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Herodotus · Histories §3.94.1-3.94.2

Tributes of the Seventeenth to Twentieth Satrapies

Passage 498 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

This section records the tribute of the seventeenth to the twentieth provinces (the Indians), noting that the Indians have the largest population and pay their tax in gold dust.

§3.94.1Παρικάνιοι δὲ καὶ Αἰθίοπες οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης τετρακόσια τάλαντα ἀπαγίνεον· νομὸς ἕβδομος καὶ δέκατος οὗτος.
And the Paricanians and the Ethiopians from Asia brought in four hundred talents; this was the seventeenth province.
Ματιηνοῖσι δὲ καὶ Σάσπειρσι καὶ Ἀλαροδίοισι διηκόσια ἐπετέτακτο τάλαντα· νομὸς ὄγδοος καὶ δέκατος οὗτος.
And on the Matieni, Saspires, and Alarodians, two hundred talents were imposed; this was the eighteenth province.
§3.94.2Μόσχοισι δὲ καὶ Τιβαρηνοῖσι καὶ Μάκρωσι καὶ Μοσσυνοίκοισι καὶ Μαρσὶ τριηκόσια τάλαντα προείρητο· νομὸς εἴνατος καὶ δέκατος οὗτος.
And for the Moschi, Tibareni, Macrones, Mossynoeci, and Mares, three hundred talents were prescribed; this was the nineteenth province.
Ἰνδῶν δὲ πλῆθός τε πολλῷ πλεῖστον ἐστὶ πάντων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ φόρον ἀπαγίνεον πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ἄλλους ἑξήκοντα καὶ τριηκόσια τάλαντα ψήγματος· νομὸς εἰκοστὸς οὗτος.
The population of the Indians is by far the greatest of all the men whom we know, and they brought in as tribute, in comparison with all the others, three hundred and sixty talents of gold dust; this was the twentieth province.

Notes

  1. §3.94.1ἐπετέτακτο — The third-person singular pluperfect passive of ἐπιτάσσω ('to impose upon'). The grammatical subject is the neuter plural noun τάλαντα, which regularly takes a singular verb in Greek. The datives (Ματιηνοῖσι, etc.) function as the indirect object or dative of interest/agent ('imposed upon...'). The structure is mirrored in §3.94.2 with προείρητο and its associated datives.
  2. §3.94.2πρὸς πάντας τοὺς ἄλλους — The preposition πρός with the accusative is used here in a comparative sense, meaning 'in comparison with all the others.' This highlights the unique nature of the Indian tribute (gold dust rather than silver).
  3. §3.94.2ψήγματος — A genitive of material or substance modifying τάλαντα, indicating that the talents were measured in 'gold dust' (ψῆγμα).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §3.94.1-3.94.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:3.94.1-3.94.2

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