- 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-grc2:4.200.1-4.200.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The Persian army begins the siege of Barce, but the citizens refuse to surrender as the entire population is complicit in the murder. When the Persians try to dig underground mines, a Barcaean brass-smith detects their locations using a bronze shield, enabling the citizens to counter-mine and foil the attempt.
οἱ δὲ Φερετίμης τιμωροὶ Πέρσαι ἐπείτε ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου σταλέντες ὑπὸ Ἀρυάνδεω ἀπίκατο ἐς τὴν Βάρκην, ἐπολιόρκεον τὴν πόλιν ἐπαγγελλόμενοι ἐκδιδόναι τοὺς αἰτίους τοῦ φόνου τοῦ Ἀρκεσίλεω· τῶν δὲ πᾶν γὰρ ἦν τὸ πλῆθος μεταίτιον, οὐκ ἐδέκοντο τοὺς λόγους.1
And the Persians who were the avengers of Pheretime, when they had arrived at Barce after being sent from Egypt by Aryandes, besieged the city, demanding that they hand over those who were guilty of the murder of Arcesilaus. But they—for their whole multitude was complicit—did not accept the terms.
ἐνθαῦτα δὴ ἐπολιόρκεον τὴν Βάρκην ἐπὶ μῆνας ἐννέα, ὀρύσσοντες τε ὀρύγματα ὑπόγαια φέροντα ἐς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ προσβολὰς καρτερὰς ποιεύμενοι. τὰ μέν νυν ὀρύγματα ἀνὴρ χαλκεὺς ἀνεῦρε ἐπιχάλκῳ ἀσπίδι, ὧδε ἐπιφρασθείς· περιφέρων αὐτὴν ἐντὸς τοῦ τείχεος προσῖσχε πρὸς τὸ δάπεδον τῆς πόλιος.
Thereupon they besieged Barce for nine months, digging underground passages leading to the wall and making fierce assaults. Now, a brass-smith discovered the mines by means of a bronze-plated shield, having conceived the following idea: carrying it around inside the wall, he applied it to the ground of the city.
τὰ μὲν δὴ ἄλλα ἔσκε κωφὰ πρὸς τὰ προσῖσχε,2 κατὰ δὲ τὰ ὀρυσσόμενα ἠχέεσκε ὁ χαλκὸς τῆς ἀσπίδος. ἀντορύσσοντες δʼ ἂν ταύτῃ οἱ Βαρκαῖοι ἔκτεινον3 τῶν Περσέων τοὺς γεωρυχέοντας. τοῦτο μὲν δὴ οὕτω ἐξευρέθη, τὰς δὲ προσβολὰς ἀπεκρούοντο οἱ Βαρκαῖοι.
Indeed, all the other places to which he applied it were mute, but over against the places being dug, the bronze of the shield rang out. The Barcaeans, digging in opposition at these points, would kill those of the Persians who were excavating the earth. This, then, was discovered in this way, and the Barcaeans beat back the assaults.
- 4.200.1τῶν δὲ πᾶν γὰρ ἦν τὸ πλῆθος μεταίτιον, οὐκ ἐδέκοντο τοὺς λόγους
The clause containing the conjunction γάρ is inserted between the pronoun τῶν δέ and the main verb οὐκ ἐδέκοντο. τῶν is a genitive plural pronoun depending on πλῆθος inside the γάρ-clause, meaning "their (i.e. the Barcaeans') whole multitude." The subject of the main verb οὐκ ἐδέκοντο is understood from the context as "the Barcaeans."
- 4.200.3πρὸς τὰ προσῖσχε
The antecedent of the relative pronoun τὰ is omitted, forming the structure πρὸς [ἐκεῖνα] ἃ προσῖσχε ("in relation to those places to which he applied it"). προσῖσχε is the 3rd person singular imperfect of προσίσχω ("to apply/hold against").
- 4.200.3ἀντορύσσοντες δʼ ἂν ταύτῃ οἱ Βαρκαῖοι ἔκτεινον
The particle ἄν (frequently used with the imperfect or aorist indicative in Herodotus) is combined with the imperfect ἔκτεινον to express iterative or habitual action in the past ("they would kill" / "they used to kill"). The participle ἀντορύσσοντες indicates means or attendant circumstance.