§1.55.1κατασκευάσας δὲ τὴν δύναμιν ἐστράτευσεν ἐπὶ πρώτους Αἰθίοπας τοὺς πρὸς τῇ μεσημβρίᾳ κατοικοῦντας, καὶ καταπολεμήσας ἠνάγκασε τὸ ἔθνος φόρους τελεῖν ἔβενον καὶ χρυσὸν καὶ τῶν ἐλεφάντων τοὺς ὀδόντας.
Having organized his forces, he first campaigned against the Ethiopians who dwell to the south, and having subdued them, he forced the nation to pay tribute in ebony, gold, and the tusks of elephants.
§1.55.2ἔπειτʼ εἰς μὲν τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν ἀπέστειλε στόλον νεῶν τετρακοσίων, πρῶτος τῶν ἐγχωρίων μακρὰ σκάφη ναυπηγησάμενος, καὶ τάς τε νήσους τὰς ἐν τοῖς τόποις κατεκτήσατο καὶ τῆς ἠπείρου τὰ παρὰ θάλατταν μέρη κατεστρέψατο μέχρι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς· αὐτὸς δὲ μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως πεζῇ τὴν πορείαν ποιησάμενος κατεστρέψατο πᾶσαν τὴν Ἀσίαν.
Then he dispatched a fleet of four hundred ships into the Red Sea, being the first of the inhabitants of the country to build long ships, and he conquered both the islands in those parts and subdued the coastal regions of the continent as far as India; and he himself, making his march on foot with his forces, subdued the whole of Asia.
§1.55.3οὐ μόνον γὰρ τὴν ὕστερον ὑπʼ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Μακεδόνος κατακτηθεῖσαν χώραν ἐπῆλθεν, ἀλλὰ καί τινα τῶν ἐθνῶν ὧν ἐκεῖνος οὐ παρέβαλεν εἰς τὴν χώραν.
For he not only traversed the country which was later conquered by Alexander of Macedon, but also some of the nations into whose country that king did not cross.
§1.55.4καὶ γὰρ τὸν Γάγγην ποταμὸν διέβη καὶ τὴν Ἰνδικὴν ἐπῆλθε πᾶσαν ἕως ὠκεανοῦ καὶ τὰ τῶν Σκυθῶν ἔθνη μέχρι Τανάιδος ποταμοῦ τοῦ διορίζοντος τὴν Εὐρώπην ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας· ὅτε δή φασι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων τινὰς καταλειφθέντας περὶ τὴν Μαιῶτιν λίμνην συστήσασθαι τὸ τῶν Κόλχων ἔθνος.
Indeed, he crossed the Ganges river and traversed the whole of India as far as the ocean, and also the nations of the Scythians as far as the Tanais river which divides Europe from Asia; at which time indeed, they say, some of the Egyptians were left behind around the Maeotis lake and established the nation of the Colchians.
§1.55.5ὅτι δὲ τοῦτο τὸ γένος Αἰγυπτιακόν ἐστι σημεῖον εἶναι τὸ περιτέμνεσθαι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους παραπλησίως τοῖς κατʼ Αἴγυπτον, διαμένοντος τοῦ νομίμου παρὰ τοῖς ἀποίκοις, καθάπερ καὶ παρὰ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις.
And they say that a proof of this race being Egyptian is that the men practice circumcision in a manner similar to those in Egypt, the custom persisting among the colonists, just as it does also among the Jews.
§1.55.6ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ τὴν λοιπὴν Ἀσίαν ἅπασαν ὑπήκοον ἐποιήσατο καὶ τῶν Κυκλάδων νήσων τὰς πλείους.
In like manner he also made all the rest of Asia subject to him, and most of the Cyclades islands.
διαβὰς δʼ εἰς τὴν Εὐρώπην καὶ διεξιὼν ἅπασαν τὴν Θρᾴκην ἐκινδύνευσεν ἀποβαλεῖν τὴν δύναμιν διὰ σπάνιν τροφῆς καὶ τόπων δυσχωρίας.
And having crossed over into Europe and passing through the whole of Thrace, he was in danger of losing his force through lack of food and the difficulty of the regions.
§1.55.7διόπερ ὅρια τῆς στρατείας ποιησάμενος ἐν τῇ Θρᾴκῃ, στήλας κατεσκεύασεν ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ κατακτηθέντων· αὗται δὲ τὴν ἐπιγραφὴν εἶχον Αἰγυπτίοις γράμμασι τοῖς ἱεροῖς λεγομένοις, “τήνδε τὴν χώραν ὅπλοις κατεστρέψατο τοῖς ἑαυτοῦ βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ δεσπότης δεσποτῶν Σεσόωσισ”. §1.55.8τὴν δὲ στήλην κατεσκεύασεν ἔχουσαν αἰδοῖον ἐν μὲν τοῖς μαχίμοις ἔθνεσιν ἀνδρός, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ἀγεννέσι καὶ δειλοῖς γυναικός, ἀπὸ τοῦ κυριωτέρου μέρους τὴν διάθεσιν τῆς ἑκάστων ψυχῆς φανερωτάτην τοῖς ἐπιγινομένοις ἔσεσθαι νομίζων.
Therefore, having made Thrace the boundary of his campaign, he set up pillars in many places of the lands conquered by him; and these bore an inscription in the Egyptian characters called sacred, "This country, by his own arms, Sesōosis, king of kings and lord of lords, subdued." And he constructed the pillar having the private parts of a man among the warlike nations, but of a woman among the ignoble and cowardly, thinking that from the more significant part the disposition of the soul of each would be most manifest to posterity.
§1.55.9ἐν ἐνίοις δὲ τόποις καὶ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ κατεσκεύασεν εἰκόνα λιθίνην, τόξα καὶ λόγχην ἔχουσαν, τῷ μεγέθει τέτταρσι παλαισταῖς μείζονα τῶν τεττάρων πηχῶν, ἡλίκος ὢν καὶ αὐτὸς ἐτύγχανεν.
And in some places he also set up a stone statue of himself, holding a bow and a spear, in size four palms greater than four cubits, which was indeed his own stature.
§1.55.10ἐπιεικῶς δὲ προσενεχθεὶς ἅπασι τοῖς ὑποτεταγμένοις καὶ συντελέσας τὴν στρατείαν ἐν ἔτεσιν ἐννέα, τοῖς μὲν ἔθνεσι κατὰ δύναμιν προσέταξε δωροφορεῖν κατʼ ἐνιαυτὸν εἰς Αἴγυπτον, αὐτὸς δʼ ἀθροίσας αἰχμαλώτων τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων λαφύρων πλῆθος ἀνυπέρβλητον ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὴν πατρίδα, μεγίστας πράξεις τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ κατειργασμένος.
Having behaved moderately toward all his subjects and having completed his campaign in nine years, he ordered the nations to bring gifts to Egypt every year according to their ability, and he himself, having gathered an unsurpassable multitude of captives and other spoils, returned to his homeland, having accomplished the greatest deeds of those before him.
§1.55.11καὶ τὰ μὲν ἱερὰ πάντα τὰ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἀναθήμασιν ἀξιολόγοις καὶ σκύλοις ἐκόσμησε, τῶν δὲ στρατιωτῶν τοὺς ἀνδραγαθήσαντας δωρεαῖς κατὰ τὴν ἀξίαν ἐτίμησε.
And all the temples in Egypt he adorned with worthy offerings and spoils, and those of the soldiers who had acted bravely he honored with gifts according to their merit.
§1.55.12καθόλου δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης τῆς στρατείας οὐ μόνον ἡ συνανδραγαθήσασα δύναμις μεγάλην εὐπορίαν κτησαμένη τὴν ἐπάνοδον ἐποιήσατο λαμπράν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἅπασαν συνέβη παντοίας ὠφελείας ἐμπλησθῆναι.
In general, as a result of this campaign, not only did the army which had acted bravely along with him return in triumph after acquiring great wealth, but it also happened that the whole of Egypt was filled with every kind of benefit.