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Herodotus · Histories §5.54.1-5.54.2

Calculation of Journey and Days from Ephesus to Susa

Passage 823 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Herodotus demonstrates that Aristagoras was correct in stating that the journey inland to the Persian King takes three months. He adds that by factoring in the distance from Ephesus on the coast to Sardis (540 stades), the total route to Susa amounts to 14,040 stades, which extends the three-month trip by three days.

§5.54.1οὕτω τῷ Μιλησίῳ Ἀρισταγόρῃ εἴπαντι πρὸς Κλεομένεα τὸν Λακεδαιμόνιον εἶναι τριῶν μηνῶν τὴν ἄνοδον τὴν παρὰ βασιλέα ὀρθῶς εἴρητο.
Thus, it had been correctly stated by Aristagoras the Milesian when he told Cleomenes the Lacedaemonian that the journey inland to the King was a three months' journey.
εἰ δέ τις τὸ ἀτρεκέστερον τούτων ἔτι δίζηται, ἐγὼ καὶ τοῦτο σημανέω· τὴν γὰρ ἐξ Ἐφέσου ἐς Σάρδις ὁδὸν δεῖ προσλογίσασθαι ταύτῃ.
If anyone seeks still greater accuracy than this, I shall point this out as well; for one must add the road from Ephesus to Sardis to this calculation.
§5.54.2καὶ δὴ λέγω σταδίους εἶναι τοὺς πάντας ἀπὸ θαλάσσης τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς μέχρι Σούσων (τοῦτο γὰρ Μεμνόνειον ἄστυ καλέεται), τεσσεράκοντα καὶ τετρακισχιλίους καὶ μυρίους· οἱ γὰρ ἐξ Ἑφέσου ἐς Σάρδις εἰσὶ τεσσεράκοντα καὶ πεντακόσιοι στάδιοι, καὶ οὕτω τρισὶ ἡμέρῃσι μηκύνεται ἡ τρίμηνος ὁδός.
Indeed, I declare that the total number of stades from the Greek sea to Susa (for this is called the city of Memnon) is fourteen thousand and forty; for the distance from Ephesus to Sardis is five hundred and forty stades, and thus the three months' journey is lengthened by three days.

Notes

  1. §5.54.1τῷ Μιλησίῳ Ἀρισταγόρῃ εἴπαντι — Dative phrase. It represents either the agent of the impersonal pluperfect passive verb `εἴρητο` ('it had been stated'), or a dative of reference/judgment ('for Aristagoras who said...'), with the participle `εἴπαντι` agreeing with it.
  2. §5.54.1εἶναι τριῶν μηνῶν τὴν ἄνοδον — An accusative-and-infinitive construction of indirect speech depending on the participle `εἴπαντι`. The subject of the infinitive `εἶναι` is the accusative `τὴν ἄνοδον` ('the journey inland'), and the genitive `τριῶν μηνῶν` is used predicatively as a genitive of quality or measure denoting duration.
  3. §5.54.2τοὺς πάντας — Modifying `σταδίους` in the attributive position, meaning 'the total' or 'in all'. It points forward to the specific numeral `τεσσεράκοντα καὶ τετρακισχιλίους καὶ μυρίους` (14,040), emphasizing the final calculated sum.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.54.1-5.54.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.54.1-5.54.2

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