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Herodotus · Histories §3.152.1

Prolonged Siege of Babylon and Darius's Frustration

Passage 556 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

With a year and seven months passed, Darius and his army grow anxious over their failure to capture Babylon. Despite employing all strategies, including the method used by Cyrus, the Babylonian defense remains impenetrable.

§3.152.1ἑπτὰ δὲ μηνῶν καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ διεληλυθότος ἤδη ὁ Δαρεῖός τε ἤσχαλλε καὶ ἡ στρατιὴ πᾶσα οὐ δυνατὴ ἐοῦσα ἑλεῖν τοὺς Βαβυλωνίους.
When a year and seven months had already passed, Darius was growing anxious, as was his entire army, which was unable to capture the Babylonians.
καίτοι πάντα σοφίσματα καὶ πάσας μηχανὰς ἐπεποιήκεε ἐς αὐτοὺς Δαρεῖος· ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὣς ἐδύνατο ἑλεῖν σφεας, ἄλλοισί τε σοφίσμασι πειρησάμενος, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῷ Κῦρος εἷλε σφέας, καὶ τούτῳ ἐπειρήθη.
Indeed, Darius had employed every trick and every device against them; but even so, he was unable to capture them, though he tried other tricks, and in particular, he even tried that very method by which Cyrus had captured them.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ δεινῶς ἦσαν ἐν φυλακῇσι οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι, οὐδὲ σφέας οἷός τε ἦν ἑλεῖν.
But the Babylonians kept watch with terrible strictness, and he was not able to capture them.

Notes

  1. §3.152.1ἑπτὰ δὲ μηνῶν καὶ ἐνιαυτοῦ διεληλυθότος — Genitive absolute construction. Although phrased as 'seven months and a year', it indicates that a total of one year and seven months had elapsed.
  2. §3.152.1ὁ Δαρεῖός τε ἤσχαλλε καὶ ἡ στρατιὴ πᾶσα οὐ δυνατὴ ἐοῦσα — An instance of anacoluthon. While two subjects are linked by τε...καί, the second subject (ἡ στρατιὴ πᾶσα) lacks a finite verb, and the participle ἐοῦσα (Ionic for οὖσα) is used instead. The finite verb of the first clause, ἤσχαλλε, is understood to extend its sense to the second clause.
  3. §3.152.1τῷ Κῦρος εἷλε σφέας, καὶ τούτῳ ἐπειρήθη — The dative τῷ functions as a relative pronoun (or article used demonstratively) of instrument or manner, meaning 'by that method by which Cyrus captured them'. This is picked up by the demonstrative pronoun τούτῳ in the next clause, serving as the dative complement of the verb ἐπειρήθη (passive/middle-deponent of πειράομαι, meaning 'was tried' or 'he tried').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.152.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.152.1

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