- 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-grc2:9.48.1-9.48.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
Mardonius sends a messenger to the Spartans, mocking their reputation for bravery as false, and proposes a representative combat with equal numbers from both sides.
ἐπεὶ δὲ κατέστησαν ἐς τὰς ἀρχαίας τάξις, πέμψας ὁ Μαρδόνιος κήρυκα ἐς τοὺς Σπαρτιήτας ἔλεγε τάδε. ὦ Λακεδαιμόνιοι, ὑμεῖς δὴ λέγεσθε εἶναι ἄνδρες ἄριστοι ὑπὸ τῶν τῇδε ἀνθρώπων, ἐκπαγλεομένων ὡς οὔτε φεύγετε ἐκ πολέμου οὔτε τάξιν ἐκλείπετε, μένοντές τε ἢ ἀπόλλυτε τοὺς ἐναντίους ἢ αὐτοὶ ἀπόλλυσθε.
When they had returned to their original positions, Mardonius sent a herald to the Spartans and said this: “Lacedaemonians, you are indeed said to be the bravest men by the people here, who are amazed that you neither flee from war nor leave your post, but remaining, either destroy your opponents or are destroyed yourselves.
τῶν δʼ ἄρʼ ἦν οὐδὲν ἀληθές· πρὶν γὰρ ἢ συμμῖξαι ἡμέας ἐς χειρῶν τε νόμον ἀπικέσθαι,1 καὶ δὴ φεύγοντας καὶ στάσιν ἐκλείποντας ὑμέας εἴδομεν, ἐν Ἀθηναίοισί τε τὴν πρόπειραν ποιευμένους2 αὐτούς τε ἀντία δούλων τῶν ἡμετέρων τασσομένους.
But of these things, as it turned out, nothing was true. For before we could join battle and come to hand-to-hand combat, we already saw you fleeing and leaving your post, making the first trial in the person of the Athenians, and arranging yourselves opposite our slaves.
ταῦτα οὐδαμῶς ἀνδρῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργα, ἀλλὰ πλεῖστον δὴ ἐν ὑμῖν ἐψεύσθημεν. προσδεκόμενοι γὰρ κατὰ κλέος ὡς δὴ πέμψετε ἐς ἡμέας κήρυκα προκαλεύμενοι καὶ βουλόμενοι μούνοισι Πέρσῃσι μάχεσθαι, ἄρτιοι ἐόντες ποιέειν ταῦτα3 οὐδὲν τοιοῦτο λέγοντας ὑμέας εὕρομεν ἀλλὰ πτώσσοντας μᾶλλον. νῦν ὦν ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ὑμεῖς ἤρξατε τούτου τοῦ λόγου, ἀλλʼ ἡμεῖς ἄρχομεν.
These are by no means the deeds of brave men; rather, we were completely deceived in you. For, expecting according to your reputation that you would send a herald to us, challenging us and wishing to fight with the Persians alone, we, though prepared to do this, found you saying nothing of the sort, but rather cowering. Now therefore, since you did not begin this proposal, we begin it.
τί δὴ οὐ πρὸ μὲν τῶν Ἑλλήνων ὑμεῖς, ἐπείτε δεδόξωσθε εἶναι ἄριστοι, πρὸ δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων ἡμεῖς ἴσοι πρὸς ἴσους ἀριθμὸν ἐμαχεσάμεθα; καὶ ἢν μὲν δοκέῃ καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους μάχεσθαι, οἱ δʼ ὦν μετέπειτα μαχέσθων ὕστεροι· εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ δοκέοι ἀλλʼ ἡμέας μούνους ἀποχρᾶν, ἡμεῖς δὲ διαμαχεσώμεθα· ὁκότεροι δʼ ἂν ἡμέων νικήσωσι, τούτους τῷ ἅπαντι στρατοπέδῳ νικᾶν.4
Why then do you not, on behalf of the Greeks, since you are reputed to be the best, and we on behalf of the barbarians, fight, equal in number against equal? And if it seems best that the others also should fight, let them fight afterwards; but if it does not seem best, and it is enough for us alone, then let us fight it out; and whichever side of us wins, let them win for the whole army.”
- 9.48.2πρὶν γὰρ ἢ συμμῖξαι ἡμέας ἐς χειρῶν τε νόμον ἀπικέσθαι
The conjunction πρὶν ἤ (or πρὶν alone) takes the accusative and infinitive (ἡμέας ... συμμῖξαι and ἀπικέσθαι) to mean 'before we...'. The phrase ἐς χειρῶν τε νόμον ἀπικέσθαι ('to come to the law of hands') is a Herodotian idiom for coming to hand-to-hand combat or close-quarters fighting.
- 9.48.2ἐν Ἀθηναίοισί τε τὴν πρόπειραν ποιευμένους
The participle ποιευμένους (and the following τασσομένους) agrees with ὑμέας, the object of the verb of perception εἴδομεν. The phrase τὴν πρόπειραν ποιευμένους with ἐν Ἀθηναίοισι means 'making the first trial in the person of/among the Athenians', implying that the Spartans avoided direct clash with the Persians and let the Athenians bear the brunt of the initial trial.
- 9.48.3ἄρτιοι ἐόντες ποιέειν ταῦτα
The nominative plural ἄρτιοι agrees with the subject of the main verb εὕρομεν ('we', the Persians), functioning as a predicate participle. Thus, it means 'we being prepared to do this' (i.e. to accept the challenge), rather than referring to 'you' (the Spartans, who are in the accusative ὑμέας).
- 9.48.4τούτους τῷ ἅπαντι στρατοπέδῳ νικᾶν
The infinitive νικᾶν is used as an imperative (infinitivus pro imperativo) to express a decree or agreement: 'let these conquer for the whole army'. The dative τῷ ἅπαντι στρατοπέδῳ is a dative of interest or reference, meaning 'for/on behalf of the whole army'.