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Herodotus · Histories §2.103.1-2.103.2

Sesostris' European Campaign and the Troops at the Phasis

Passage 319 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Sesostris continued his march from Asia into Europe, subduing the Scythians and Thracians. On his return journey at the river Phasis, some of his troops remained behind, though the author notes two uncertain explanations for how they came to settle there.

§2.103.1ταῦτα δὲ ποιέων διεξήιε τὴν ἤπειρον, ἐς ὃ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης ἐς τὴν Εὐρώπην διαβὰς τούς τε Σκύθας κατεστρέψατο καὶ τοὺς Θρήικας.
Doing this, he marched through the mainland, until, crossing from Asia into Europe, he subdued both the Scythians and the Thracians.
ἐς τούτους δέ μοι δοκέει καὶ προσώτατα ἀπικέσθαι ὁ Αἰγύπτιος στρατός· ἐν μὲν γὰρ τῇ τούτων χώρῃ φαίνονται σταθεῖσαι αἱ στῆλαι, τὸ δὲ προσωτέρω τούτων οὐκέτι.
And the Egyptian army seems to me to have reached furthest as far as these people; for in their country the pillars are plainly seen to have been set up, but no longer beyond them.
§2.103.2ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ἐπιστρέψας ὀπίσω ἤιε, καὶ ἐπείτε ἐγίνετο ἐπὶ Φάσι ποταμῷ, οὐκ ἔχω τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ἀτρεκέως εἰπεῖν εἴτε αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς Σέσωστρις ἀποδασάμενος τῆς ἑωυτοῦ στρατιῆς μόριον ὅσον δὴ αὐτοῦ κατέλιπε τῆς χώρης οἰκήτορας, εἴτε τῶν τινες στρατιωτέων τῇ πλάνῃ αὐτοῦ ἀχθεσθέντες περὶ Φᾶσιν ποταμὸν κατέμειναν.
From there, turning back, he went, and when he came to the river Phasis, I cannot say for certain what happened next—whether king Sesostris himself, having detached a portion of his army (however many they may have been), left them there as settlers of the land, or whether some of the soldiers, being weary of his wanderings, remained behind around the river Phasis.

Notes

  1. 2.103.1μοι δοκέει ... ὁ Αἰγύπτιος στρατός — Instead of the impersonal δοκεῖ with an accusative and infinitive, δοκέει is here used personally with ὁ Αἰγύπτιος στρατός in the nominative as its subject ('the Egyptian army seems to me to have...').
  2. 2.103.1φαίνονται σταθεῖσαι — The construction of φαίνομαι with a participle (σταθεῖσαι, aorist passive participle of ἵστημι), which signifies that something is manifest or clearly fact ('the pillars are clearly seen to have been set up'), in contrast to φαίνομαι with an infinitive, which implies appearance ('seems to be').
  3. 2.103.2οὐκ ἔχω ... εἰπεῖν — The verb ἔχω followed by an infinitive (εἰπεῖν) means 'to be able to do something,' and here with the negative οὐκ, it expresses inability ('I cannot say').
  4. 2.103.2ὅσον δή — The relative adjective ὅσος with the particle δή yields an indefinite or intensive force ('however much/many,' 'a certain portion, however large').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.103.1-2.103.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.103.1-2.103.2

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