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Herodotus · Histories §7.63.1

Equipment, Name, and Commander of the Assyrians

Passage 1126 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

This section describes the equipment of the Assyrians, including bronze or plaited helmets, Egyptian-style weapons, wooden clubs, and linen breastplates. It notes their names (Syrians by Greeks, Assyrians by foreigners), mentions the Chaldeans among them, and names Otaspes as their commander.

§7.63.1Ἀσσύριοι δὲ στρατευόμενοι περὶ μὲν τῇσι κεφαλῇσι εἶχον χάλκεά τε κράνεα καὶ πεπλεγμένα τρόπον τινὰ βάρβαρον οὐκ εὐαπήγητον, ἀσπίδας δὲ καὶ αἰχμὰς καὶ ἐγχειρίδια παραπλήσια τῇσι Αἰγυπτίῃσι εἶχον, πρὸς δὲ ῥόπαλα ξύλων τετυλωμένα σιδήρῳ, καὶ λινέους θώρηκας.
The Assyrians who served in the army had on their heads helmets of bronze and others plaited in a certain foreign fashion that is not easy to describe; they also had shields, spears, and daggers very similar to those of the Egyptians, and furthermore wooden clubs studded with iron, and breastplates of linen.
οὗτοι δὲ ὑπὸ μὲν Ἑλλήνων καλέονται Σύριοι, ὑπὸ δὲ τῶν βαρβάρων Ἀσσύριοι ἐκλήθησαν.
These people are called Syrians by the Greeks, but by the foreigners they were named Assyrians.
τούτων δὲ μεταξὺ Χαλδαῖοι.
Among these were the Chaldeans.
Ἦρχε δὲ σφέων Ὀτάσπης ὁ Ἀρταχαίεω.
They were commanded by Otaspes son of Artachaees.

Notes

  1. §7.63.1πεπλεγμένα — A perfect middle/passive participle, neuter plural accusative, modifying or in apposition to κράνεα, referring to helmets woven or plaited from leather or other materials.
  2. §7.63.1τρὸπον τινὰ βάρβαρον οὐκ εὐαπήγητον — τρὸπον is an adverbial accusative of manner ('in a ... way'), modified by the indefinite pronoun τινὰ and the adjectives βάρβαρον and οὐκ εὐαπήγητον ('not easy to describe'), detailing the specific style of the plaited helmets.
  3. §7.63.1τούτων δὲ μεταξὺ Χαλδαῖοι — The preposition μεταξὺ ('among', 'between') governs the genitive demonstrative pronoun τούτων. Here it does not mean geographical position in-between, but indicates that the Chaldeans were mixed or included among the Assyrian forces.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.63.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.63.1

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