Accession of Darius, His Marriages, and His Monument — Herodotus, Histories Book 3 (3.88.1–3.88.3), Greek & English

§3.88.1

Δαρεῖός τε δὴ ὁ Ὑστάσπεος βασιλεὺς ἀπεδέδεκτο,¹ καί οἱ ἦσαν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ πάντες κατήκοοι πλὴν Ἀραβίων, Κύρου τε καταστρεψαμένου καὶ ὕστερον αὖτις Καμβύσεω. Ἀράβιοι δὲ οὐδαμὰ κατήκουσαν ἐπὶ δουλοσύνῃ Πέρσῃσι, ἀλλὰ ξεῖνοι ἐγένοντο παρέντες Καμβύσεα ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον· ἀεκόντων γὰρ Ἀραβίων οὐκ ἂν ἐσβάλοιεν² Πέρσαι ἐς Αἴγυπτον.

Thus Darius, the son of Hystaspes, was established as king, and all those in Asia were subject to him except the Arabians, Cyrus having subdued them, and later again Cambyses. But the Arabians were never subject to the Persians in servitude, but became their allies, having permitted Cambyses to pass through to Egypt; for if the Arabians had been unwilling, the Persians could not have invaded Egypt.

§3.88.2

γάμους τε τοὺς πρώτους³ ἐγάμεε Πέρσῃσι ὁ Δαρεῖος, Κύρου μὲν δύο θυγατέρας Ἄτοσσάν τε καὶ Ἀρτυστώνην, τὴν μὲν Ἄτοσσαν προσυνοικήσασαν Καμβύσῃ τε τῷ ἀδελφεῷ καὶ αὖτις τῷ Μάγῳ, τὴν δὲ Ἀρτυστώνην παρθένον·

And Darius contracted the most noble marriages among the Persians: namely, two daughters of Cyrus, Atossa and Artystone, of whom Atossa had previously lived with her brother Cambyses and afterwards again with the Magus, but Artystone was a virgin.

§3.88.3

ἑτέρην δὲ Σμέρδιος τοῦ Κύρου θυγατέρα ἔγημε, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Πάρμυς· ἔσχε δὲ καὶ τὴν τοῦ Ὀτάνεω θυγατέρα, ἣ τὸν Μάγον κατάδηλον ἐποίησε· δυνάμιός τε πάντα οἱ ἐπιμπλέατο.⁴ πρῶτον μέν νυν τύπον ποιησάμενος λίθινον ἔστησε· ζῷον δέ οἱ ἐνῆν ἀνὴρ ἱππεύς, ἐπέγραψε δὲ γράμματα λέγοντα τάδε· Δαρεῖος ὁ Ὑστάσπεος σύν τε τοῦ ἵππου τῇ ἀρετῇ τὸ οὔνομα λέγων⁵ καὶ Οἰβάρεος τοῦ ἱπποκόμου ἐκτήσατο τὴν Περσέων βασιληίην.

And he married another daughter of Smerdis, the son of Cyrus, whose name was Parmys; he also had the daughter of Otanes, who had exposed the Magus. And all his affairs were filled with power. First of all, then, he had a stone monument made and set up; on it was a relief of a man on horseback, and he engraved on it an inscription saying as follows: “Darius, the son of Hystaspes, by the merit of his horse (naming the horse) and of his groom Oebares, obtained the kingdom of the Persians.”

Syntax notes5 items

3.88.1ἀπεδέδεκτο
Third-person singular pluperfect indicative passive of ἀποδείκνυμι ('to appoint', 'to declare'). It signifies that Darius' establishment as king was fully completed and in force.
3.88.1ἀεκόντων γὰρ Ἀραβίων οὐκ ἂν ἐσβάλοιεν
The genitive absolute ἀεκόντων Ἀραβίων ('with the Arabians being unwilling') functions as the protasis (conditional clause) to the potential optative οὐκ ἂν ἐσβάλοιεν ('they would not have invaded') in the apodosis.
3.88.2γάμους τε τοὺς πρώτους
Here πρώτους does not mean 'first in time' but 'first in rank, most distinguished', referring to Darius marrying into the most powerful families of the Persian empire (the houses of Cyrus and Otanes).
3.88.3δυνάμιός τε πάντα οἱ ἐπιμπλέατο
πάντα (neuter plural) is the subject, with the verb ἐπιμπλέατο (Ionic 3rd person plural imperfect passive (-ατο for -ντο)). It means 'all things for him (the dative οἱ) were filled with power (the genitive δυνάμιος)'.
3.88.3τὸ οὔνομα λέγων
Meaning 'stating the name [of the horse].' Herodotus uses this phrase to indicate that the actual inscription included the specific name of the horse, which he glosses over in his quotation.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.88.1-3.88.3