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Herodotus · Histories §7.22.1-7.22.3

Preparations for the Athos Canal and the Isthmus

Passage 1085 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes the preparations for the canal excavation at Mount Athos, the start of the work under the supervision of Bubares and Artachaees, and the geography and cities of the isthmus.

§7.22.1καὶ τοῦτο μέν, ὡς προσπταισάντων τῶν πρώτων περιπλεόντων περὶ τὸν Ἄθων προετοιμάζετο ἐκ τριῶν ἐτέων κου μάλιστα τὰ ἐς τὸν Ἄθων.
And this on the one hand was being prepared beforehand for about three years in connection with Athos, because those who first sailed round Athos had met with disaster.
ἐν γὰρ Ἐλαιοῦντι τῆς Χερσονήσου ὅρμεον τριήρεες· ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὁρμώμενοι ὤρυσσον ὑπὸ μαστίγων παντοδαποὶ τῆς στρατιῆς, διάδοχοι δʼ ἐφοίτεον· ὤρυσσον δὲ καὶ οἱ περὶ τὸν Ἄθων κατοικημένοι.
For triremes were anchored at Elaius in the Chersonese; starting from there, men of all kinds from the army dug under the lash, with shifts constantly coming to relieve them, and those who dwelt around Athos also dug.
§7.22.2Βουβάρης δὲ ὁ Μεγαβάζου καὶ Ἀρταχαίης ὁ Ἀρταίου ἄνδρες Πέρσαι ἐπέστασαν τοῦ ἔργου.
Bubares son of Megabazus and Artachaees son of Artaeus, Persian men, were in charge of the work.
ὁ γὰρ Ἄθως ἐστὶ ὄρος μέγα τε καὶ ὀνομαστόν, ἐς θάλασσαν κατῆκον, οἰκημένον ὑπὸ ἀνθρώπων.
For Athos is a mountain, both great and famous, running down into the sea and inhabited by men.
τῇ δὲ τελευτᾷ ἐς τὴν ἤπειρον τὸ ὄρος, χερσονησοειδές τε ἐστὶ καὶ ἰσθμὸς ὡς δυώδεκα σταδίων· πεδίον δὲ τοῦτο καὶ κολωνοὶ οὐ μεγάλοι ἐκ θαλάσσης τῆς Ἀκανθίων ἐπὶ θάλασσαν τὴν ἀντίον Τορώνης.
Where the mountain ends towards the mainland, it is like a peninsula, and there is an isthmus of about twelve stades; this is a plain with hills of no great size, extending from the sea of the Acanthians to the sea opposite Torone.
§7.22.3ἐν δὲ τῷ ἰσθμῷ τούτῳ, ἐς τὸν τελευτᾷ ὁ Ἄθως, Σάνη πόλις Ἑλλὰς οἴκηται, αἳ δὲ ἐκτὸς Σάνης, ἔσω δὲ τοῦ Ἄθω οἰκημέναι, τὰς τότε ὁ Πέρσης νησιώτιδας ἀντὶ ἠπειρωτίδων ὅρμητο ποιέειν· εἰσὶ δὲ αἵδε, Δῖον Ὀλόφυξος Ἀκρόθῳον Θύσσος Κλεωναί.
On this isthmus, where Athos ends, is situated Sane, a Greek city; but as for the cities situated outside Sane and inside Athos, these the Persian was then bent on making into island cities instead of mainland ones; and they are these: Dion, Olophyxus, Acrothoum, Thyssus, Cleonae.

Notes

  1. §7.22.1ὡς προσπταισάντων τῶν πρώτων — The combination of the conjunction ὡς with the genitive absolute (whose subject is τῶν πρώτων [περιπλεόντων]) indicates a subjective or alleged reason, expressing the motive that led Xerxes to make these preparations.
  2. §7.22.2τῇ δὲ τελευτᾷ — The dative singular feminine of the relative pronoun τῇ is used adverbially to mean 'at the place where' (where the mountain ends towards the mainland). Alternatively, it can be understood with an ellipse of a noun like ὁδῷ or χώρᾳ.
  3. §7.22.3τὰς τότε ὁ Πέρσης νησιώτιδας ἀντὶ ἠπειρωτίδων ὅρμητο ποιέειν — The verb ὅρμητο (pluperfect middle-passive of ὁρμάω) takes the infinitive ποιέειν to mean 'was eager to do' or 'strove to make.' The relative pronoun τὰς (referring to the cities mentioned before) and νησιώτιδας (island-dwelling) form a double accusative construction with ποιέειν ('to make A into B').

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.22.1-7.22.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.22.1-7.22.3

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