Delay in Pieria and Return of Heralds from Greece — Herodotus, Histories Book 7 (7.131.1), Greek & English

§7.131.1

ὁ μὲν δὴ περὶ Πιερίην διέτριβε ἡμέρας συχνάς· τὸ γὰρ δὴ ὄρος τὸ Μακεδονικὸν ἔκειρε¹ τῆς στρατιῆς τριτημορίς, ἵνα ταύτῃ διεξίῃ ἅπασα ἡ στρατιὴ ἐς Περραιβούς. οἱ δὲ δὴ κήρυκες οἱ ἀποπεμφθέντες ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα ἐπὶ γῆς αἴτησιν ἀπίκατο² οἳ μὲν κεινοί,³ οἳ δὲ φέροντες γῆν τε καὶ ὕδωρ.

He himself, then, tarried in the region of Pieria for many days; for a third part of his army was clearing the Macedonian mountain range, so that the whole army might pass through by this way into the territory of the Perrhaebians. Meanwhile, the heralds who had been sent to Greece to demand earth arrived, some empty-handed, and others bringing earth and water.

Syntax notes3 items

7.131.1ἔκειρε
Third-person singular imperfect active of κείρω (to shear, cut down), agreeing with the collective feminine singular subject τριτημορίς (a third part). Here it is used in the specialized sense of clearing or cutting down mountain forests to build a military road.
7.131.1ἀπίκατο
Ionic dialect form for ἀφίκατο, the third-person plural pluperfect (or perfect) middle/passive of ἀφικνέομαι (to arrive). In the Ionic dialect, the third-person plural endings -νται / -ντο after consonant stems regularly become -αται / -ατο with aspiration of the preceding stop.
7.131.1κεινοί
Ionic form of the Attic κενοί (empty, empty-handed). It should not be confused with the demonstrative pronoun ἐκεῖνοι (those men), which can be written similarly in poetry. Here it describes the heralds returning without having obtained the demanded earth and water.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — note 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.131.1