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Herodotus · Histories §4.87.1-4.87.2

Pillars Set Up by Darius at the Bosporus

Passage 651 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Darius surveys the Pontus and the Bosporus, setting up two white stone pillars inscribed with the names of all his subject nations in Assyrian and Greek. The later relocation of these stones by the Byzantines for the altar of Artemis and the location of Darius' bridge are described.

§4.87.1ὁ δὲ Δαρεῖος ὡς ἐθεήσατο τὸν Πόντον, ἔπλεε ὀπίσω ἐπὶ τὴν γέφυραν, τῆς ἀρχιτέκτων ἐγένετο Μανδροκλέης Σάμιος· θεησάμενος δὲ καὶ τὸν Βόσπορον στήλας ἔστησε δύο ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ λίθου λευκοῦ, ἐνταμὼν γράμματα ἐς μὲν τὴν Ἀσσύρια ἐς δὲ τὴν Ἑλληνικά, ἔθνεα πάντα ὅσα περ ἦγε· ἦγε δὲ πάντα τῶν ἦρχε.
When Darius had gazed upon the Pontus, he sailed back to the bridge, of which Mandrokles of Samos was the architect; and having also gazed upon the Bosporus, he set up two pillars of white stone by it, engraving characters upon them, Assyrian on the one and Greek on the other, of all the nations which he was leading; and he led all over whom he ruled.
τούτων μυριάδες ἐξηριθμήθησαν, χωρὶς τοῦ ναυτικοῦ, ἑβδομήκοντα σὺν ἱππεῦσι, νέες δὲ ἑξακόσιαι συνελέχθησαν.
Of these, the number of myriads was counted, without the fleet, to be seventy with the cavalry, and six hundred ships were assembled.
§4.87.2τῇσι μέν νυν στήλῃσι ταύτῃσι Βυζάντιοι κομίσαντες ἐς τὴν πόλιν ὕστερον τούτων ἐχρήσαντο πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν τῆς Ὀρθωσίης Ἀρτέμιδος, χωρὶς ἑνὸς λίθου· οὗτος δὲ κατελείφθη παρὰ τοῦ Διονύσου τὸν νηὸν ἐν Βυζαντίῳ, γραμμάτων Ἀσσυρίων πλέος.
Now these pillars the Byzantines afterwards carried into their city and used them for the altar of Artemis Orthosia, except for one stone; and this was left by the temple of Dionysus in Byzantium, full of Assyrian characters.
τοῦ δὲ Βοσπόρου ὁ χῶρος τὸν ἔζευξε βασιλεὺς Δαρεῖος, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει συμβαλλομένῳ, μέσον ἐστὶ Βυζαντίου τε καὶ τοῦ ἐπὶ στόματι ἱροῦ.
And the place of the Bosporus which King Darius bridged is, as it seems to me on calculation, midway between Byzantium and the temple at the mouth.

Notes

  1. §4.87.1τῆς — Ionic dialect form of the relative pronoun ἧς, with the preceding τὴν γέφυραν (the bridge) as its antecedent.
  2. §4.87.1ἔθνηα πάντα ὅσα περ ἦγε — The direct object of the participle ἐνταμών (having engraved), contextually meaning 'having engraved (the names of) all the nations which he was leading'.
  3. §4.87.1τῶν ἦρχε — τῶν is the relative pronoun ὧν (attracted to the genitive of the antecedent πάντα), in the genitive case governed by the verb ἄρχω (to rule).
  4. §4.87.2τὸν — Ionic dialect form of the relative pronoun ὅν, introducing the relative clause with the preceding ὁ χῶρος as its antecedent.
  5. §4.87.2ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει συμβαλλομένῳ — The dative participle συμβαλλομένῳ (calculating, conjecturing) is used here in an idiomatic construction with the impersonal δοκέει to mean 'as it seems to me on calculation'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.87.1-4.87.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.87.1-4.87.2

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