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Herodotus · Histories §6.110.1

Generals Ceding Command to Miltiades Before Battle

Passage 1016 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Miltiades wins Callimachus over, securing the decision to fight; the generals who favor battle hand over their daily command to Miltiades, but he refrains from engaging until his own scheduled day of command arrives.

§6.110.1ταῦτα λέγων ὁ Μιλτιάδης προσκτᾶται τὸν Καλλίμαχον· προσγενομένης δὲ τοῦ πολεμάρχου τῆς γνώμης ἐκεκύρωτο συμβάλλειν.
By saying these things, Miltiades won Callimachus over; and when the vote of the polemarch was added, it was decided to join battle.
μετὰ δὲ οἱ στρατηγοὶ τῶν ἡ γνώμη ἔφερε συμβάλλειν, ὡς ἑκάστου αὐτῶν ἐγίνετο πρυτανηίη τῆς ἡμέρης, Μιλτιάδῃ παρεδίδοσαν· ὁ δὲ δεκόμενος οὔτι κω συμβολὴν ἐποιέετο, πρίν γε δὴ αὐτοῦ πρυτανηίη ἐγένετο.
Thereafter, those of the generals whose opinion inclined to joining battle, as each of them had his daily presidency, turned it over to Miltiades; and he, though accepting it, did not yet bring on a battle until his own turn to preside came.

Notes

  1. 6.110.1προσγενομένης δὲ τοῦ πολεμάρχου τῆς γνώμης — Genitive absolute construction with the noun τῆς γνώμης and the aorist participle προσγενομένης, expressing cause ('since/when the opinion of the polemarch was added'). τοῦ πολεμάρχου is a possessive genitive modifying τῆς γνώμης.
  2. 6.110.1τῶν ἡ γνώμη ἔφερε συμβάλλειν — The relative pronoun τῶν is a genitive whose antecedent is οἱ στρατηγοὶ. The verb ἔφερε is used intransitively/idiomatically to mean 'to tend or incline towards,' governing the infinitive συμβάλλειν ('whose opinion inclined to join battle').
  3. 6.110.1πρίν γε δὴ αὐτοῦ πρυτανηίη ἐγένετο. — Since the main clause is negative (with οὔτι κω 'not yet'), the conjunction πρίν is followed by the indicative (aorist ἐγένετο.) to express a definite past fact, meaning 'until indeed his own presidency came' (implying he did not fight until that very day).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §6.110.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:6.110.1

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