- 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-grc2:7.2.1-7.2.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
As Darius prepares for his expedition, a succession dispute arises between his eldest son born before his reign, Artobazanes, and his eldest son born after his accession from Atossa, Xerxes.
στελλομένου δὲ Δαρείου ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον καὶ Ἀθήνας, τῶν παίδων αὐτοῦ στάσις ἐγένετο μεγάλη περὶ τῆς ἡγεμονίης, ὡς δεῖ μιν ἀποδέξαντα1 βασιλέα κατὰ τὸν Περσέων νόμον οὕτω στρατεύεσθαι.
While Darius was preparing for an expedition against Egypt and Athens, a great dispute arose among his sons concerning the leadership, since by Persian law he had to declare a king before he could march.
ἦσαν γὰρ Δαρείῳ καὶ πρότερον ἢ βασιλεῦσαι γεγονότες τρεῖς παῖδες ἐκ τῆς προτέρης γυναικός, Γοβρύεω θυγατρός, καὶ βασιλεύσαντι2 ἐξ Ἀτόσσης τῆς Κύρου ἕτεροι τέσσερες. τῶν μὲν δὴ προτέρων ἐπρέσβευε Ἀρτοβαζάνης, τῶν δὲ ἐπιγενομένων Ξέρξης. ἐόντες δὲ μητρὸς οὐ τῆς αὐτῆς ἐστασίαζον, ὁ μὲν Ἀρτοβαζάνης κατότι πρεσβύτατός τε εἴη παντὸς τοῦ γόνου καὶ ὅτι νομιζόμενον εἴη3 πρὸς πάντων ἀνθρώπων τὸν πρεσβύτατον τὴν ἀρχὴν ἔχειν, Ξέρξης δὲ ὡς Ἀτόσσης τε παῖς εἴη τῆς Κύρου θυγατρὸς καὶ ὅτι Κῦρος εἴη ὁ κτησάμενος τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι τὴν ἐλευθερίην.
For Darius had three sons born to him before he became king by his first wife, the daughter of Gobryas, and four other sons by Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, after he became king. Of the former, Artobazanes was the eldest, and of the latter, Xerxes. As they were not of the same mother, they were in dispute; Artobazanes argued that he was the eldest of all the offspring and that it was the custom among all men for the eldest to hold the rule; while Xerxes argued that he was the son of Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus, and that it was Cyrus who had won freedom for the Persians.
- 7.2.1ἀποδέξαντα
An aorist active participle agreeing with the accusative pronoun μιν (referring to Darius, the subject of the impersonal verb δεῖ). It functions temporally to express 'after having appointed a king.'
- 7.2.2βασιλεύσαντι
An aorist active participle in the dative case agreeing with the dative of possession Δαρείῳ. It contrasts with the phrase πρότερον ἢ βασιλεῦσαι to mean 'after he had become king.'
- 7.2.3νομιζόμενον εἴη
A periphrastic form consisting of the present passive participle neuter singular νομιζόμενον and the optative εἴη. It is used in indirect discourse (oblique optative) to represent Artobazanes' claim regarding an established custom.
Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
- 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1