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Herodotus · Histories §7.96.1-7.96.2

Marines on the Fleet and Native Commanders

Passage 1159 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage explains that Persian, Medean, and Sacae soldiers served on all ships, with the Phoenicians providing the best ones, and explains the omission of the local leaders' names.

§7.96.1ἐπεβάτευον δὲ ἐπὶ πασέων τῶν νεῶν Πέρσαι καὶ Μῆδοι καὶ Σαάκαι.
On all the ships, Persians, Medes, and Sacae served as marines.
τούτων δὲ ἄριστα πλεούσας παρείχοντο νέας Φοίνικες καὶ Φοινίκων Σιδώνιοι.
Of these, the Phoenicians provided the best sailing ships, and of the Phoenicians, the Sidonians.
τούτοισι πᾶσι καὶ τοῖσι ἐς τὸν πεζὸν τεταγμένοισι αὐτῶν ἐπῆσαν ἑκάστοισι ἐπιχώριοι ἡγεμόνες, τῶν ἐγώ, οὐ γὰρ ἀναγκαίῃ ἐξέργομαι ἐς ἱστορίης λόγον, οὐ παραμέμνημαι. §7.96.2οὔτε γὰρ ἔθνεος ἑκάστου ἐπάξιοι ἦσαν οἱ ἡγεμόνες, ἔν τε ἔθνεϊ ἑκάστῳ ὅσαι περ πόλιες τοσοῦτοι καὶ ἡγεμόνες ἦσαν, εἵποντο δὲ ὡς οὐ στρατηγοὶ ἀλλʼ ὥσπερ οἱ ἄλλοι στρατευόμενοι δοῦλοι·
Over all of these, as well as those of them who were assigned to the land army, there were appointed native leaders for each group; of these men I make no mention, as I am not compelled to do so by the course of my history. For the leaders of each nation were not worthy of mention, and in each nation there were as many leaders as there were cities; and they followed not as generals, but like the other subjects who served as slaves.
ἐπεὶ στρατηγοί γε οἱ τὸ πᾶν ἔχοντες κράτος καὶ ἄρχοντες τῶν ἐθνέων ἑκάστων, ὅσοι αὐτῶν ἦσαν Πέρσαι, εἰρέαταί μοι.
For the generals who held the supreme command and were the rulers of each nation—as many of them as were Persians—have already been mentioned by me.

Notes

  1. §7.96.1τούτων — This genitive pronoun can refer either to the 'ships' (νεῶν) in the preceding sentence or to the nations that provided them. In connection with the following 'best sailing ships' (ἄριστα πλεούσας νέας), it is most naturally understood as meaning 'of these (ships)'.
  2. §7.96.1ἐξέργομαι — This is the present passive (Ionic form) of the verb ἐξειργομαι (from ἐξείργω, meaning 'to shut out' or 'to compel'), here meaning 'to be forced' or 'driven'. It indicates that the author is not compelled by necessity (ἀναγκαίῃ, dative of cause) in his historical narrative (ἐς ἱστορίης λόγον).
  3. §7.96.2εἰρέαται — This is the third-person plural perfect passive of the verb λέγω, in its Ionic dialectal form (for εἴρηνται). Its subject is the aforementioned 'generals' (στρατηγοί), and with the dative of agent (μοι, 'by me'), it expresses that they have already been mentioned.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.96.1-7.96.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.96.1-7.96.2

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