- 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-grc2:7.60.1-7.60.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The author states that the total number of the infantry was 1.7 million, and describes the unique method used to count them by packing ten thousand men at a time into an enclosed walled space.
ὅσον μέν νυν ἕκαστοι παρεῖχον πλῆθος ἐς ἀριθμόν, οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν τὸ ἀτρεκές· οὐ γὰρ λέγεται πρὸς οὐδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων· σύμπαντος δὲ τοῦ στρατοῦ τοῦ πεζοῦ τὸ πλῆθος ἐφάνη ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μυριάδες.
As to how great a number each nation contributed to the total, I cannot say for certain; for it is not told by any man. However, the total number of the entire land army was shown to be one million seven hundred thousand.
ἐξηρίθμησαν δὲ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον· συνήγαγόν τε ἐς ἕνα χῶρον μυριάδα ἀνθρώπων, καὶ συννάξαντες ταύτην ὡς μάλιστα εἶχον1 περιέγραψαν ἔξωθεν κύκλον· περιγράψαντες δὲ καὶ ἀπέντες τοὺς μυρίους αἱμασιὴν περιέβαλον κατὰ τὸν κύκλον, ὕψος ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν·2
They were numbered in the following manner: they gathered ten thousand men into one place, and having packed them as closely as they possibly could, they drew a circle around them on the outside. Having drawn the circle and let the ten thousand go, they built a dry stone wall around the circle, reaching in height to a man’s navel.
ταύτην δὲ ποιήσαντες ἄλλους ἐσεβίβαζον ἐς τὸ περιοικοδομημένον, μέχρι οὗ3 πάντας τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἐξηρίθμησαν. ἀριθμήσαντες δὲ κατὰ ἔθνεα διέτασσον.
Having made this wall, they ushered others into the enclosed space, until they had numbered them all in this manner. After numbering them, they drew them up according to their nations.
- 7.60.2ὡς μάλιστα εἶχον
An idiomatic expression consisting of the conjunction ὡς + superlative adverb + ἔχω (here in the imperfect third-person plural εἶχον), meaning 'as... as possible'. It translates to 'packing them as closely as they possibly could'.
- 7.60.2ὕψος ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν
The noun ὕψος is an accusative of respect ('in height'). The present participle feminine singular accusative ἀνήκουσαν modifies αἱμασιήν ('wall', accusative). The dative ἀνδρὶ functions as a dative of reference ('for a man'), indicating the reference point for the height reaching the navel.
- 7.60.3μέχρι οὗ
The preposition μέχρι combined with the genitive relative pronoun οὗ functions as a subordinating conjunction meaning 'until'. Here, followed by the indicative aorist verb (ἐξηρίθμησαν), it expresses a completed historical event in the past.