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Herodotus · Histories §4.153.1

Theraean Decree to Send Colonists to Platea under Battus

Passage 717 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Upon receiving the report of the settlement on Platea, the Theraeans decreed to send one brother from every family and men from all seven districts by lot under the leadership of Battus, and dispatched two fifty-oared ships.

§4.153.1οἱ δὲ Θηραῖοι ἐπείτε τὸν Κορώβιον λιπόντες ἐν τῇ νήσῳ ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὴν Θήρην, ἀπήγγελλον ὥς σφι εἴη νῆσος ἐπὶ Λιβύῃ ἐκτισμένη.
And the Theraeans, when they had left Corobius on the island and arrived at Thera, reported that they had an island settled off the coast of Libya.
Θηραίοισι δὲ ἕαδε ἀδελφεόν τε ἀπʼ ἀδελφεοῦ πέμπειν πάλῳ λαγχάνοντα καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν χώρων ἁπάντων ἑπτὰ ἐόντων ἄνδρας, εἶναι δὲ σφέων καὶ ἡγεμόνα καὶ βασιλέα Βάττον.
Then it pleased the Theraeans to send one brother from every pair of brothers, chosen by lot, and men from all their districts, which were seven in number, and that Battus should be their leader and king.
οὕτω δὴ στέλλουσι δύο πεντηκοντέρους ἐς τὴν Πλατέαν.
Thus they dispatched two fifty-oared ships to Platea.

Notes

  1. §4.153.1εἴη ... ἐκτισμένη — Perfect passive optative. It is used in indirect discourse after the secondary tense of the main verb (imperfect `ἀπήγγελλον`) to represent the Theraeans' report. The dative `σφι` functions as a dative of agent or dative of interest.
  2. §4.153.1ἕαδε — Third-person singular of the unaspirated aorist of `ἁνδάνω` (to please) in the Ionic dialect (equivalent to Attic `ἥδε`). It is used impersonally with the infinitives `πέμπειν` and `εἶναι` as its subjects, meaning "it pleased the Theraeans to..." (i.e., "they decreed to...").
  3. §4.153.1ἀδελφεόν τε ἀπʼ ἀδελφεοῦ — Literally "a brother from a brother," meaning one brother from every pair of brothers, to be chosen by lot (`πάλῳ`).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.153.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.153.1

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