- 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-grc2:5.23.1-5.23.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
Megabazos returns to Sardis from his campaign and, upon learning that Histiaeus is walling Myrcinus in Thrace, warns Darius of the danger of his activities.
ταῦτα μέν νυν οὕτω κῃ ἐγένετο. Μεγάβαζος δὲ ἄγων τοὺς Παίονας ἀπίκετο ἐπὶ τὸν Ἑλλήποντον· ἐνθεῦτεν διαπεραιωθεὶς ἀπίκετο ἐς τὰς Σάρδις. ἅτε δὲ τειχέοντος ἤδη Ἱστιαίου τοῦ Μιλησίου τὴν παρὰ Δαρείου αἰτήσας ἔτυχε1 μισθὸν δωρεὴν φυλακῆς τῆς σχεδίης, ἐόντος δὲ τοῦ χώρου τούτου παρὰ Στρυμόνα ποταμὸν τῷ οὔνομα ἐστὶ Μύρκινος, μαθὼν ὁ Μεγάβαζος τὸ ποιεύμενον ἐκ τοῦ Ἱστιαίου, ὡς ἦλθε τάχιστα ἐς τὰς Σάρδις ἄγων τοὺς Παίονας, ἔλεγε Δαρείῳ τάδε.
These things, then, happened in this way. Megabazos, bringing the Paeonians, arrived at the Hellespont; from there, having crossed over, he arrived at Sardis. And since Histiaeus of Miletus was already walling in the place which he had requested and obtained from Darius as a gift-reward for guarding the bridge, and as this place was along the Strymon river and its name was Myrcinus, Megabazos, having learned what was being done by Histiaeus, as soon as he arrived at Sardis bringing the Paeonians, spoke to Darius as follows:
ὦ βασιλεῦ, κοῖόν τι χρῆμα ἐποίησας, ἀνδρὶ Ἕλληνι δεινῷ τε καὶ σοφῷ δοὺς ἐγκτίσασθαι πόλιν ἐν Θρηίκῃ, ἵνα ἴδη τε ναυπηγήσιμος ἐστὶ ἄφθονος2 καὶ πολλοὶ κωπέες καὶ μέταλλα ἀργύρεα, ὅμιλός τε πολλὸς μὲν Ἕλλην περιοικέει πολλὸς δὲ βάρβαρος, οἳ προστάτεω ἐπιλαβόμενοι ποιήσουσι τοῦτο τὸ ἂν κεῖνος ἐξηγέηται καὶ ἡμέρης καὶ νυκτός.
”O King, what sort of thing have you done, in allowing a clever and cunning Greek man to found a city in Thrace, where there is abundant timber for shipbuilding, many oars, and silver mines, and where a great multitude of both Greeks and barbarians dwell around, who, if they obtain a leader, will do whatever he directs, both by day and by night.
σύ νυν τοῦτον τὸν ἄνδρα παῦσον ταῦτα ποιεῦντα, ἵνα μὴ οἰκηίῳ πολέμῳ συνέχῃ· τρόπῳ δὲ ἠπίῳ μεταπεμψάμενος παῦσον. ἐπεὰν δὲ αὐτὸν περιλάβῃς, ποιέειν ὅκως μηκέτι κεῖνος ἐς Ἕλληνας ἀπίξεται.3
Now, therefore, stop this man from doing these things, so that you may not be hard-pressed by a domestic war; summon him by mild means and stop him. But when you have him in your power, see to it that he shall never again return to the Greeks.”
- 5.23.1τὴν παρὰ Δαρείου αἰτήσας ἔτυχε
The Ionic relative pronoun τὴν (corresponding to ἥν, accusative feminine singular) refers to an implied antecedent such as χώρην (land). The verb ἔτυχε (aorist of τυγχάνω, here "obtain") normally governs the genitive but here takes the relative pronoun τὴν as its direct object, with μισθὸν δωρεὴν ("as a reward-gift") in apposition as a predicate accusative.
- 5.23.2ἵνα ἴδη τε ναυπηγήσιμος ἐστὶ ἄφθονος
The word ἵνα is used here not as a conjunction of purpose ("in order that") but as a relative adverb of place ("where"). The word ἴδη is the Ionic form corresponding to the Attic ὕλη ("timber", "forest").
- 5.23.3ποιέειν ὅκως μηκέτι κεῖνος ἐς Ἕλληνας ἀπίξεται
The infinitive ποιέειν is an imperative infinitive used to express a command. ὅκως (the Ionic form of ὅπως) introduces an object clause after a verb of effort or care, taking the future indicative ἀπίξεται to mean "see to it that..." or "ensure that...".