- 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-grc2:4.47.1-4.47.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The factors enabling the Scythian strategy are attributed to their suitable land and rivers, and the names of the major rivers navigable from the sea are listed.
ἐξεύρηται δέ σφι ταῦτα τῆς τε γῆς ἐούσης ἐπιτηδέης1 καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐόντων σφι συμμάχων. ἥ τε γὰρ γῆ ἐοῦσα πεδιὰς αὕτη ποιώδης τε καὶ εὔυδρος ἐστί, ποταμοί τε διʼ αὐτῆς ῥέουσι οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ2 ἀριθμὸν3 ἐλάσσονες τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διωρύχων.
This has been devised by them because their land is suitable and the rivers are their allies. For this land, being a plain, is grassy and well-watered, and rivers flow through it which are not much fewer in number than the canals in Egypt.
ὅσοι δὲ ὀνομαστοί τε εἰσὶ αὐτῶν καὶ προσπλωτοὶ4 ἀπὸ θαλάσσης, τούτους ὀνομανέω Ἴστρος μὲν πεντάστομος, μετὰ δὲ Τύρης τε καὶ Ὕπανις καὶ Βορυσθένης καὶ Παντικάπης καὶ Ὑπάκυρις καὶ Γέρρος καὶ Τάναϊς. ῥέουσι δὲ οἵδε κατὰ τάδε.
Those of them that are famous and navigable from the sea, I will name: first the Ister with five mouths, and after it the Tyras, the Hypanis, the Borysthenes, the Panticapes, the Hypacyris, the Gerrhus, and the Tanais. And these flow as follows.
- 4.47.1τῆς τε γῆς ἐούσης ἐπιτηδέης
A genitive absolute construction expressing cause. It is coordinated with καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐόντων... to present the underlying reasons why the Scythians were able to make their tactical devices (ταῦτα).
- 4.47.1οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ
πολλῷ is a dative of measure of difference. τεῳ is the Ionic dative singular (for τῳ / τινί) of the indefinite pronoun τις. The phrase functions adverbially, meaning 'not by much' or 'not significantly'.
- 4.47.1ἀριθμὸν
An accusative of specification (respect), modifying the comparative ἐλάσσονες, meaning 'less in number (than the canals in Egypt)'.
- 4.47.2προσπλωτοὶ
A verbal adjective in -τος expressing capability, derived from the compound verb προσπλέω (to sail towards), meaning 'navigable' or 'accessible by boat' from the sea.