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§4.143.1-4.143.3

Megabazus in Europe and the Pomegranate Anecdote

As Darius crossed into Asia, he left Megabazus as general in Europe. The text relates an anecdote in which Darius honored Megabazus, saying he would prefer to have as many men like Megabazus as there are seeds in a pomegranate rather than have Greece subject to him.

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§4.143.1

Δαρεῖος δὲ διὰ τῆς Θρηίκης πορευόμενος ἀπίκετο ἐς Σηστὸν τῆς Χερσονήσου. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὐτὸς μὲν διέβη τῇσι νηυσὶ ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην, λείπει δὲ στρατηγὸν ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπῃ Μεγάβαζον ἄνδρα Πέρσην· τῷ Δαρεῖος κοτὲ ἔδωκε γέρας, τοιόνδε εἴπας ἐν Πέρσῃσι ἔπος.

​Darius, marching through Thrace, came to Sestos in the Chersonese. From there he himself crossed over in his ships to Asia, but he left Megabazus, a Persian, as general in Europe; to whom Darius once gave honor by speaking this word among the Persians.

§4.143.2

ὁρμημένου Δαρείου1 ῥοιὰς τρώγειν, ὡς ἄνοιξε τάχιστα τὴν πρώτην τῶν ῥοιέων, εἴρετο αὐτὸν ὁ ἀδελφεὸς Ἀρτάβανος ὅ τι βούλοιτʼ ἄν2 οἱ τοσοῦτο πλῆθος γενέσθαι ὅσοι ἐν τῇ ῥοιῇ κόκκοι· Δαρεῖος δὲ εἶπε Μεγαβάζους3 ἄν οἱ τοσούτους ἀριθμὸν γενέσθαι βούλεσθαι4 μᾶλλον ἢ τὴν Ἑλλάδα ὑπήκοον.

​When Darius was about to eat pomegranates, as soon as he opened the first of them, his brother Artabanus asked him what he would wish to have in such great number as there were seeds in the pomegranate; and Darius said that he would rather wish to have as many men like Megabazus in number than to have Greece subject to him.

§4.143.3

ἐν μὲν δὴ Πέρσησι ταῦτά μιν εἴπας5 ἐτίμα, τότε δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπέλιπε στρατηγὸν ἔχοντα τῆς στρατιῆς τῆς ἑωυτοῦ ὀκτὼ μυριάδας.

​Having spoken thus of him among the Persians, he honored him; and at that time he left him behind as general, having eighty thousand of his own army.

Syntax notes5 items
  1. 4.143.2ὁρμημένου Δαρείου

    Genitive absolute construction. The perfect participle ὁρμημένου, in the passive or middle voice, expresses an attempt or imminent action ('being about to' or 'setting oneself to'), with Δαρείου as its subject.

  2. 4.143.2ὅ τι βούλοιτʼ ἄν

    Indirect question. The potential optative (βούλοιτο ἄν) is retained as such in indirect discourse after the historical main verb εἴρετο. The pronoun οἱ is an indirect reflexive referring to Darius himself.

  3. 4.143.2Μεγαβάζους

    Accusative plural of the proper noun. Using the proper name in the plural denotes a class of people, meaning 'men like Megabazus'. The following word ἀριθμὸν is an accusative of specification ('in number').

  4. 4.143.2εἶπε ... βούλεσθαι

    An Ionic usage where the verb εἶπε introduces an accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction. The particle ἄν with the infinitive βούλεσθαι represents a potential optative (βούλοιτο ἄν) of direct speech.

  5. 4.143.3ταῦτά μιν εἴπας

    Double accusative. The aorist participle εἴπας (used as a participle of λέγω) takes both the accusative of thing ταῦτα and the accusative of person μιν (Ionic third-person singular accusative, referring to Megabazus).

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-grc2:4.143.1-4.143.3