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Herodotus · Histories §5.124.1-5.124.2

Aristagoras Plans His Escape and Refuges

Passage 900 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Anticipating the failure of the revolt, Aristagoras of Miletus planned his escape and consulted his allies on whether they should establish a refuge colony in Sardinia or Myrcinus.

§5.124.1ἁλισκομενέων δὲ τῶν πολίων, ἦν γὰρ ὡς διέδεξε Ἀρισταγόρης ὁ Μιλήσιος ψυχὴν οὐκ ἄκρος, ὃς ταράξας τὴν Ἰωνίην καὶ ἐγκερασάμενος πρήγματα μεγάλα δρησμὸν ἐβούλευε ὁρέων ταῦτα·
As the cities were being captured, for Aristagoras of Miletus, as the event showed, was not a man of great courage—he, who had thrown Ionia into confusion and stirred up great trouble, was planning flight when he saw these things.
πρὸς δέ οἱ καὶ ἀδύνατα ἐφάνη βασιλέα Δαρεῖον ὑπερβαλέσθαι·
Moreover, it seemed to him impossible to overcome King Darius.
§5.124.2πρὸς ταῦτα δὴ ὦν συγκαλέσας τοὺς συστασιώτας ἐβουλεύετο, λέγων ὡς ἄμεινον σφίσι εἴη κρησφύγετόν τι ὑπάρχον εἶναι, ἢν ἄρα ἐξωθέωνται ἐκ τῆς Μιλήτου, εἴτε δὴ ὦν ἐς Σαρδὼ ἐκ τοῦ τόπου τούτου ἄγοι ἐς ἀποικίην, εἴτε ἐς Μύρκινον τὴν Ἠδωνῶν, τὴν Ἱστιαῖος ἐτείχεε παρὰ Δαρείου δωρεὴν λαβών.
Therefore, having called together his fellow-conspirators, he took counsel, saying that it would be better for them to have some place of refuge ready, in case they should be expelled from Miletus: whether he should lead them from this place to a colony in Sardinia, or to Myrcinus of the Edonians, which Histiaeus had been walling after receiving it as a gift from Darius.
ταῦτα ἐπειρώτα ὁ Ἀρισταγόρης.
This is what Aristagoras proposed to consult them about.

Notes

  1. 5.124.1ὡς διέδεξε — This can be interpreted either impersonally as 'as the event showed' or with Aristagoras as the subject as 'as he showed'. The former impersonal reading fits the context better and is the standard interpretation.
  2. 5.124.1ψυχὴν — Accusative of respect (or specification), modifying the adjective `οὐκ ἄκρος` ('not of the highest degree', 'not outstanding'), meaning 'in respect of courage' or 'in spirit'. Together they mean 'not a man of courage'.
  3. 5.124.2ἄγοι — An optative of deliberation in indirect speech. It represents what would be a deliberative subjunctive in direct speech (`ἄγωμεν` 'should we lead?'), changed to the optative because it is introduced by a past-tense main verb (`ἐβουλεύετο`).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.124.1-5.124.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.124.1-5.124.2

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