each year.
ὅτε ὦν ἐποιεῦντο τὸν θησαυρόν, ἐχρέωντο τῷ χρηστηρίῳ εἰ αὐτοῖσι τὰ παρεόντα ἀγαθὰ οἷά τε ἐστὶ πολλὸν χρόνον παραμένειν· ἡ δὲ Πυθίη ἔχρησέ σφι τάδε.
When therefore they were making the treasury, they consulted the oracle as to whether it was possible for their present prosperity to remain with them for a long time; and the Pythia declared to them as follows:
" ἀλλʼ ὅταν ἐν Σίφνῳ πρυτανήια λευκὰ γένηται λεύκοφρύς τʼ ἀγορή, τότε δὴ δεῖ φράδμονος ἀνδρός φράσσασθαι ξύλινόν τε λόχον κήρυκά τʼ ἐρυθρόν." τοῖσι δὲ Σιφνίοισι ἦν τότε ἡ ἀγορὴ καὶ τὸ πρυτανήιον Παρίῳ λίθῳ ἠσκημένα.
” But when the town-hall in Siphnos becomes white And the marketplace white-browed, then indeed there is need for a prudent man To guard against a wooden ambush and a red herald.” Now at that time the marketplace and the town-hall of the Siphnians were adorned with Parian marble.
- 3.57.2ἅτε ἐόντων αὐτοῖσι
The conjunction ἅτε combined with the genitive absolute ἐόντων, presenting an objective fact as the reason. αὐτοῖσι is a dative of possession (there being to them).
- 3.57.2ὅμοια τοῖσι πλουσιωτάτοισι
Brachylogy of comparison (shortcut comparison). Instead of saying "a treasury equal to the [treasuries] of the wealthiest," the noun signifying the compared object (treasuries, θησαυροῖς) is omitted, and ὅμοια directly governs the dative representing the owners.