- 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-grc2:4.160.1-4.160.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Arcesilaus's conflict with his brothers leads to the foundation of Barce and the revolt of the Libyans. He campaigns against them but suffers a major defeat at Leucon, after which he is murdered by his brother Haliarchus, who is then killed in turn by Arcesilaus's widow Eryxo.
τούτου δὲ τοῦ Βάττου παῖς γίνεται Ἀρκεσίλεως. ὃς βασιλεύσας πρῶτα τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ ἀδελφεοῖσι ἐστασίασε, ἐς ὅ μιν οὗτοι ἀπολιπόντες οἴχοντο ἐς ἄλλον χῶρον τῆς Λιβύης καὶ ἐπʼ ἑωυτῶν βαλόμενοι1 ἔκτισαν πόλιν ταύτην ἣ τότε καὶ νῦν Βάρκη κλέεται· κτίζοντες δὲ ἅμα αὐτὴν ἀπιστᾶσι2 ἀπὸ τῶν Κυρηναίων τοὺς Λίβυας.
To this Battus was born a son, Arcesilaus. When he became king, he first quarreled with his own brothers, until they left him and departed for another part of Libya, and acting on their own, they founded this city which both then and now is called Barce; and as they were founding it, they at the same time induced the Libyans to revolt from the Cyrenaeans.
μετὰ δὲ Ἀρκεσίλεως ἐς τοὺς ὑποδεξαμένους τε τῶν Λιβύων καὶ ἀποστάντας τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους3 ἐστρατεύετο· οἱ δὲ Λίβυες δείσαντες αὐτὸν οἴχοντο φεύγοντες πρὸς τοὺς ἠοίους τῶν Λιβύων.
Afterwards Arcesilaus marched against those very Libyans who had received his brothers and had themselves revolted; but the Libyans, fearing him, fled away to the eastern Libyans.
ὁ δὲ Ἀρκεσίλεως εἵπετο φεύγουσι, ἐς οὗ ἐν Λεύκωνί τε τῆς Λιβύης ἐγίνετο ἐπιδιώκων καὶ ἔδοξε τοῖσι Λίβυσι ἐπιθέσθαι οἱ.4 συμβαλόντες δὲ ἐνίκησαν τοὺς Κυρηναίους τοσοῦτο ὥστε ἑπτακισχιλίους ὁπλίτας Κυρηναίων ἐνθαῦτα πεσεῖν.
Arcesilaus followed them as they fled, until in his pursuit he arrived at Leucon in Libya, and there the Libyans decided to attack him. Engaging in battle, they defeated the Cyrenaeans so utterly that seven thousand hoplites of the Cyrenaeans fell there.
μετὰ δὲ τὸ τρῶμα τοῦτο Ἀρκεσίλεων μὲν κάμνοντά τε καὶ φάρμακον πεπωκότα5 ὁ ἀδελφεὸς Ἁλίαρχος ἀποπνίγει, Ἁλίαρχον δὲ ἡ γυνὴ ἡ Ἀρκεσίλεω δόλῳ κτείνει, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ἐρυξώ.
After this disaster, when Arcesilaus was ill and had taken medicine, his brother Haliarchus strangled him; and Haliarchus in turn was killed by a stratagem of Eryxo, the wife of Arcesilaus.
- 4.160.1ἐπʼ ἑωυτῶν βαλόμενοι
This phrase, combining the preposition ἐπί with the genitive ἑωυτῶν and the middle participle of βάλλω, is a characteristic Herodotean idiom meaning 'acting on one's own initiative' or 'relying on one's own counsel.'
- 4.160.1κτίζοντες δὲ ἅμα αὐτὴν ἀπιστᾶσι
The combination of ἅμα with the present participle κτίζοντες means 'at the same time as they were founding.' The verb ἀπιστᾶσι is the Ionic third-person plural present indicative active of ἀφίστημι ('to cause to revolt'), used here as a historical present.
- 4.160.2τοὺς ὑποδεξαμένους τε τῶν Λιβύων καὶ ἀποστάντας τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους
A single definite article τούς governs both participles, ὑποδεξαμένους and ἀποστάντας, which are further specified by the appositive phrase τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους ('these very same people'). This refers to the specific group of Libyans who had both welcomed the brothers and revolted.
- 4.160.3ἔδοξε τοῖσι Λίβυσι ἐπιθέσθαι οἱ
The impersonal verb ἔδοξε with the dative τοῖσι Λίβυσι expresses a decision ('it seemed good to the Libyans' / 'the Libyans resolved'). The subject of the infinitive ἐπιθέσθαι (aorist middle infinitive of ἐπιτίθημι, 'to attack') is the Libyans, and its object is the third-person singular dative pronoun οἱ, referring to Arcesilaus.
- 4.160.4κάμνοντά τε καὶ φάρμακον πεπωκότα
The two participles (present κάμνοντα, 'being ill', and perfect πεπωκότα, 'having drunk') modify the accusative Arcesilaus (Ἀρκεσίλεων). Although φάρμακον can mean either 'medicine' or 'poison', the context of him being ill (κάμνοντα) suggests he had taken a medicinal remedy rather than having been poisoned.