- 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-grc2:9.70.1-9.70.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-09
A fierce battle ensues at the wooden fortress where the Persians retreated, which is eventually breached by the Athenians. The Greeks annihilate the enemy forces with minimal casualties of their own and acquire significant booty.
οὗτοι μὲν δὴ ἐν οὐδενὶ λόγῳ ἀπώλοντο· οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι καὶ ὁ ἄλλος ὅμιλος, ὡς κατέφυγον ἐς τὸ ξύλινον τεῖχος, ἔφθησαν ἐπὶ τοὺς πύργους ἀναβάντες πρὶν ἢ τοὺς Λακεδαιμονίους ἀπικέσθαι,1 ἀναβάντες δὲ ἐφράξαντο ὡς ἠδυνέατο ἄριστα τὸ τεῖχος· προσελθόντων δὲ τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων κατεστήκεέ σφι τειχομαχίη ἐρρωμενεστέρη.
These indeed perished in a manner of no account; but the Persians and the rest of the multitude, when they had fled into the wooden fortress, succeeded in climbing up onto the towers before the Lacedaemonians arrived, and having climbed up, they fortified the wall as best they could. When the Lacedaemonians came up to it, a more vigorous battle for the wall was established between them.
ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἀπῆσαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι, οἳ δʼ ἠμύνοντο καὶ πολλῷ πλέον εἶχον τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων ὥστε οὐκ ἐπισταμένων2 τειχομαχέειν· ὡς δέ σφι Ἀθηναῖοι προσῆλθον, οὕτω δὴ ἰσχυρὴ ἐγίνετο τειχομαχίη καὶ χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν. τέλος δὲ ἀρετῇ τε καὶ λιπαρίῃ ἐπέβησαν Ἀθηναῖοι τοῦ τείχεος καὶ ἤριπον· τῇ δὴ ἐσεχέοντο οἱ Ἕλληνες.
For as long as the Athenians were absent, they defended themselves and had a great advantage over the Lacedaemonians, inasmuch as the latter did not know how to conduct a siege; but when the Athenians came up to join them, then indeed a fierce assault on the wall arose, and lasted for a long time. At last by their valor and perseverance the Athenians mounted the wall and breached it, through which indeed the Greeks poured in.
πρῶτοι δὲ ἐσῆλθον Τεγεῆται ἐς τὸ τεῖχος, καὶ τὴν σκηνὴν τὴν Μαρδονίου οὗτοι ἦσαν οἱ διαρπάσαντες, τά τε ἄλλα ἐξ αὐτῆς καὶ τὴν φάτνην τῶν ἵππων ἐοῦσαν χαλκέην πᾶσαν καὶ θέης ἀξίην. τὴν μέν νυν φάτνην ταύτην τὴν Μαρδονίου ἀνέθεσαν ἐς τὸν νηὸν τῆς Ἀλέης Ἀθηναίης Τεγεῆται, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα ἐς τὠυτό, ὅσα περ ἔλαβον, ἐσήνεικαν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι.
The first to enter the fortress were the Tegeans, and these were they who plundered the tent of Mardonius, taking besides other things from it the manger of his horses, which was all of bronze and well worth seeing. Now this manger of Mardonius the Tegeans dedicated in the temple of Athena Alea, but the other things which they took they brought to the common stock for the Greeks.
οἱ δὲ βάρβαροι οὐδὲν ἔτι στῖφος ἐποιήσαντο πεσόντος τοῦ τείχεος, οὐδέ τις αὐτῶν ἀλκῆς ἐμέμνητο, ἀλύκταζόν τε οἷα ἐν ὀλίγῳ χώρῳ πεφοβημένοι τε καὶ πολλαὶ μυριάδες κατειλημέναι ἀνθρώπων·
The barbarians made no further stand after the wall had fallen, nor did any of them think of resistance, but they were in utter bewilderment, as was natural for men terrified and penned up by many tens of thousands in a narrow space.
παρῆν τε τοῖσι Ἕλλησι φονεύειν οὕτω ὥστε τριήκοντα μυριάδων στρατοῦ, καταδεουσέων τεσσέρων3 τὰς ἔχων Ἀρτάβαζος ἔφευγε, τῶν λοιπέων μηδὲ τρεῖς χιλιάδας περιγενέσθαι. Λακεδαιμονίων δὲ τῶν ἐκ Σπάρτης ἀπέθανον οἱ πάντες ἐν τῇ συμβολῇ εἷς καὶ ἐνενήκοντα, Τεγεητέων δὲ ἑκκαίδεκα, Ἀθηναίων δὲ δύο καὶ πεντήκοντα.
And it was permitted to the Greeks to slaughter them to such an extent that of a host of three hundred thousand, if we subtract the forty thousand whom Artabazus had and fled with, not even three thousand of the remainder survived. Of the Lacedaemonians from Sparta there fell in the encounter ninety-one in all; of the Tegeans, sixteen; and of the Athenians, fifty-two.
- 9.70.1ἔφθησαν ... ἀναβάντες πρὶν ἢ ... ἀπικέσθαι
The verb φθάνω combined with a participle (here, ἀναβάντες) expresses an action done before someone else. The particle πρὶν ἤ with the infinitive ἀπικέσθαι means 'before ... arrived.' Together, they mean 'they anticipated them by climbing up before the Lacedaemonians arrived.'
- 9.70.2ὥστε οὐκ ἐπισταμένων
A rare construction where the conjunction ὥστε is followed by a genitive absolute (οὐκ ἐπισταμένων [sc. τῶν Λακεδαιμονίων]) rather than a standard finite verb or infinitive, explaining the reason or result: 'since they [the Lacedaemonians] did not know how to fight against walls.'
- 9.70.5καταδεουσέων τεσσέρων
Meaning 'lacking four (ten-thousands).' The participle of καταδέω means 'lacking' or 'short of.' Since Artabazus fled with 40,000 men (see 9.66.1), the phrase 'four ten-thousands (μυριάδες) lacking' refers to the 40,000 (or slightly less than 40,000) that Artabazus led away from the original 300,000.