- 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-grc2:3.97.1-3.97.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Herodotus explains that only the Persian territory was exempt from tribute under Darius, and lists the various regular gifts brought by neighboring peoples, including the Ethiopians, Colchians, and Arabians, instead of tribute.
αὗται μὲν ἀρχαί τε ἦσαν καὶ φόρων ἐπιτάξιες. ἡ Περσὶς δὲ χώρη μούνη μοι οὐκ εἴρηται δασμοφόρος· ἀτελέα γὰρ Πέρσαι νέμονται χώρην.1
These were the provinces and the assessments of tribute. But the Persian territory alone has not been mentioned by me as paying tribute; for the Persians inhabit a land free from taxation.
οἵδε δὲ φόρον μὲν οὐδένα ἐτάχθησαν φέρειν, δῶρα δὲ ἀγίνεον· Αἰθίοπες οἱ πρόσουροι Αἰγύπτῳ, τοὺς Καμβύσης ἐλαύνων ἐπὶ τοὺς μακροβίους Αἰθίοπας κατεστρέψατο, οἵ τε περί τε Νύσην τὴν ἱρὴν κατοίκηνται καὶ τῷ Διονύσῳ ἀνάγουσι τὰς ὁρτάς·
The following peoples were not ordered to pay any tribute, but brought gifts: the Ethiopians bordering on Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued when he marched against the long-lived Ethiopians, and those who dwell around sacred Nysa and celebrate festivals for Dionysus.
οὗτοι συναμφότεροι διὰ τρίτου ἔτεος2 ἀγίνεον, ἀγινέουσι δὲ καὶ τὸ μέχρι ἐμεῦ, δύο χοίνικας ἀπύρου χρυσίου καὶ διηκοσίας φάλαγγας ἐβένου καὶ πέντε παῖδας Αἰθίοπας καὶ ἐλέφαντος ὀδόντας μεγάλους εἴκοσι.
These two groups together brought, and still bring even to my time, every third year, two choinikes of unrefined gold, two hundred logs of ebony, five Ethiopian boys, and twenty large elephant tusks.
Κόλχοι δὲ τὰ ἐτάξαντο ἐς τὴν δωρεὴν καὶ οἱ προσεχέες μέχρι Καυκάσιος ὄρεος (ἐς τοῦτο γὰρ τὸ ὄρος ὑπὸ Πέρσῃσι ἄρχεται, τὰ δὲ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον τοῦ Καυκάσιος Περσέων οὐδὲν ἔτι φροντίζει), οὗτοι ὦν3 δῶρα τὰ ἐτάξαντο ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ διὰ πεντετηρίδος ἀγίνεον, ἑκατὸν παῖδας καὶ ἑκατὸν παρθένους.
As for the Colchians and their neighbors as far as the Caucasus range (for as far as this mountain the land is ruled under the Persians, but those to the north of the Caucasus no longer pay any regard to the Persians), these people then brought the gifts they had assessed for themselves every fifth year, even down to my time, namely, a hundred boys and a hundred virgins.
Ἀράβιοι δὲ χίλια τάλαντα ἀγίνεον λιβανωτοῦ ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος. ταῦτα μὲν οὗτοι δῶρα πάρεξ τοῦ φόρου βασιλέι ἐκόμιζον.
And the Arabians brought a thousand talents of frankincense every year. These were the gifts that these peoples brought to the king, apart from the tribute.
- 3.97.1ἀτελέα γὰρ Πέρσαι νέμονται χώρην
The adjective ἀτελέα (tax-free) is used predicatively with χώρην (land), which is the object of the verb νέμονται (inhabit, possess). It means 'they possess their land as a tax-free one'.
- 3.97.3διὰ τρίτου ἔτεος
The preposition διά with the genitive denotes an interval of time. Due to the Greek practice of inclusive counting, διὰ τρίτου ἔτεος literally means 'every third year' but actually signifies 'every other year' (at intervals of two years). The same applies to διὰ πεντετηρίδος ('every fifth year' i.e., 'every four years') in §3.97.4.
- 3.97.4Κόλχοι δὲ ... οὗτοι ὦν
The subject at the beginning of the sentence, Κόλχοι δὲ ... (And the Colchians ...), is interrupted by a long parenthetical clause (ἐς τοῦτο γὰρ...) and is restated by the pronoun οὗτοι (these people), forming a mild anacoluthon.