- 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-grc2:6.13.1-6.13.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Observing the refusal to train and the disorder among the Ionians, the Samian generals decided to accept the earlier peace proposals sent by Aeaces, the former tyrant of Samos, recognizing the futility of opposing the Persian king's vast forces.
μαθόντες δὲ ταῦτα τὰ γινόμενα ἐκ τῶν Ἰώνων1 οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν Σαμίων ἐνθαῦτα δὴ παρʼ Αἰάκεος τοῦ Συλοσῶντος κείνους τοὺς πρότερον ἔπεμπε λόγους ὁ Αἰάκης κελευόντων τῶν Περσέων, δεόμενος σφέων ἐκλιπεῖν τὴν Ἰώνων συμμαχίην· οἱ Σάμιοι ὦν ὁρῶντες ἐοῦσαν ἅμα μὲν ἀταξίην πολλὴν ἐκ τῶν Ἰώνων ἐδέκοντο τοὺς λόγους, ἅμα δὲ κατεφαίνετό σφι εἶναι ἀδύνατα τὰ βασιλέος πρήγματα ὑπερβαλέσθαι, εὖ δὲ ἐπιστάμενοι ὡς εἰ καὶ τὸ παρεὸν ναυτικὸν ὑπερβαλοίατο2 τὸν Δαρεῖον, ἄλλο σφι παρέσται πενταπλήσιον.
The generals of the Samians, when they learned of these things happening among the Ionians, then indeed accepted from Aeaces, the son of Syloson—those proposals which Aeaces had previously sent them at the bidding of the Persians, urging them to abandon the alliance of the Ionians. The Samians, therefore, seeing that on the one hand there was great disorder on the part of the Ionians, accepted the proposals, and on the other hand it appeared to them impossible to overcome the power of the King, knowing well that even if they should overcome Darius with their present fleet, another five times as large would be there for them.
προφάσιος ὦν ἐπιλαβόμενοι, ἐπείτε τάχιστα εἶδον τοὺς Ἴωνας οὐ βουλομένους εἶναι χρηστούς, ἐν κέρδεϊ ἐποιεῦντο3 περιποιῆσαι τά τε ἱρὰ τὰ σφέτερα καὶ τὰ ἴδια. ὁ δὲ Αἰάκης, παρʼ ὅτευ τοὺς λόγους ἐδέκοντο οἱ Σάμιοι, παῖς μὲν ἦν Συλοσῶντος τοῦ Αἰάκεος, τύραννος δὲ ἐὼν Σάμου ὑπὸ τοῦ Μιλησίου Ἀρισταγόρεω ἀπεστέρητο τὴν ἀρχὴν4 κατά περ οἱ ἄλλοι τῆς Ἰωνίης τύραννοι.
Taking this as a pretext, therefore, as soon as they saw that the Ionians were unwilling to be of any use, they considered it a gain to preserve their own temples and private property. Now this Aeaces, from whom the Samians accepted the proposals, was the son of Syloson, the son of Aeaces, and while he was tyrant of Samos, he had been deprived of his rule by Aristagoras of Miletus, just like the other tyrants of Ionia.
- 6.13.1μαθόντες δὲ ταῦτα τὰ γινόμενα ἐκ τῶν Ἰώνων
The participle μαθόντες and its subject οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν Σαμίων at the beginning of the sentence lack a main verb, which is only supplied later when the sentence is restarted with οἱ Σάμιοι ὦν... ἐδέκοντο. This is an anacoluthon, where the focus shifts from the 'generals' to the 'Samians' as a whole.
- 6.13.1ὑπερβαλοίατο
The Ionic dialect form for the third-person plural aorist optative middle (equivalent to Attic ὑπερβάλοιντο). Used here with the conditional conjunction εἰ, it expresses a potential condition ('even if they should overcome').
- 6.13.2ἐν κέρδεϊ ἐποιεῦντο
Literally 'they made it in profit,' an idiomatic expression frequent in Herodotus meaning 'they considered it a gain' or 'deemed it advantageous.' The following infinitive phrase περιποιῆσαι... serves as its complement.
- 6.13.2ἀπεστέρητο τὴν ἀρχὴν
The passive construction of the double accusative verb ἀποστερέω τινά τι ('to deprive someone of something'). In the passive voice, the person becomes the subject, while the thing deprived (τὴν ἀρχὴν 'the rule') remains in the accusative case (retained accusative).
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)
- 2026-09-22 AI review — source 1