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Herodotus · Histories §3.70.1-3.70.3

Conspiracy of the Six and the Inclusion of Darius

Passage 474 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Otanes reveals the truth to Aspathines and Gobryas, and they agree to each recruit their most trusted Persian ally, forming a league of six. Darius then arrives from Persia and is also admitted into the conspiracy.

§3.70.1ὁ δὲ Ὀτάνης παραλαβὼν Ἀσπαθίνην καὶ Γοβρύην, Περσέων τε πρώτους ἐόντας καὶ ἑωυτῷ ἐπιτηδεοτάτους ἐς πίστιν, ἀπηγήσατο πᾶν τὸ πρῆγμα·
Otanes, taking with him Aspathines and Gobryas, who were foremost among the Persians and most trustworthy to him, related the whole matter to them.
οἳ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἄρα ὑπώπτευον οὕτω τοῦτο ἔχειν, ἀνενείκαντος δὲ τοῦ Ὀτάνεω τοὺς λόγους ἐδέξαντο, §3.70.2καὶ ἔδοξέ σφι ἕκαστον ἄνδρα Περσέων προσεταιρίσασθαι τοῦτον ὅτεῳ πιστεύει μάλιστα.
And they themselves also suspected that this was indeed the case, and when Otanes brought forward the proposal, they accepted it, and they resolved that each man of them should associate with himself whichever Persian he trusted most.
Ὀτάνης μέν νυν ἐσάγεται Ἰνταφρένεα, Γοβρύης δὲ Μεγάβυζον, Ἀσπαθίνης δὲ Ὑδάρνεα.
Otanes then brought in Intaphernes, Gobryas brought in Megabyzus, and Aspathines brought in Hydarnes.
§3.70.3γεγονότων δὲ τούτων ἓξ παραγίνεται ἐς τὰ Σοῦσα Δαρεῖος ὁ Ὑστάσπεος ἐκ Περσέων ἥκων· τούτων γὰρ δὴ ἦν οἱ ὁ πατὴρ ὕπαρχος.
When these had become six, Darius the son of Hystaspes arrived at Susa, coming from Persia; for his father was governor of that country.
ἐπεὶ ὦν οὗτος ἀπίκετο, τοῖσι ἓξ τῶν Περσέων ἔδοξε καὶ Δαρεῖον προσεταιρίσασθαι.
When he had arrived, therefore, the six Persians resolved to associate Darius also with themselves.

Notes

  1. 3.70.1ἀνενείκαντος — Genitive singular of the active aorist participle of the compound verb ἀναφέρω, forming a genitive absolute construction with τοῦ Ὀτάνεω. While ἀναφέρω often means 'to carry up', here it is used in the sense of 'to bring forward, disclose' (a matter or proposal).
  2. 3.70.2προσεταιρίσασθαι — Aorist middle infinitive serving as the subject of the impersonal verb ἔδοξε ('it seemed good to them', 'they resolved'). Its subject accusative is ἕκαστον ἄνδρα, and its object is the demonstrative pronoun τοῦτον, which is modified by the relative clause ὅτεῳ πιστεύει μάλιστα.
  3. 3.70.3γεγονότων δὲ τούτων ἓξ — A genitive absolute construction consisting of the perfect active participle γεγονότων (from γίνομαι), the pronoun τούτων acting as the subject ('these [men]'), and the numeral ἓξ as the predicate ('having become six').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.70.1-3.70.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.70.1-3.70.3

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