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Herodotus · Histories §7.97.1

The Four Fleet Commanders and Number of Auxiliary Ships

Passage 1160 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The names and assignments of the four fleet commanders are detailed, alongside the total number of smaller and specialized naval vessels, which amounted to three thousand.

§7.97.1τοῦ δὲ ναυτικοῦ ἐστρατήγεον Ἀριαβίγνης τε ὁ Δαρείου καὶ Πρηξάσπης ὁ Ἀσπαθίνεω καὶ Μεγάβαζος ὁ Μεγαβάτεω καὶ Ἀχαιμένης ὁ Δαρείου, τῆς μὲν Ἰάδος τε καὶ Καρικῆς στρατιῆς Ἀριαβίγνης ὁ Δαρείου τε παῖς καὶ τῆς Γοβρύεω θυγατρός· Αἰγυπτίων δὲ ἐστρατήγεε Ἀχαιμένης Ξέρξεω ἐὼν ἀπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀδελφεός, τῆς δὲ ἄλλης στρατιῆς ἐστρατήγεον οἱ δύο.
The commanders of the fleet were Ariabignes the son of Darius, Prexaspes the son of Aspathines, Megabazus the son of Megabates, and Achaemenes the son of Darius. Of these, Ariabignes, the son of Darius and of the daughter of Gobryas, commanded the Ionian and Carian forces; Achaemenes, who was the brother of Xerxes by both parents, commanded the Egyptians; and the other two commanded the rest of the fleet.
τριηκόντεροι δὲ καὶ πεντηκόντεροι καὶ κέρκουροι καὶ ἱππαγωγὰ πλοῖα μακρὰ συνελθόντα ἐς τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἐφάνη τρισχίλια.
The thirty-rowed galleys, fifty-rowed galleys, light vessels, and long horse-transports, when gathered into the sum total, were found to be three thousand.

Notes

  1. §7.97.1ἀπʼ ἀμφοτέρων ἀδελφεός — An idiomatic expression meaning "brother from both parents" (i.e., full brother), indicating that Achaemenes shared both the same father (Darius) and mother (Atossa) with Xerxes.
  2. §7.97.1ἐφάνη τρισχίλια — Although the preceding subjects are a mix of masculine and neuter plurals, the verb ἐφάνη is third-person singular and the complement τρισχίλια is neuter plural. This follows the common Greek rule (Schema Atticum) where a neuter plural subject (the final noun πλοῖα) takes a singular verb.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.97.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.97.1

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