§4.95.1ὡς δὲ ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι τῶν τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον οἰκεόντων Ἑλλήνων καὶ Πόντον, τὸν Σάλμοξιν τοῦτον ἐόντα ἄνθρωπον δουλεῦσαι ἐν Σάμῳ, δουλεῦσαι δὲ Πυθαγόρῃ τῷ Μνησάρχου,
But as I learn from the Greeks who inhabit the Hellespont and the Pontus, this Salmoxis, being a human being, was a slave in Samos, and was a slave to Pythagoras the son of Mnesarchus.
§4.95.2ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὐτὸν γενόμενον ἐλεύθερον χρήματα κτήσασθαι μεγάλα, κτησάμενον δὲ ἀπελθεῖν ἐς τὴν ἑωυτοῦ.
From there, having become a free man, he acquired great wealth, and having acquired it, he departed to his own country.
ἅτε δὲ κακοβίων τε ἐόντων τῶν Θρηίκων καὶ ὑπαφρονεστέρων, τὸν Σάλμοξιν τοῦτον ἐπιστάμενον δίαιτάν τε Ἰάδα καὶ ἤθεα βαθύτερα ἢ κατὰ Θρήικας, οἷα Ἕλλησι τε ὁμιλήσαντα καὶ Ἑλλήνων οὐ τῷ ἀσθενεστάτῳ σοφιστῇ Πυθαγόρῃ, §4.95.3κατασκευάσασθαι ἀνδρεῶνα, ἐς τὸν πανδοκεύοντα τῶν ἀστῶν τοὺς πρώτους καὶ εὐωχέοντα ἀναδιδάσκειν ὡς οὔτε αὐτὸς οὔτε οἱ συμπόται αὐτοῦ οὔτε οἱ ἐκ τούτων αἰεὶ γινόμενοι ἀποθανέονται, ἀλλʼ ἥξουσι ἐς χῶρον τοῦτον ἵνα αἰεὶ περιεόντες ἕξουσι τὰ πάντα ἀγαθά.
Now since the Thracians lived a poor life and were somewhat foolish, this Salmoxis, who understood the Ionian way of life and deeper customs than those of the Thracians—inasmuch as he had associated with Greeks, and with Pythagoras, not the weakest sage among the Greeks— established a men's hall, in which he received and feasted the chief men of the citizens, and taught them that neither he himself, nor his drinking companions, nor those who should ever be born of them would die, but that they would come to this place where, surviving forever, they would possess all good things.
§4.95.4ἐν ᾧ δὲ ἐποίεε τὰ καταλεχθέντα καὶ ἔλεγε ταῦτα, ἐν τούτῳ κατάγαιον οἴκημα ἐποιέετο.
While he was doing what has been mentioned and saying these things, in the meantime he was making an underground chamber.
ὡς δέ οἱ παντελέως εἶχε τὸ οἴκημα, ἐκ μὲν τῶν Θρηίκων ἠφανίσθη, καταβὰς δὲ κάτω ἐς τὸ κατάγαιον οἴκημα διαιτᾶτο ἐπʼ ἔτεα τρία·
When the chamber was completely ready for him, he vanished from the Thracians, and having gone down into the underground chamber, he lived there for three years.
§4.95.5οἳ δὲ μιν ἐπόθεόν τε καὶ ἐπένθεον ὡς τεθνεῶτα.
And they missed him and lamented him as dead.
τετάρτω δὲ ἔτεϊ ἐφάνη τοῖσι Θρήιξι, καὶ οὕτω πιθανά σφι ἐγένετο τὰ ἔλεγε ὁ Σάλμοξις.
But in the fourth year, he appeared to the Thracians, and thus what Salmoxis had been saying became credible to them.
ταῦτα φασί μιν ποιῆσαι.
This is what they say he did.