- 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-grc2:7.8A.1-7.8A.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Xerxes begins his speech to the Persian nobles, declaring his intention to follow the ancestral custom of conquest, expand the empire just as his predecessors did, and take vengeance on Athens, explaining why he has assembled them.
ἄνδρες Πέρσαι, οὔτʼ αὐτὸς κατηγήσομαι νόμον τόνδε ἐν ὑμῖν τιθείς,1 παραδεξάμενός τε αὐτῷ χρήσομαι. ὡς γὰρ ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι τῶν πρεσβυτέρων, οὐδαμά κω ἠτρεμίσαμεν, ἐπείτε παρελάβομεν τὴν ἡγεμονίην τήνδε παρὰ Μήδων, Κύρου κατελόντος Ἀστυάγεα· ἀλλὰ θεός τε οὕτω ἄγει καὶ αὐτοῖσι ἡμῖν πολλὰ ἐπέπουσι συμφέρεται ἐπὶ τὸ ἄμεινον. τὰ μέν νυν Κῦρός τε καὶ Καμβύσης πατήρ τε ἐμὸς Δαρεῖος κατεργάσαντο καὶ προσεκτήσαντο ἔθνεα, ἐπισταμένοισι εὖ οὐκ ἄν τις λέγοι.2
Persians, I myself shall not be the first to introduce this custom among you, but having received it, I shall use it. For as I learn from my elders, we have never yet remained at rest since we took over this supremacy from the Medes, when Cyrus deposed Astyages. Rather, God leads us thus, and to ourselves who busy ourselves with many things, it turns out for the better. Now, as for the nations which Cyrus, Cambyses, and my father Darius conquered and acquired besides, no one would speak of them to those who know them well.
ἐγὼ δὲ ἐπείτε παρέλαβον τὸν θρόνον τοῦτον, ἐφρόντιζον ὅκως μὴ λείψομαι τῶν πρότερον γενομένων ἐν τιμῇ τῇδε μηδὲ ἐλάσσω προσκτήσομαι3 δύναμιν Πέρσῃσι· φροντίζων δὲ εὑρίσκω ἅμα μὲν κῦδος τε ἡμῖν προσγινόμενον χώρην τε τῆς νῦν ἐκτήμεθα4 οὐκ ἐλάσσονα οὐδὲ φλαυροτέρην παμφορωτέρην τε, ἅμα δὲ τιμωρίην τε καὶ τίσιν γινομένην. διὸ ὑμέας νῦν ἐγὼ συνέλεξα, ἵνα τὸ νοέω πρήσσειν ὑπερθέωμαι ὑμῖν·
And for my part, since I took over this throne, I have been considering how I might not fall short of those who came before in this honor, nor acquire less power for the Persians. And as I consider, I find that not only is glory added to us, and a land not smaller nor meaner than that which we now possess, but indeed more fertile, but at the same time vengeance and retribution are achieved. Therefore I have now assembled you, in order that I may lay before you what I intend to do.
- 7.8A.1οὔτʼ αὐτὸς κατηγήσομαι νόμον τόνδε ἐν ὑμῖν τιθείς
The participle τιθείς (present active participle) expresses the means or manner accompanying the main verb κατηγήσομαι (future). The phrase means "I myself will not be the first to introduce (by establishing) this custom among you."
- 7.8A.1ἐπισταμένοισι εὖ οὐκ ἄν τις λέγοι
ἐπισταμένοισι is a dative participle used substantively ("to those who know"), serving as the indirect object or referent for the potential optative λέγοι ("anyone would speak"). It is a rhetorical expression to avoid repeating well-known facts.
- 7.8A.2ἐφρόντιζον ὅκως μὴ λείψομαι... μηδὲ... προσκτήσομαι
Following the imperfect ἐφρόντιζον ("I was considering/taking care"), ὅκως (Ionic for ὅπως) with the future indicative (λείψομαι, προσκτήσομαι) forms an object clause of effort/concern ("how I might not..."). The use of the future indicative after a past tense emphasizes the vividness and earnestness of the concern.
- 7.8A.2τῆς νῦν ἐκτήμεθα
A genitive of comparison depending on the comparative adjective οὐκ ἐλάσσονα ("not smaller"). The relative pronoun τῆς (acting here with the omitted antecedent for the land, "than that which") has either undergone attraction to the genitive or functions directly as the genitive of comparison: "than [the land] which we now possess."