- 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-grc2:4.136.1-4.136.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Scythian forces, learning the truth from the abandoned Persian soldiers, pursue the Persians and arrive first at the bridge guarded by the Ionians. The Scythians urge the Ionians to destroy the bridge and depart as free men, since the agreed period has passed.
ἡμέρης δὲ γενομένης γνόντες οἱ ὑπολειφθέντες ὡς προδεδομένοι εἶεν ὑπὸ Δαρείου, χεῖράς τε προετείνοντο τοῖσι Σκύθῃσι καὶ ἔλεγον τὰ κατήκοντα· οἳ δὲ ὡς ἤκουσαν ταῦτα τὴν ταχίστην συστραφέντες, αἵ τε δύο μοῖραι τῶν Σκυθέων καὶ ἡ μία καὶ Σαυρομάται καὶ Βουδῖνοι καὶ Γελωνοί, ἐδίωκον τοὺς Πέρσας ἰθὺ τοῦ Ἴστρου.
When day came, those who had been left behind, realizing that they had been betrayed by Darius, stretched out their hands to the Scythians and explained the state of affairs. As soon as the Scythians heard this, they gathered together with all speed—both the two divisions of the Scythians and the single one, as well as the Sauromatae, the Budini, and the Geloni—and pursued the Persians straight toward the Ister.
ἅτε δὲ τοῦ Περσικοῦ μὲν τοῦ πολλοῦ ἐόντος πεζοῦ στρατοῦ καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς οὐκ ἐπισταμένου, ὥστε οὐ τετμημενέων τῶν ὁδῶν,1 τοῦ δὲ Σκυθικοῦ ἱππότεω καὶ τὰ σύντομα τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐπισταμένου, ἁμαρτόντες ἀλλήλων, ἔφθησαν πολλῷ οἱ Σκύθαι τοὺς Πέρσας ἐπὶ τὴν γέφυραν ἀπικόμενοι.2
And since the Persian army was mostly infantry and did not know the roads, the ways not having been cleared, while the Scythian army was cavalry and knew the shortest routes, they missed one another, and the Scythians arrived at the bridge far ahead of the Persians.
μαθόντες δὲ τοὺς Πέρσας οὔκω ἀπιγμένους ἔλεγον πρὸς τοὺς Ἴωνας ἐόντας ἐν τῇσι νηυσί ἄνδρες Ἴωνες, αἵ τε ἡμέραι ὑμῖν τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ διοίχηνται3 καὶ οὐ ποιέετε δίκαια ἔτι παραμένοντες.
Learning that the Persians had not yet arrived, they spoke to the Ionians who were on the ships: “Men of Ionia, the days of your number have already passed, and you are not doing what is right by remaining here any longer.
ἀλλʼ ἐπεὶ πρότερον δειμαίνοντες ἐμένετε, νῦν λύσαντες τὸν πόρον τὴν ταχίστην ἄπιτε χαίροντες ἐλεύθεροι, θεοῖσί τε καὶ Σκύθῃσι εἰδότες χάριν. τὸν δὲ πρότερον ἐόντα ὑμέων δεσπότην ἡμεῖς παραστησόμεθα4 οὕτω ὥστε ἐπὶ μηδαμοὺς ἔτι ἀνθρώπους αὐτὸν στρατεύσασθαι.
But since you remained before out of fear, now break the passage with all speed and depart in joy as free men, giving thanks to the gods and to the Scythians. As for him who was formerly your master, we will bring him to such a pass that he will never again make war against any people.”
- 4.136.2ὥστε οὐ τετμημενέων τῶν ὁδῶν
"the ways not having been cleared." A rare construction characteristic of Herodotus, where the conjunction ὥστε is followed by a genitive absolute. While ὥστε normally takes an infinitive or indicative to express result, here it functions to supplement the causal sense of the preceding ἅτε clause.
- 4.136.2ἔφθησαν... ἀπικόμενοι
"arrived far ahead of..." The verb φθάνω takes a supplementary participle (ἀπικόμενοι) to mean "to anticipate someone in doing something." Here, with the direct object τοὺς Πέρσας, it means they arrived far ahead of (πολλῷ) the Persians.
- 4.136.3διοίχηνται
Third-person plural perfect indicative of the verb διαοίχομαι (to have gone, passed away). This is an Ionic dialect form equivalent to the Attic perfect, denoting a completed state: "the days have already passed."
- 4.136.4παραστησόμεθα
"we will bring (him) to terms / subdue." The future middle first-person plural of παρίστημι. The middle voice of this verb in the future tense is often used in a transitive sense meaning "to bring over to one's side" or "to subdue."