- 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-grc2:4.201.1-4.201.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Amasis devises a plot to take Barce by guile, using a hidden trench to seal an oath that holds only as long as the ground remains intact; when the Barcaeans trust this and open the gates, the Persians destroy the trench bridge to void the oath and storm the city.
χρόνον δὲ δὴ πολλὸν τριβομένων καὶ πιπτόντων ἀμφοτέρων πολλῶν καὶ οὐκ ἧσσον τῶν Περσέων, Ἄμασις ὁ στρατηγὸς τοῦ πεζοῦ μηχανᾶται τοιάδε. μαθὼν τοὺς Βορκαίους ὡς κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐκ αἱρετοὶ εἶεν,1 δόλῳ δὲ αἱρετοί, ποιέει τοιάδε· νυκτὸς τάφρην ὀρύξας εὐρέαν ἐπέτεινε ξύλα ἀσθενέα ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς, κατύπερθε δὲ ἐπιπολῆς τῶν ξύλων χοῦν γῆς ἐπεφόρησε ποιέων τῇ ἄλλῃ γῇ ἰσόπεδον.
When much time was being spent and many of both sides were falling—and no fewer of the Persians—Amasis, the general of the infantry, devised the following scheme. Learning that the Barcaeans could not be taken by force, but could be taken by guile, he did as follows: having dug a wide trench by night, he stretched weak timbers over it, and on top of the timbers he piled up a layer of earth, making it level with the rest of the ground.
ἅμα ἡμέρῃ δὲ ἐς λόγους προεκαλέετο τοὺς Βαρκαίους· οἳ δὲ ἀσπαστῶς ὑπήκουσαν, ἐς ὅ σφι ἕαδε2 ὁμολογίῃ χρήσασθαι. τὴν δὲ ὁμολογίην ἐποιεῦντο τοιήνδε τινά, ἐπὶ τῆς κρυπτῆς τάφρου τάμνοντες ὅρκια, ἔστʼ ἂν ἡ γῆ αὕτη οὕτω ἔχῃ, μένειν τὸ ὅρκιον κατὰ χώρην, καὶ Βαρκαίους τε ὑποτελέειν φάναι ἀξίην βασιλέι καὶ Πέρσας μηδὲν ἄλλο νεοχμοῦν κατὰ Βαρκαίους.
At daybreak he invited the Barcaeans to a conference; and they gladly complied, until it pleased them to come to an agreement. They made an agreement of this sort, swearing oaths over the hidden trench: that as long as this earth should remain as it was, the oath should stand firm; and that the Barcaeans promised to pay a fitting tribute to the King, while the Persians would make no new attempt against the Barcaeans.
μετὰ δὲ τὸ ὅρκιον Βαρκαῖοι μὲν πιστεύσαντες τούτοισι αὐτοί τε ἐξῄσαν ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος καὶ τῶν πολεμίων ἔων παριέναι ἐς τὸ τεῖχος τὸν βουλόμενον, τὰς πάσας πύλας ἀνοίξαντες. οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι καταρρήξαντες τὴν κρυπτὴν γέφυραν ἔθεον ἔσω ἐς τὸ τεῖχος. κατέρρηξαν δὲ τοῦδε εἵνεκα τὴν ἐποίησαν γέφυραν, ἵνα ἐμπεδορκέοιεν, ταμόντες τοῖσι Βαρκαίοισι χρόνον μένειν αἰεὶ τὸ ὅρκιον ὅσον ἂν ἡ γῆ μένῃ κατὰ τότε εἶχε·3 καταρρήξασι δὲ οὐκέτι ἔμενε τὸ ὅρκιον κατὰ χώρην.
After the oath, the Barcaeans, trusting in these terms, both went out of the city themselves and allowed any of the enemy who wished to enter inside the wall, opening all the gates. But the Persians, having broken down the hidden bridge, rushed inside the wall. They broke down the bridge they had made for this reason: so that they might keep their oath; for they had sworn to the Barcaeans that the oath would remain in force forever as long as the earth should remain as it then was; but now that they had broken it down, the oath no longer stood firm.
- 4.201.1μαθὼν τοὺς Βορκαίους ὡς κατὰ μὲν τὸ ἰσχυρὸν οὐκ αἱρετοὶ εἶεν
Anticipation (prolepsis), where the subject of the dependent clause (οἱ Βορκάιοι) is attracted into the main clause as the direct object (accusative τοὺς Βορκαίους) of the participle μαθὼν. The optative εἶεν is an optative of oblique discourse, depending on the historical presents (μηχανᾶται / ποιέει).
- 4.201.2ἕαδε
The third-person singular aorist of ἁνδάνω (to please, satisfy) in its psilotic Ionic form. Used impersonally with the dative σφι, meaning literally "until it pleased them to employ the agreement," i.e., "until they agreed to come to terms."
- 4.201.3κατὰ τότε εἶχε
A condensed expression with the omission of the relative pronoun and its antecedent, meaning κατὰ (ταῦτα ἃ) τότε εἶχε ("according to those things which it then had," i.e., "just as it then was"). The verb εἶχε is used intransitively with ἡ γῆ as the subject, meaning "to be in a certain state."