- 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-grc2:5.106.1-5.106.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
King Darius summons Histiaeus and suspects his involvement in the rebellion, but Histiaeus protests his innocence and requests to be sent back to Ionia, promising to pacify the region and make Sardinia tributary to the king.
προστάξας δὲ ταῦτα εἶπε, καλέσας ἐς ὄψιν Ἱστιαῖον τὸν Μιλήσιον, τὸν ὁ Δαρεῖος κατεῖχε χρόνον ἤδη πολλόν, πυνθάνομαι Ἱστιαῖε ἐπίτροπον τὸν σόν, τῷ σὺ Μίλητον ἐπέτρεψας, νεώτερα ἐς ἐμὲ πεποιηκέναι πρήγματα· ἄνδρας γάρ μοι ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρης ἠπείρου ἐπαγαγών, καὶ Ἴωνας σὺν αὐτοῖσι τοὺς δώσοντας ἐμοὶ δίκην τῶν ἐποίησαν, τούτους ἀναγνώσας ἅμα ἐκείνοισι ἕπεσθαι,1 Σαρδίων με ἀπεστέρησε. νῦν ὦν κῶς τοι ταῦτα φαίνεται ἔχειν καλῶς;
Having given these orders, he summoned to his presence Histiaeus of Miletus, whom Darius had already kept for a long time, and said: “Histiaeus, I learn that your deputy, to whom you entrusted Miletus, has committed revolutionary acts against me. For having brought in men from the other continent, and with them Ionians—who shall pay me the penalty for what they have done—and having persuaded these to follow along with those others, he has deprived me of Sardis. Now, how does this seem to you to be well?
κῶς δὲ ἄνευ τῶν σῶν βουλευμάτων τούτων τι ἐπρήχθη; ὅρα μὴ ἐξ ὑστέρης σεωυτὸν ἐν αἰτίῃ σχῇς.
And how could any of these things have been done without your counsels? Take care that you do not hereafter find yourself in blame.”
εἶπε πρὸς ταῦτα Ἱστιαῖος βασιλεῦ, κοῖον ἐφθέγξαο ἔπος, ἐμὲ βουλεῦσαι πρῆγμα2 ἐκ τοῦ σοί τι ἢ μέγα ἢ σμικρὸν ἔμελλε λυπηρὸν ἀνασχήσειν; τί δʼ ἂν ἐπιδιζήμενος ποιέοιμι ταῦτα, τεῦ δὲ ἐνδεὴς ἐών; τῷ πάρα μὲν πάντα ὅσα περ σοί, πάντων δὲ πρὸς σέο βουλευμάτων ἐπακούειν ἀξιοῦμαι.
To this Histiaeus replied: “O King, what kind of word have you spoken, that I should devise a thing from which any trouble, either great or small, was likely to arise for you? What should I seek to gain by doing this, and of what am I in want? I, to whom all things are present just as to you, and who am deemed worthy to hear all your counsels.
ἀλλʼ εἴ περ τι τοιοῦτον οἷον σὺ εἴρηκας πρήσσει ὁ ἐμὸς ἐπίτροπος, ἴσθι αὐτὸν ἐπʼ ἑωυτοῦ βαλόμενον πεποιηκέναι. ἀρχὴν3 δὲ ἔγωγε οὐδὲ ἐνδέκομαι τὸν λόγον, ὅκως τι Μιλήσιοι καὶ ὁ ἐμὸς ἐπίτροπος νεώτερον πρήσσουσι περὶ πρήγματα τὰ σά. εἰ δʼ ἄρα τι τοιοῦτο ποιεῦσι καὶ σὺ τὸ ἐὸν ἀκήκοας ὦ βασιλεῦ, μάθε οἷον πρῆγμα ἐργάσαο ἐμὲ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἀνάσπαστον ποιήσας.
But if indeed my deputy is doing any such thing as you have said, know that he has done it on his own initiative. For my part, I do not accept the report at all, that the Milesians and my deputy are making any rebellion concerning your affairs. But if they are indeed doing some such thing and you have heard the truth, O King, understand what a thing you did by making me torn away from the sea.
Ἴωνες γὰρ οἴκασι ἐμεῦ ἐξ ὀφθαλμῶν σφι γενομένου ποιῆσαι τῶν πάλαι ἵμερον εἶχον· ἐμέο δʼ ἂν ἐόντος4 ἐν Ἰωνίῃ οὐδεμία πόλις ὑπεκίνησε. νῦν ὦν ὡς τάχος ἄπες με πορευθῆναι ἐς Ἰωνίην, ἵνα τοι κεῖνά τε πάντα καταρτίσω ἐς τὠυτὸ καὶ τὸν Μιλήτου ἐπίτροπον τοῦτον τὸν ταῦτα μηχανησάμενον ἐγχειρίθετον παραδῶ.
For the Ionians seem, now that I am out of their sight, to have done what they long had a desire to do; whereas if I had been in Ionia, not a single city would have stirred. Now therefore, dismiss me as quickly as possible to go to Ionia, so that I may put all those affairs in order for you, and deliver into your hands this deputy of Miletus who has devised these things.
ταῦτα δὲ κατὰ νόον τὸν σὸν ποιήσας, θεοὺς ἐπόμνυμι τοὺς βασιληίους μὴ μὲν πρότερον ἐκδύσασθαι τὸν ἔχων κιθῶνα καταβήσομαι ἐς Ἰωνίην, πρὶν ἄν τοι Σαρδὼ νῆσον τὴν μεγίστην δασμοφόρον ποιήσω.5
And when I have done these things according to your mind, I swear by the royal gods that I will not take off the tunic which I wear when I go down to Ionia, until I have made Sardinia, the greatest of the islands, tributary to you.”
- 5.106.1τούτους ἀναγνώσας ἅμα ἐκείνοισι ἕπεσθαι
Clarification of the demonstrative pronouns. τούτους refers back to the Ἴωνας (Ionians), while ἐκείνοισι refers to the ἄνδρας ... ἐκ τῆς ἑτέρης ἠπείρου (men from the other continent, i.e., the Athenians). The participle ἀναγνώσας ("having persuaded") takes the infinitive ἕπεσθαι ("to follow").
- 5.106.3ἐμὲ βουλεῦσαι πρῆγμα
Accusative with infinitive used in exclamation or indignant question, expressing strong disbelief or denial: "that I should devise such a thing!"
- 5.106.4ἀρχὴν
Adverbial accusative, meaning "at all" or "in the first place" when used with a negative.
- 5.106.5ἐμέο δʼ ἂν ἐόντος
Genitive absolute with the particle ἄν, functioning as a past counterfactual condition ("if I had been..."). It corresponds with the indicative aorist verb ὑπεκίνησε in the main clause.
- 5.106.6μὴ μὲν πρότερον ἐκδύσασθαι ... πρὶν ἄν τοι Σαρδὼ νῆσον ... ποιήσω
A strong oath introduced by ἐπόμνυμι. μὴ μέν introduces a solemn negative oath with the infinitive ἐκδύσασθαι. The clause with πρὶν ἄν followed by the subjunctive ποιήσω means "not ... until I have made..." after a negative main clause.