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Herodotus · Histories §4.123.1-4.123.3

Burning of the Budini Fort and Advance to the Desert

Passage 687 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The Persian army marches through the barren lands of the Scythians and Sauromatae, burns down an abandoned wooden stronghold of the Budini, and reaches a desert to the north. Beyond this desert dwell the Thyssagetae, from whose territory four major rivers flow into Lake Maeotis.

§4.123.1ὅσον μὲν δὴ χρόνον οἱ Πέρσαι ἤισαν διὰ τῆς Σκυθικῆς καὶ τῆς Σαυρομάτιδος χώρης, οἳ δὲ εἶχον οὐδὲν σίνεσθαι ἅτε τῆς χώρης ἐούσης χέρσου·
As long as the Persians marched through the Scythian and the Sauromatian territory, they could find nothing to lay waste, since the land was barren.
ἐπείτε δὲ ἐς τὴν τῶν Βουδίνων χώρην ἐσέβαλλον, ἐνθαῦτα δὴ ἐντυχόντες τῷ ξυλίνῳ τείχεϊ, ἐκλελοιπότων τῶν Βουδίνων καὶ κεκενωμένου τοῦ τείχεος πάντων, ἐνέπρησαν αὐτό.
But when they invaded the territory of the Budini, they there came upon the wooden wall; and as the Budini had abandoned it and the wall was emptied of everything, they set it on fire.
§4.123.2τοῦτο δὲ ποιήσαντες εἵποντο αἰεὶ τὸ πρόσω κατὰ στίβον, ἐς ὃ διεξελθόντες ταύτην ἐς τὴν ἔρημον ἀπίκοντο.
Having done this, they continued to follow onward along the tracks, until, having passed through this land, they reached the desert.
ἡ δὲ ἔρημος αὕτη ὑπὸ οὐδαμῶν νέμεται ἀνδρῶν, κέεται δὲ ὑπὲρ τῆς Βουδίνων χώρης ἐοῦσα πλῆθος ἑπτὰ ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ.
This desert is inhabited by no men, and lies to the north of the territory of the Budini, being seven days' journey across.
§4.123.3ὑπὲρ δὲ τῆς ἐρήμου Θυσσαγέται οἰκέουσι, ποταμοὶ δὲ ἐξ αὐτῶν τέσσερες μεγάλοι ῥέοντες διὰ Μαιητέων ἐκδιδοῦσι ἐς τὴν λίμνην τὴν καλεομένην Μαιῆτιν, τοῖσι οὐνόματα κέεται τάδε, Λύκος Ὄαρος Τάναις Σύργις.
Above the desert dwell the Thyssagetae, and from their territory four great rivers flow through the land of the Maeotae and empty into the lake called Maeotis; their names are Lycus, Oarus, Tanais, and Syrgis.

Notes

  1. §4.123.1οἳ δὲ εἶχον οὐδὲν σίνεσθαι — οἳ δὲ is a demonstrative pronoun referring to the Persians, the subject of the main clause. εἶχον with the infinitive σίνεσθαι expresses potentiality or availability, meaning 'they had nothing that they could damage' or 'could find nothing to destroy'.
  2. §4.123.1ἐκλελοιπότων τῶν Βουδίνων καὶ κεκενωμένου τοῦ τείχεος — Two genitive absolute constructions are coordinated, indicating the temporal background or the reason ('since the Budini had abandoned it and the wall had been emptied') for the main verb ἐνέπρησαν.
  3. §4.123.2ὑπὲρ τῆς Βουδίνων χώρης ἐοῦσα — The preposition ὑπέρ with genitive indicates a location situated further inland (here, to the north) from the perspective of the coastal regions. The participle ἐοῦσα agrees with ἔρημος, describing the desert lying beyond or above the territory of the Budini.
  4. §4.123.3ἐξ αὐτῶν — The plural genitive personal pronoun refers to the preceding proper noun (the ethnonym) Θυσσαγέται, metonymically meaning 'from their territory'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.123.1-4.123.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.123.1-4.123.3

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