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Herodotus · Histories §7.60.1-7.60.3

Number of Persian Infantry and Counting by an Enclosure

Passage 1123 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author states that the total number of the infantry was 1.7 million, and describes the unique method used to count them by packing ten thousand men at a time into an enclosed walled space.

§7.60.1ὅσον μέν νυν ἕκαστοι παρεῖχον πλῆθος ἐς ἀριθμόν, οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν τὸ ἀτρεκές· οὐ γὰρ λέγεται πρὸς οὐδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων·
As to how great a number each nation contributed to the total, I cannot say for certain; for it is not told by any man.
σύμπαντος δὲ τοῦ στρατοῦ τοῦ πεζοῦ τὸ πλῆθος ἐφάνη ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μυριάδες.
However, the total number of the entire land army was shown to be one million seven hundred thousand.
§7.60.2ἐξηρίθμησαν δὲ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον· συνήγαγόν τε ἐς ἕνα χῶρον μυριάδα ἀνθρώπων, καὶ συννάξαντες ταύτην ὡς μάλιστα εἶχον περιέγραψαν ἔξωθεν κύκλον·
They were numbered in the following manner: they gathered ten thousand men into one place, and having packed them as closely as they possibly could, they drew a circle around them on the outside.
περιγράψαντες δὲ καὶ ἀπέντες τοὺς μυρίους αἱμασιὴν περιέβαλον κατὰ τὸν κύκλον, ὕψος ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν·
Having drawn the circle and let the ten thousand go, they built a dry stone wall around the circle, reaching in height to a man's navel.
§7.60.3ταύτην δὲ ποιήσαντες ἄλλους ἐσεβίβαζον ἐς τὸ περιοικοδομημένον, μέχρι οὗ πάντας τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἐξηρίθμησαν.
Having made this wall, they ushered others into the enclosed space, until they had numbered them all in this manner.
ἀριθμήσαντες δὲ κατὰ ἔθνεα διέτασσον.
After numbering them, they drew them up according to their nations.

Notes

  1. 7.60.2ὡς μάλιστα εἶχον — An idiomatic expression consisting of the conjunction ὡς + superlative adverb + ἔχω (here in the imperfect third-person plural εἶχον), meaning 'as... as possible'. It translates to 'packing them as closely as they possibly could'.
  2. 7.60.2ὕψος ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν — The noun ὕψος is an accusative of respect ('in height'). The present participle feminine singular accusative ἀνήκουσαν modifies αἱμασιήν ('wall', accusative). The dative ἀνδρὶ functions as a dative of reference ('for a man'), indicating the reference point for the height reaching the navel.
  3. 7.60.3μέχρι οὗ — The preposition μέχρι combined with the genitive relative pronoun οὗ functions as a subordinating conjunction meaning 'until'. Here, followed by the indicative aorist verb (ἐξηρίθμησαν), it expresses a completed historical event in the past.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.60.1-7.60.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.60.1-7.60.3

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