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Herodotus · Histories §7.123.1-7.123.3

Conscription along Pallene and the Fleet's Voyage

Passage 1186 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes how Xerxes' fleet sailed from Sithonia, bypassed the Pallene peninsula, conscripted troops from various cities along the way, and arrived at their destinations in the Thermaic Gulf.

§7.123.1ἡ μέν νυν χώρη αὕτη Σιθωνίη καλέεται, ὁ δὲ ναυτικὸς στρατὸς ὁ Ξέρξεω συντάμνων ἀπʼ Ἀμπέλου ἄκρης ἐπὶ Καναστραίην ἄκρην, τὸ δὴ πάρης τῆς Παλλήνης ἀνέχει μάλιστα, ἐνθεῦτεν νέας τε καὶ στρατιὴν παρελάμβανε ἐκ Ποτιδαίης καὶ Ἀφύτιος καὶ Νέης πόλιος καὶ Αἰγῆς καὶ Θεράμβω καὶ Σκιώνης καὶ Μένδης καὶ Σάνης· αὗται γὰρ εἰσὶ αἱ τὴν νῦν Παλλήνην πρότερον δὲ Φλέγρην καλεομένην νεμόμεναι.
Now this region is called Sithonia, and the fleet of Xerxes, taking a short cut from the promontory of Ampelus to the promontory of Canastraeum, which indeed projects furthest of all Pallene, from there took on board ships and troops from Potidaea, Aphytis, Neapolis, Aege, Therambos, Scione, Mende, and Sane; for these are the cities which inhabit what is now called Pallene, but was formerly called Phlegra.
§7.123.2παραπλέων δὲ καὶ ταύτην τὴν χώρην ἔπλεε ἐς τὸ προειρημένον, παραλαμβάνων στρατιὴν καὶ ἐκ τῶν προσεχέων πολίων τῇ Παλλήνῃ, ὁμουρεουσέων δὲ τῷ Θερμαίῳ κόλπῳ, τῇσι οὐνόματα ἐστὶ τάδε, Λίπαξος Κώμβρεια Αἷσα Γίγωνος Κάμψα Σμίλα Αἴνεια· ἡ δε τουτέων χώρη Κροσσαίη ἔτι καὶ ἐς τόδε καλέεται.
Sailing past this region also, it continued to sail toward the aforementioned destination, taking on board troops also from the cities adjacent to Pallene and bordering on the Thermaic Gulf, whose names are these: Lipaxus, Combreia, Aisa, Gigonus, Campsa, Smila, and Aeneia; and the territory of these is still called Crossaea even to this day.
§7.123.3ἀπὸ δὲ Αἰνείης, ἐς τὴν ἐτελεύτων καταλέγων τὰς πόλις, ἀπὸ ταύτης ἤδη ἐς αὐτόν τε τὸν Θερμαῖον κόλπον ἐγίνετο τῷ ναυτικῷ στρατῷ ὁ πλόος καὶ γῆν τὴν Μυγδονίην, πλέων δὲ ἀπίκετο ἔς τε τὴν προειρημένην Θέρμην καὶ Σίνδον τε πόλιν καὶ Χαλέστρην ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄξιον ποταμόν, ὃς οὐρίζει χώρην τὴν Μυγδονίην τε καὶ Βοττιαιίδα, τῆς ἔχουσι τὸ παρὰ θάλασσαν στεινὸν χωρίον πόλιες Ἴχναι τε καὶ Πέλλα.
And from Aeneia, with which I ended my list of the cities—from this point on, the voyage of the fleet was now into the Thermaic Gulf itself and to the Mygdonian land; and sailing on, it arrived at the aforementioned Therme, and the city of Sindus, and Chalestre on the river Axius, which bounds the territory of Mygdonia and Bottiaeis, of which latter territory the cities of Ichnae and Pella possess the narrow strip along the sea.

Notes

  1. 7.123.1τὸ δὴ πάρης τῆς Παλλήνης ἀνέχει μάλιστα — The relative pronoun τὸ refers to the preceding feminine noun "promontory" (Καναστραίην ἄκρην) but is in the neuter singular, either attracted to the concept of the neuter ἄκρον (cape/promontory) or because the name Canastraeum (Καναστραῖον) itself is neuter. πάρης is the Ionic genitive of πᾶσα (for πάσης), modifying τῆς Παλλήνης as a genitive of range. ἀνέχει is used intransitively to mean "projects" or "juts out."
  2. 7.123.3ἀπὸ δὲ Αἰνείης ... ἀπὸ ταύτης ἤδη — After the prepositional phrase ἀπὸ δὲ Αἰνείης is introduced, a relative clause ἐς τὴν ἐτελεύτων... is inserted; to restore syntactical clarity, the phrase is redundantly repeated using the demonstrative pronoun as ἀπὸ ταύτης ἤδη. ἐτελεύτων is in the imperfect tense, meaning "I finished/ended (my listing of)."
  3. 7.123.3τῆς ἔχουσι τὸ παρὰ θάλασσαν στεινὸν χωρίον πόλιες Ἴχναι τε καὶ Πέλλα — The relative pronoun τῆς in the genitive feminine singular has as its antecedent the immediately preceding feminine noun Βοττιαιίδα (Bottiaeis), functioning as a partitive or possessive genitive. The subject of the verb ἔχουσι is placed at the end: πόλιες Ἴχναι τε καὶ Πέλλα (the cities of Ichnae and Pella).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.123.1-7.123.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.123.1-7.123.3

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