Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.118.1

Financial Ruin of Greek Cities Hosting Xerxes's Army

Passage 1181 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

While Xerxes mourned Artachaies, the Greek cities hosting the Persian army faced ruin due to the immense expenses. For instance, the Thasians spent four hundred talents of silver to provide a single dinner for their mainland cities.

§7.118.1βασιλεὺς μὲν δὴ Ξέρξης ἀπολομένου Ἀρταχαίεω ἐποιέετο συμφορήν.
Thus King Xerxes mourned the death of Artachaies as a great misfortune.
οἱ δὲ ὑποδεκόμενοι Ἑλλήνων τὴν στρατιὴν καὶ δειπνίζοντες Ξέρξην ἐς πᾶν κακοῦ ἀπίκατο, οὕτω ὥστε ἀνάστατοι ἐκ τῶν οἴκων ἐγίνοντο· ὅκου Θασίοισι ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν τῇ ἠπείρῳ πολίων τῶν σφετερέων δεξαμένοισι τὴν Ξέρξεω στρατιὴν καὶ δειπνίσασι Ἀντίπατρος ὁ Ὀργέος ἀραιρημένος, τῶν ἀστῶν ἀνὴρ δόκιμος ὅμοια τῷ μάλιστα, ἀπέδεξε ἐς τὸ δεῖπνον τετρακόσια τάλαντα ἀργυρίου τετελεσμένα.
But those of the Greeks who received the army and entertained Xerxes at dinner were brought to the extremity of ruin, so that they were driven from their homes; as for instance, when the Thasians, on behalf of their cities on the mainland, received Xerxes' army and entertained them, Antipater son of Orgeus, a man of esteemed reputation among the citizens equal to the very first, who had been chosen for this office, showed that four hundred talents of silver had been expended for the dinner.

Notes

  1. §7.118.1ὅκου — The relative adverb is used here not to designate a specific location but to introduce a concrete illustrative example ("as for instance, where...").
  2. §7.118.1ὅμοια τῷ μάλιστα — The adverbial use of the neuter plural accusative ὅμοια combined with the dative τῷ and the superlative adverb μάλιστα means "equally with the most (esteemed)," signifying "in the highest degree" or "most highly."
  3. §7.118.1ἀπέδεξε — This is the Ionic form for the aorist of ἀποδείκνυμι (equivalent to ἀπέδειξε). It can mean "rendered an account of" or "produced/exhibited." Combined with the perfect passive participle τετελεσμένα ("fully paid" or "expended") modifying τετρακόσια τάλαντα, it indicates either the presentation of the official account of expenditure or the actual payment of the sum.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.118.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.118.1

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.