- 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-grc2:4.204.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
This passage records that the Persian expedition reached as far west as Euesperides in Libya, and describes how the enslaved Barcaeans were deported to Bactria by King Darius, where they founded a village named Barce that survived until Herodotus' own time.
οὗτος ὁ Περσέων στρατὸς τῆς Λιβύης ἑκαστάτω1 ἐς Εὐεσπερίδας ἦλθε. τοὺς2 δὲ ἠνδραποδίσαντο τῶν Βαρκαίων, τούτους δὲ ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀνασπάστους ἐποίησαν3 παρὰ βασιλέα, βασιλεὺς δέ σφι Δαρεῖος ἔδωκε τῆς Βακτρίης χώρης κώμην ἐγκατοικῆσαι. οἳ δὲ τῇ κώμῃ ταύτῃ οὔνομα ἔθεντο Βάρκην, ἥ περ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦν οἰκεομένη4 ἐν γῇ τῇ Βακτρίῃ.
This Persian army reached as far as Euesperides, the furthest point in Libya. As for those of the Barcaeans whom they had enslaved, they deported them from Egypt to the king; and King Darius gave them a village in the territory of Bactria to inhabit. They gave this village the name of Barce, which was still inhabited even down to my own day in the land of Bactria.
- 4.204.1τῆς Λιβύης ἑκαστάτω
The superlative adverb ἑκαστάτω (from ἑκάς, 'far') takes the partitive genitive τῆς Λιβύης to mean 'the furthest point in Libya.'
- 4.204.1τοὺς
Functions as a relative pronoun (a common Herodotean/Ionic usage of the demonstrative as a relative), referring to τῶν Βαρκαίων and resumed by the demonstrative τούτους in the main clause.
- 4.204.1ἀνασπάστους ἐποίησαν
The combination of the adjective ἀνάσπαστος ('dragged up', 'deported') and ἐποίησαν refers to the Persian imperial practice of mass deportation or relocation.
- 4.204.1ἦν οἰκεομένη
A periphrastic construction combining the copula ἦν and the present passive participle οἰκεομένη (Ionic for οἰκουμένη), expressing a continuous state of habitation ('was still being inhabited') up to Herodotus' own time.