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Herodotus · Histories §9.99.1-9.99.3

Persian Precautions Against Samians and Milesians

Passage 1554 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

As the Greeks landed and prepared for battle, the Persians, fearing treason from the Ionians, disarmed the Samians and sent the Milesians to guard the mountain passes to keep them out of the camp.

§9.99.1Λευτυχίδεω δὲ ταῦτα ὑποθεμένου δεύτερα δὴ τάδε ἐποίευν οἱ Ἕλληνες· προσσχόντες τὰς νέας ἀπέβησαν ἐς τὸν αἰγιαλόν.
Leotychides having made this suggestion, the Greeks next did as follows: they brought their ships to land and disembarked on the beach.
καὶ οὗτοι μὲν ἐτάσσοντο, οἱ δὲ Πέρσαι ὡς εἶδον τοὺς Ἕλληνας παρασκευαζομένους ἐς μάχην καὶ τοῖσι Ἴωσι παραινέσαντας, τοῦτο μὲν ὑπονοήσαντες τοὺς Σαμίους τὰ Ἑλλήνων φρονέειν ἀπαιρέονται τὰ ὅπλα.
And while these were drawing up their lines, the Persians, when they saw the Greeks preparing for battle and having exhorted the Ionians, on the one hand, suspecting that the Samians favored the Greek cause, deprived them of their arms.
§9.99.2οἱ γὰρ ὦν Σάμιοι ἀπικομένων Ἀθηναίων αἰχμαλώτων ἐν τῇσι νηυσὶ τῶν βαρβάρων, τοὺς ἔλαβον ἀνὰ τὴν Ἀττικὴν λελειμμένους οἱ Ξέρξεω, τούτους λυσάμενοι πάντας ἀποπέμπουσι ἐποδιάσαντες ἐς Ἀθήνας· τῶν εἵνεκεν οὐκ ἥκιστα ὑποψίην εἶχον, πεντακοσίας κεφαλὰς τῶν Ξέρξεω πολεμίων λυσάμενοι.
For indeed, when those Athenian captives, whom Xerxes' men had captured having been left behind in Attica, arrived in the ships of the barbarians, the Samians ransomed them all and sent them back to Athens, having provided them with provisions for the journey; on account of which they were held in no small suspicion, having ransomed five hundred persons who were enemies of Xerxes.
§9.99.3τοῦτο δὲ τὰς διόδους τὰς ἐς τὰς κορυφὰς τῆς Μυκάλης φερούσας προστάσσουσι τοῖσι Μιλησίοισι φυλάσσειν ὡς ἐπισταμένοισι δῆθεν μάλιστα τὴν χώρην.
And on the other hand, they ordered the Milesians to guard the passes leading to the ridges of Mycale, on the pretext that they knew the country best.
ἐποίευν δὲ τοῦτο τοῦδε εἵνεκεν, ἵνα ἐκτὸς τοῦ στρατοπέδου ἔωσι.
But they did this for this reason, so that they might be outside the camp.
τούτους μὲν Ἰώνων, τοῖσι καὶ κατεδόκεον νεοχμὸν ἄν τι ποιέειν δυνάμιος ἐπιλαβομένοισι, τρόποισι τοιούτοισι προεφυλάσσοντο οἱ Πέρσαι, αὐτοὶ δὲ συνεφόρησαν τὰ γέρρα ἕρκος εἶναι σφίσι.
Against these of the Ionians, whom they suspected would do some mischief if they got the power, the Persians took precautions in such ways, and they themselves brought together their wicker shields to be a rampart for them.

Notes

  1. §9.99.1τοῦτο μὲν — τοῦτο μὲν (in §9.99.1) correlates with τοῦτο δὲ (in §9.99.3) to form a "firstly... secondly..." structure, contrasting the two preventive measures taken by the Persians against different Ionian groups.
  2. §9.99.1ἀπαιρέονται τὰ ὅπλα — The verb ἀπαιρέομαι (to deprive of) takes a double accusative. Here, both τοὺς Σαμίους (representing "from whom") and τὰ ὅπλα (representing "what") are placed in the accusative case as direct objects.
  3. §9.99.3νεοχμὸν ἄν τι ποιέειν δυνάμιος ἐπιλαβομένοισι — The particle ἄν is attached to the infinitive ποιέειν, expressing a potential action ("might start a rebellion"). It functions as the apodosis of a conditional construction, with the dative participle δυνάμιος ἐπιλαβομένοισι ("if they obtained power") serving as the protasis.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §9.99.1-9.99.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:9.99.1-9.99.3

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