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Herodotus · Histories §7.184.1-7.184.5

Calculation of the Persian Forces Dispatched from Asia

Passage 1247 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author detailedly calculates the strength of the Persian forces prior to their arrival at Thermopylae, showing that the total number of the navy and army dispatched from Asia exceeded 2.3 million men.

§7.184.1μέχρι μέν νυν τούτου τοῦ χώρου καὶ Θερμοπυλέων ἀπαθής τε κακῶν ἦν ὁ στρατός, καὶ πλῆθος ἦν τηνικαῦτα ἔτι, ὡς ἐγὼ συμβαλλόμενος εὑρίσκω, τῶν μὲν ἐκ τῶν νεῶν τῶν ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης, ἐουσέων ἑπτὰ καὶ διηκοσιέων καὶ χιλιέων, τὸν μὲν ἀρχαῖον ἑκάστων τῶν ἐθνέων ἐόντα ὅμιλον τέσσερας καὶ εἴκοσι μυριάδας καὶ πρὸς χιλιάδα τε καὶ τετρακοσίους, ὡς ἀνὰ διηκοσίους ἄνδρας λογιζομένοισι ἐν ἑκάστῃ νηί.
Now up to this place and Thermopylae, the army was free from misfortune, and its number was at that time still as follows, as I find by calculation. Of those from the ships which came from Asia, being one thousand two hundred and seven, the original multitude of each of the nations was two hundred and forty-one thousand and four hundred, calculating at the rate of two hundred men to each ship.
§7.184.2ἐπεβάτευον δὲ ἐπὶ τουτέων τῶν νεῶν, χωρὶς ἑκάστων τῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἐπιβατέων, Περσέων τε καὶ Μήδων καὶ Σακέων τριήκοντα ἄνδρες.
And on these ships, besides the native fighters of each nation, thirty men of the Persians, Medes, and Sacae served as marines.
οὗτος ἄλλος ὅμιλος γίνεται τρισμύριοι καὶ ἑξακισχίλιοι καὶ πρὸς διηκόσιοί τε καὶ δέκα.
This other multitude amounts to thirty-six thousand two hundred and ten.
§7.184.3προσθήσω δʼ ἔτι τούτῳ καὶ τῷ προτέρῳ ἀριθμῷ τοὺς ἐκ τῶν πεντηκοντέρων, ποιήσας, ὅ τι πλέον ἦν αὐτῶν ἢ ἔλασσον, ἀνʼ ὀγδώκοντα ἄνδρας ἐνεῖναι.
To this and the former number I shall also add those from the fifty-oared ships, assuming that there were on average eighty men in each, whether they were more or fewer than this.
συνελέχθη δὲ ταῦτα τὰ πλοῖα, ὡς καὶ πρότερον εἰρέθη, τρισχίλια.
These vessels, as was said before, were assembled to the number of three thousand.
ἤδη ὦν ἄνδρες ἂν εἶεν ἐν αὐτοῖσι τέσσερες μυριάδες καὶ εἴκοσι.
Thus, there would now be two hundred and forty thousand men in them.
§7.184.4τοῦτο μὲν δὴ τό ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης ναυτικὸν ἦν, σύμπαν ἐὸν πεντήκοντα μυριάδες καὶ μία, χιλιάδες δὲ ἔπεισι ἐπὶ ταύτῃσι ἑπτὰ καὶ πρὸς ἑκατοντάδες ἓξ καὶ δεκάς.
This, then, was the naval force from Asia, being in all five hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten.
τοῦ δὲ πεζοῦ ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μυριάδες ἐγένοντο, τῶν δὲ ἱππέων ὀκτὼ μυριάδες.
Of the infantry there were one million seven hundred thousand, and of the cavalry eighty thousand.
προσθήσω δʼ ἔτι τούτοισι τὰς καμήλους τοὺς ἐλαύνοντας Ἀραβίους καὶ τοὺς τὰ ἅρματα Λίβυας, πλῆθος ποιήσας δισμυρίους ἄνδρας.
To these I shall also add the Arab camel-drivers and the Libyan chariot-drivers, making their number twenty thousand men.
§7.184.5καὶ δὴ τό τε ἐκ τῶν νεῶν καὶ τοῦ πεζοῦ πλῆθος συντιθέμενον γίνεται διηκόσιαί τε μυριάδες καὶ τριήκοντα καὶ μία, καὶ πρὸς χιλιάδες ἑπτὰ καὶ ἑκατοντάδες ἓξ καὶ δεκάς.
And so, the multitude from the ships and of the land army, when added together, comes to two million three hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ten.
τοῦτο μὲν τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἀσίης στράτευμα ἐξαναχθὲν εἴρηται, ἄνευ τε τῆς θεραπηίης τῆς ἑπομένης καὶ τῶν σιταγωγῶν πλοίων καὶ ὅσοι ἐνέπλεον τούτοισι.
This is the force that was set out from Asia itself, as has been stated, without counting the accompanying servants, the corn-transport ships, and those who sailed in them.

Notes

  1. §7.184.1ὡς ἐγὼ συμβαλλόμενος εὑρίσκω — A comparative or restrictive clause introduced by the conjunction ὡς. Together with the present participle συμβαλλόμενος ('calculating', 'reckoning'), it means 'as I find by calculation'.
  2. §7.184.1ὡς ἀνὰ διηκοσίους ἄνδρας λογιζομένοισι — The preposition ἀνά expresses distribution ('at the rate of'), and the dative plural participle λογιζομένοισι is a dative of reference, functioning conditionally as 'if one calculates'.
  3. §7.184.3ποιήσας, ὅ τι πλέον ἦν αὐτῶν ἢ ἔλασσον, ἀνʼ ὀγδώκοντα ἄνδρας ἐνεῖναι — The participle ποιήσας is used in the sense of 'supposing' or 'assuming'. The infinitive ἐνεῖναι takes ὀγδώκοντα ἄνδρας as its subject accusative. The parenthetical clause ὅ τι πλέον ἦν αὐτῶν ἢ ἔλασσον means 'whether they were more or fewer than this'.
  4. §7.184.5τὸ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἀσίης στράτευμα ἐξαναχθὲν — The aorist passive participle ἐξαναχθὲν, agreeing with the noun στράτευμα, is used attributively to mean 'the army which had set out from Asia itself'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.184.1-7.184.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.184.1-7.184.5

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