- 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-grc2:4.135.1-4.135.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Darius follows Gobryas' advice by leaving behind the weak soldiers and the donkeys in the camp under a false pretext, and retreats in haste to the Ister. The Scythians hear the cries of the abandoned donkeys and mistakenly believe that the Persians are still in their position.
Γοβρύης μὲν ταῦτα συνεβούλευε. μετὰ δὲ νύξ τε ἐγίνετο καὶ Δαρεῖος ἐχρᾶτο τῇ γνώμῃ ταύτῃ· τοὺς μὲν καματηροὺς τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τῶν ἦν ἐλάχιστος ἀπολλυμένων λόγος,1 καὶ τοὺς ὄνους πάντας καταδήσας κατέλιπε αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδω.
Gobryas gave this advice. After this, night came on, and Darius acted upon this opinion: he left behind there in the camp the exhausted of the men and those whose loss, if they perished, would be of the least account, having bound all the donkeys fast.
κατέλιπε δὲ τούς τε ὄνους καὶ τοὺς ἀσθενέας τῆς στρατιῆς τῶνδε εἵνεκεν, ἵνα οἱ μὲν ὄνοι βοὴν παρέχωνται· οἱ δὲ ἄνθρωποι ἀσθενείης μὲν εἵνεκεν κατελείποντο, προφάσιος δὲ τῆσδε δηλαδή, ὡς2 αὐτὸς μὲν σὺν τῷ καθαρῷ τοῦ στρατοῦ3 ἐπιθήσεσθαι μέλλοι τοῖσι Σκύθῃσι, οὗτοι δὲ τὸ στρατόπεδον τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ῥυοίατο.
He left behind both the donkeys and the weak of the army for these reasons: so that the donkeys might provide a noise, and as for the men, though they were left behind because of their weakness, it was clearly under this pretext: namely, that he himself was about to attack the Scythians with the sound part of the army, while they were to guard the camp during this time.
ταῦτα τοῖσι ὑπολελειμμένοισι ὑποθέμενος ὁ Δαρεῖος καὶ πυρὰ ἐκκαύσας τὴν ταχίστην ἐπείγετο ἐπὶ τὸν Ἴστρον. οἱ δὲ ὄνοι ἐρημωθέντες τοῦ ὁμίλου οὕτω δὴ μᾶλλον πολλῷ ἵεσαν τῆς φωνῆς· ἀκούσαντες δὲ οἱ Σκύθαι τῶν ὄνων πάγχυ κατὰ χώρην4 ἤλπιζον τοὺς Πέρσας εἶναι.
Having given these instructions to those who were left behind, and having kindled the campfires, Darius hastened with all speed to the Ister. And the donkeys, having been deserted by the crowd, naturally made a much louder noise. Hearing the donkeys, the Scythians fully expected that the Persians were still in their place.
- 4.135.1τῶν ἦν ἐλάχιστος ἀπολλυμένων λόγος
The relative pronoun in the genitive, τῶν, refers to the omitted antecedent [ἐκείνων] and is coordinated with καματηροὺς τῶν ἀνδρῶν. The participle ἀπολλυμένων functions either conditionally ("even if they perished") or as an objective genitive modifying λόγος ("concern, account"), yielding the meaning "those whose loss would be of the least account."
- 4.135.2προφάσιος δὲ τῆσδε δηλαδή, ὡς...
προφάσιος τῆσδε is a genitive of pretext, balancing the preceding ἀσθενείης εἵνεκεν (either governed by the shared preposition εἵνεκεν or as an independent genitive of pretext). The ὡς clause is appositive, explaining the content of the pretext; because the main clause is in the past tense, the optatives of indirect discourse, μέλλοι and ῥυοίατο (Ionic third-person plural, equivalent to -οιντο), are used.
- 4.135.2τῷ καθαρῷ τοῦ στρατοῦ
Literally "the clean part of the army." This is a neuter substantival expression referring to the sound, healthy, and combat-ready soldiers who were free from illness or fatigue.
- 4.135.3κατὰ χώρην
An idiomatic expression meaning "in their place" or "at their post." Together with the infinitive εἶναι, it expresses the Scythians' belief that the Persians remained stationary and had not retreated.