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Herodotus · Histories §7.25.1-7.25.2

Preparation of Bridge Cables and Stockpiling Provisions

Passage 1088 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Xerxes prepared papyrus and flax cables for the bridges and arranged for vast provisions to be transported from all over Asia by ships and stored at the most convenient sites in Thrace and Macedonia to prevent hunger during the march.

§7.25.1ταῦτα μέν νυν οὕτω ἐποίεε, παρεσκευάζετο δὲ καὶ ὅπλα ἐς τὰς γεφύρας βύβλινά τε καὶ λευκολίνου, ἐπιτάξας Φοίνιξί τε καὶ Αἰγυπτίοισι, καὶ σιτία τῇ στρατιῇ καταβάλλειν, ἵνα μὴ λιμήνειε ἡ στρατιὴ μηδὲ τὰ ὑποζύγια ἐλαυνόμενα ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα·
Xerxes was doing these things in this manner, and he was also making preparations for cables of papyrus and of white flax for the bridges, having laid this task upon the Phoenicians and the Egyptians, and he arranged to store up provisions for the army, so that neither the army nor the beasts of burden would suffer from hunger as they marched towards Greece.
§7.25.2ἀναπυθόμενος δὲ τοὺς χώρους καταβάλλειν ἐκέλευε ἵνα ἐπιτηδεότατον εἴη, ἄλλα ἄλλῃ ἀγινέοντας ὁλκάσι τε καὶ πορθμηίοισι ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης πανταχόθεν.
Having made inquiries, he ordered them to store these provisions in the most convenient places, with people bringing different supplies to different locations from all over Asia by means of merchant ships and ferry boats.
τὸν δὲ ὦν πλεῖστον ἐς Λευκὴν ἀκτὴν καλεομένην τῆς Θρηίκης ἀγίνεον, οἳ δὲ ἐς Τυρόδιζαν τὴν Περινθίων, οἳ δὲ ἐς Δορίσκον, οἳ δὲ ἐς Ἠιόνα τὴν ἐπὶ Στρυμόνι, οἳ δὲ ἐς Μακεδονίην διατεταγμένοι.
The greatest part of it they brought to the place called White Coast in Thrace, while others brought it to Tyrodiza of the Perinthians, others to Doriscus, others to Eion on the Strymon, and others to Macedonia, as they had been severally assigned.

Notes

  1. 7.25.1ὅπλα — The plural form of ὅπλον (usually 'tool' or 'weapon') is used here in the specific sense of 'rigging' or 'cables' for bridging.
  2. 7.25.1βύβλινά τε καὶ λευκολίνου — The adjective βύβλινα (neuter plural accusative, agreeing with ὅπλα) and the genitive noun λευκολίνου ('of white flax') are coordinated by τε καί, representing a grammatically asymmetrical construction.
  3. 7.25.1καταβάλλειν — This infinitive functions either as a complement to the main verb παρεσκευάζετο ('he was preparing / making arrangements') or under the influence of the participle ἐπιτάξας ('having ordered [them] to...'). It is contextually smoother to take it with the main verb as 'he arranged to store up'.
  4. 7.25.2ἀγινέοντας — A present active participle in the accusative plural. It agrees with the implied subject of the infinitive καταβάλλειν (the people who carry and store the provisions), expressing the manner or circumstance: 'with people bringing...'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.25.1-7.25.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.25.1-7.25.2

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