Humanitext Reader

Herodotus · Histories §7.186.1-7.186.2

Calculation of the Grand Total of Xerxes' Forces

Passage 1249 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author estimates that the number of attendants and transport crews was equal to that of the combatants, concluding that the grand total of Xerxes' army reached over 5.28 million men.

§7.186.1τοῦ μαχίμου δὲ τούτου ἐόντος ἀριθμὸν τοσούτου, τὴν θεραπηίην τὴν ἑπομένην τούτοισι καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖσι σιταγωγοῖσι ἀκάτοισι ἐόντας καὶ μάλα ἐν τοῖσι ἄλλοισι πλοίοισι τοῖσι ἅμα πλέουσι τῇ στρατιῇ, τούτους τῶν μαχίμων ἀνδρῶν οὐ δοκέω εἶναι ἐλάσσονας ἀλλὰ πλεῦνας.
This fighting force being so great in number, as for the servants who followed them, and those who were in the grain-transporting boats, and indeed in the other vessels sailing along with the army, I do not think that these were fewer than the fighting men, but rather more.
§7.186.2καὶ δή σφεας ποιέω ἴσους ἐκείνοισι εἶναι καὶ οὔτε πλεῦνας οὔτε ἐλάσσονας οὐδέν· ἐξισούμενοι δὲ οὗτοι τῷ μαχίμῳ ἐκπληροῦσι τὰς ἴσας μυριάδας ἐκείνοισι.
And indeed, I make them to be equal to those, and neither more nor less at all; and these, being made equal to the fighting force, complete the same tens of thousands as those.
οὕτω πεντακοσίας τε μυριάδας καὶ εἴκοσι καὶ ὀκτὼ καὶ χιλιάδας τρεῖς καὶ ἑκατοντάδας δύο καὶ δεκάδας δύο ἀνδρῶν ἤγαγε Ξέρξης ὁ Δαρείου μέχρι Σηπιάδος καὶ Θερμοπυλέων.
Thus Xerxes, the son of Darius, led five million two hundred and eighty-three thousand two hundred and twenty men as far as Sepias and Thermopylae.

Notes

  1. §7.186.1τοῦ μαχίμου δὲ τούτου ἐόντος ἀριθμὸν τοσούτου — The clause τοῦ μαχίμου ... ἐόντος is a genitive absolute (with τοῦ μαχίμου τούτου as its subject and the Ionic participle ἐόντος [= ὄντος] as its predicate). ἀριθμὸν is an accusative of respect ('in number') modifying the predicate adjective τοσούτου ('so great').
  2. §7.186.1τὴν θεραπηίην ... τοὺς ἐν τοῖσι σιταγωγοῖσι ... τούτους — The opening accusative phrases τὴν θεραπηίην... and τοὺς ἐν τοῖσι σιταγωγοῖσι... are proleptically placed as the anticipated subjects of the infinitive clause dependent on δοκέω, and are subsequently resumed and summarized by the demonstrative pronoun τούτους (accusative plural). This structure clarifies the connection of the long list of subjects to the infinitive clause.
  3. §7.186.2ποιέω ἴσους ἐκείνοισι εἶναι — Here ποιέω does not mean 'to make (physically)' but 'to suppose, assume, estimate' in the context of calculations, governing an accusative with infinitive construction (σφεας ἴσους ... εἶναι). σφεας (Ionic for σφᾶς) refers to the attendants, and ἐκείνοισι (dative) refers to 'those' (the fighting men mentioned in the previous chapter).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.186.1-7.186.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.186.1-7.186.2

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