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Herodotus · Histories §7.127.1-7.127.2

Xerxes' Encampment at Therme and the Dried Cheidoros

Passage 1190 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Xerxes arrives at Therme and stations his massive army across a vast coastal area, which is so large that the river Cheidoros runs dry when the soldiers drink from it.

§7.127.1ὡς δὲ ἐς τὴν Θέρμην ἀπίκετο ὁ Ξέρξης, ἵδρυσε αὐτοῦ τὴν στρατιήν.
When Xerxes arrived at Therme, he stationed his army there.
ἐπέσχε δὲ ὁ στρατὸς αὐτοῦ στρατοπεδευόμενος τὴν παρὰ θάλασσαν χώρην τοσήνδε, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ Θέρμης πόλιος καὶ τῆς Μυγδονίης μέχρι Λυδίεώ τε ποταμοῦ καὶ Ἁλιάκμονος, οἳ οὐρίζουσι γῆν τὴν Βοττιαιίδα τε καὶ Μακεδονίδα, ἐς τὠυτὸ ῥέεθρον τὸ ὕδωρ συμμίσγοντες.
His army, in pitching its camp, occupied the following extent of the territory along the sea, starting from the city of Therme and Mygdonia as far as the rivers Lydias and Haliacmon, which define the boundary between the Bottiaean and Macedonian lands, mingling their waters into the same channel.
§7.127.2ἐστρατοπεδεύοντο μὲν δὴ ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι χωρίοισι οἱ βάρβαροι, τῶν δὲ καταλεχθέντων τούτων ποταμῶν ἐκ Κρηστωναίων ῥέων Χείδωρος μοῦνος οὐκ ἀντέχρησε τῇ στρατιῇ πινόμενος ἀλλʼ ἐπέλιπε.
So the barbarians were encamped in these regions; but of these aforementioned rivers, the Cheidoros alone, flowing from the country of the Crestonaeans, did not suffice for the army when drunk, but failed.

Notes

  1. §7.127.1ἐς τὠυτὸ ῥέεθρον τὸ ὕδωρ συμμίσγοντες — The nominative plural present participle `συμμίσγοντες` has the relative pronoun `οἳ` as its subject, describing how the two rivers, Lydias and Haliacmon, mingle their waters into a single channel.
  2. §7.127.2πινόμενος — A present passive participle in the masculine nominative singular, agreeing with the subject `Χείδωρος` (the river Cheidoros), meaning 'while being drunk' (i.e. by the army). This is Herodotus' characteristic hyperbolic expression showing that the army drank the river dry.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.127.1-7.127.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.127.1-7.127.2

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