§1.185.1ἡ δὲ δὴ δεύτερον γενομένη ταύτης βασίλεια, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Νίτωκρις, αὕτη δὲ συνετωτέρη γενομένη τῆς πρότερον ἀρξάσης τοῦτο μὲν μνημόσυνα ἐλίπετο τὰ ἐγὼ ἀπηγήσομαι, τοῦτο δὲ τὴν Μήδων ὁρῶσα ἀρχὴν μεγάλην τε καὶ οὐκ ἀτρεμίζουσαν, ἀλλʼ ἄλλα τε ἀραιρημένα ἄστεα αὐτοῖσι, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ τὴν Νίνον, προεφυλάξατο ὅσα ἐδύνατο μάλιστα.
Now the queen who came second after this woman, whose name was Nitocris, she, having proved herself more intelligent than the previous ruler, on the one hand left behind such monuments as I shall describe, and on the other hand, seeing that the empire of the Medes was great and not remaining quiet, but that other cities had been taken by them, and among them indeed Ninus, she took precautions to the utmost of her ability.
§1.185.2πρῶτα μὲν τὸν Εὐφρήτην ποταμὸν ῥέοντα πρότερον ἰθύν, ὅς σφι διὰ τῆς πόλιος μέσης ῥέει, τοῦτον ἄνωθεν διώρυχας ὀρύξασα οὕτω δή τι ἐποίησε σκολιὸν ὥστε δὴ τρὶς ἐς τῶν τινα κωμέων τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσσυρίῃ ἀπικνέεται ῥέων· τῇ δὲ κώμῃ οὔνομα ἐστί, ἐς τὴν ἀπικνέεται ὁ Εὐφρήτης, Ἀρδέρικκα.
First of all, the river Euphrates, which previously flowed straight and which flows through the middle of their city, this she, by digging canals upstream, made so crooked that indeed it reaches one of the villages in Assyria three times as it flows; and the name of the village to which the Euphrates reaches is Ardericca.
καὶ νῦν οἳ ἂν κομίζωνται ἀπὸ τῆσδε τῆς θαλάσσης ἐς Βαβυλῶνα, καταπλέοντες τὸν Εὐφρήτην ποταμὸν τρίς τε ἐς τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην κώμην παραγίνονται καὶ ἐν τρισὶ ἡμέρῃσι.
And even now, those who travel from this sea to Babylon, as they sail down the river Euphrates, arrive at this very same village three times, and that within three days.
§1.185.3τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτον ἐποίησε, χῶμα δὲ παρέχωσε παρʼ ἑκάτερον τοῦ ποταμοῦ τὸ χεῖλος ἄξιον θώματος μέγαθος καὶ ὕψος ὅσον τι ἐστί.
This indeed she did in such a manner, and she also piled up a dyke along each bank of the river, which is a marvel for its size and height.
§1.185.4κατύπερθε δὲ πολλῷ Βαβυλῶνος ὤρυσσε ἔλυτρον λίμνῃ, ὀλίγον τι παρατείνουσα ἀπὸ τοῦ ποταμοῦ, βάθος μὲν ἐς τὸ ὕδωρ αἰεὶ ὀρύσσουσα, εὖρος δὲ τὸ περίμετρον αὐτοῦ ποιεῦσα εἴκοσί τε καὶ τετρακοσίων σταδίων· τὸν δὲ ὀρυσσόμενον χοῦν ἐκ τούτου τοῦ ὀρύγματος ἀναισίμου παρὰ τὰ χείλεα τοῦ ποταμοῦ παραχέουσα.
And far above Babylon she dug a basin for a lake, extending it a little way off from the river, always digging until she reached water for its depth, and making its circumference four hundred and twenty stades in width; and she used up the earth dug out from this excavation by casting it up along the banks of the river.
§1.185.5ἐπείτε δέ οἱ ὀρώρυκτο, λίθους ἀγαγομένη κρηπῖδα κύκλῳ περὶ αὐτὴν ἤλασε.
And when the excavation had been completed for her, she brought stones and built a stone casing all around it.
§1.185.6ἐποίεε δὲ ἀμφότερα ταῦτα, τόν τε ποταμὸν σκολιὸν καὶ τὸ ὄρυγμα πᾶν ἕλος, ὡς ὅ τε ποταμὸς βραδύτερος εἴη περὶ καμπὰς πολλὰς ἀγνύμενος, καὶ οἱ πλόοι ἔωσι σκολιοὶ ἐς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα, ἔκ τε τῶν πλόων ἐκδέκηται περίοδος τῆς λίμνης μακρή.
She did both of these things, namely, making the river crooked and turning the entire excavation into a marsh, in order that the river might be slower, being broken by many bends, and that the voyages to Babylon might be crooked, and that from the voyages there might succeed a long circuit of the lake.
§1.185.7κατὰ τοῦτο δὲ ἐργάζετο τῆς χώρης τῇ αἵ τε ἐσβολαὶ ἦσαν καὶ τὰ σύντομα τῆς ἐκ Μήδων ὁδοῦ, ἵνα μὴ ἐπιμισγόμενοι οἱ Μῆδοι ἐκμανθάνοιεν αὐτῆς τὰ πρήγματα.
She carried out these works in that part of her country where the passes were and the shortest ways from Media, so that the Medes, by not mingling with her people, might not learn of her affairs.