- 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-grc2:7.96.1-7.96.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The passage explains that Persian, Medean, and Sacae soldiers served on all ships, with the Phoenicians providing the best ones, and explains the omission of the local leaders' names.
ἐπεβάτευον δὲ ἐπὶ πασέων τῶν νεῶν Πέρσαι καὶ Μῆδοι καὶ Σαάκαι. τούτων1 δὲ ἄριστα πλεούσας παρείχοντο νέας Φοίνικες καὶ Φοινίκων Σιδώνιοι. τούτοισι πᾶσι καὶ τοῖσι ἐς τὸν πεζὸν τεταγμένοισι αὐτῶν ἐπῆσαν ἑκάστοισι ἐπιχώριοι ἡγεμόνες, τῶν ἐγώ, οὐ γὰρ ἀναγκαίῃ ἐξέργομαι2 ἐς ἱστορίης λόγον, οὐ παραμέμνημαι.
On all the ships, Persians, Medes, and Sacae served as marines. Of these, the Phoenicians provided the best sailing ships, and of the Phoenicians, the Sidonians. Over all of these, as well as those of them who were assigned to the land army, there were appointed native leaders for each group; of these men I make no mention, as I am not compelled to do so by the course of my history.
οὔτε γὰρ ἔθνεος ἑκάστου ἐπάξιοι ἦσαν οἱ ἡγεμόνες, ἔν τε ἔθνεϊ ἑκάστῳ ὅσαι περ πόλιες τοσοῦτοι καὶ ἡγεμόνες ἦσαν, εἵποντο δὲ ὡς οὐ στρατηγοὶ ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ οἱ ἄλλοι στρατευόμενοι δοῦλοι· ἐπεὶ στρατηγοί γε οἱ τὸ πᾶν ἔχοντες κράτος καὶ ἄρχοντες τῶν ἐθνέων ἑκάστων, ὅσοι αὐτῶν ἦσαν Πέρσαι, εἰρέαταί3 μοι.
For the leaders of each nation were not worthy of mention, and in each nation there were as many leaders as there were cities; and they followed not as generals, but like the other subjects who served as slaves. For the generals who held the supreme command and were the rulers of each nation—as many of them as were Persians—have already been mentioned by me.
- 7.96.1τούτων
This genitive pronoun can refer either to the 'ships' (νεῶν) in the preceding sentence or to the nations that provided them. In connection with the following 'best sailing ships' (ἄριστα πλεούσας νέας), it is most naturally understood as meaning 'of these (ships)'.
- 7.96.1ἐξέργομαι
This is the present passive (Ionic form) of the verb ἐξειργομαι (from ἐξείργω, meaning 'to shut out' or 'to compel'), here meaning 'to be forced' or 'driven'. It indicates that the author is not compelled by necessity (ἀναγκαίῃ, dative of cause) in his historical narrative (ἐς ἱστορίης λόγον).
- 7.96.2εἰρέαται
This is the third-person plural perfect passive of the verb λέγω, in its Ionic dialectal form (for εἴρηνται). Its subject is the aforementioned 'generals' (στρατηγοί), and with the dative of agent (μοι, 'by me'), it expresses that they have already been mentioned.