- 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-grc2:4.21.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Describes the barren territory of the Sauromatae across the Tanais river, and the heavily forested territory of the Budini located further to their north.
Τάναϊν δὲ ποταμὸν διαβάντι1 οὐκέτι Σκυθική, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν πρώτη τῶν λαξίων2 Σαυροματέων ἐστί, οἳ ἐκ τοῦ μυχοῦ ἀρξάμενοι τῆς Μαιήτιδος λίμνης νέμονται τὸ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον ἡμερέων πεντεκαίδεκα ὁδόν, πᾶσαν ἐοῦσαν ψιλὴν3 καὶ ἀγρίων καὶ ἡμέρων δενδρέων· ὑπεροικέουσι δὲ τούτων δευτέρην λάξιν ἔχοντες Βουδῖνοι, γῆν νεμόμενοι πᾶσαν δασέαν ὕλῃ παντοίῃ.
For one who has crossed the river Tanais, it is no longer Scythian territory, but the first allotment belongs to the Sauromatae, who, starting from the recess of Lake Maeotis, occupy the land towards the north wind for a journey of fifteen days, which is entirely bare of both wild and cultivated trees. Above them dwell the Budini, holding the second allotment, occupying a land which is entirely thick with every kind of forest.
- 4.21.1διαβάντι
Aorist active participle, dative masculine singular. It functions as a dative of the person judging (dativus dijudicantis), meaning "for one who has crossed," commonly used in geographical descriptions to establish a point of reference.
- 4.21.1τῶν λαξίων
Genitive plural of the feminine noun λάξις (allotment, division of land). The preceding phrase ἡ πρώτη implicitly understands the singular noun λάξις, meaning "the first allotment of the allotments."
- 4.21.1ψιλὴν
Accusative feminine singular of the adjective ψιλός (bare, stripped of). Together with the preceding participle ἐοῦσαν (Ionic for οὖσαν), it modifies the feminine noun ὁδόν (journey, by extension the land of that journey) and governs the genitives of separation (ἀγρίων καὶ ἡμέρων δενδρέων) to express the lack of trees.