§2.16.1ἡ δὲ Σεμίραμις καταστήσασα τά τε κατὰ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐπανῆλθε μετὰ τῆς δυνάμεως εἰς Βάκτρα τῆς Ἀσίας.
Having settled affairs in Ethiopia and Egypt, Semiramis returned with her army to Bactra in Asia.
ἔχουσα δὲ δυνάμεις μεγάλας καὶ πολυχρόνιον εἰρήνην ἄγουσα φιλοτίμως ἔσχε πρᾶξαί τι λαμπρὸν κατὰ πόλεμον.
Having great forces and leading a long-lasting peace, she was eagerly desirous out of ambition to achieve some brilliant exploit in war.
§2.16.2πυνθανομένη δὲ τὸ τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἔθνος μέγιστον εἶναι τῶν κατὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην καὶ πλείστην τε καὶ καλλίστην χώραν νέμεσθαι, διενοεῖτο στρατεύειν εἰς τὴν Ἰνδικήν, ἧς ἐβασίλευε μὲν Σταβροβάτης κατʼ ἐκείνους τοὺς χρόνους, στρατιωτῶν δʼ εἶχεν ἀναρίθμητον πλῆθος·
When she learned that the nation of the Indians was the greatest in the inhabited world and occupied the largest and most beautiful land, she resolved to campaign against India.
ὑπῆρχον δʼ αὐτῷ καὶ ἐλέφαντες πολλοὶ καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν λαμπρῶς κεκοσμημένοι τοῖς εἰς τὸν πόλεμον καταπληκτικοῖς.
At that time, Stabrobates was ruling over it, and he possessed an innumerable multitude of soldiers; he also had an exceedingly great number of elephants brilliantly adorned with things terrifying for war.
§2.16.3ἡ γὰρ Ἰνδικὴ χώρα διάφορος οὖσα τῷ κάλλει καὶ πολλοῖς διειλημμένη ποταμοῖς ἀρδεύεταί τε πολλαχοῦ καὶ διττοὺς καθʼ ἕκαστον ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκφέρει καρπούς· διὸ καὶ τῶν πρὸς τὸ ζῆν ἐπιτηδείων τοσοῦτον ἔχει πλῆθος ὥστε διὰ παντὸς ἄφθονον ἀπόλαυσιν τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις παρέχεσθαι.
For the land of India, being distinguished in beauty and divided by many rivers, is irrigated in many places and bears two crops each year; therefore, it has such a great abundance of the necessities of life that it provides constant and plentiful enjoyment to the inhabitants.
λέγεται δὲ μηδέποτε κατʼ αὐτὴν γεγονέναι σιτοδείαν ἢ φθορὰν καρπῶν διὰ τὴν εὐκρασίαν τῶν τόπων.
And it is said that famine or destruction of crops has never occurred in it, owing to the mild climate of the regions.
§2.16.4ἔχει δὲ καὶ τῶν ἐλεφάντων ἄπιστον πλῆθος, οἳ ταῖς τε ἀλκαῖς καὶ ταῖς τοῦ σώματος ῥώμαις πολὺ προέχουσι τῶν ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ γινομένων, ὁμοίως δὲ χρυσόν, ἄργυρον, σίδηρον, χαλκόν· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις λίθων παντοίων καὶ πολυτελῶν ἔστιν ἐν αὐτῇ πλῆθος, ἔτι δὲ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων σχεδὸν τῶν πρὸς τρυφὴν καὶ πλοῦτον διατεινόντων.
It also has an incredible multitude of elephants, which far surpass those produced in Libya in both courage and strength of body, and likewise gold, silver, iron, and bronze; in addition to these, there is in it a multitude of all kinds of precious stones, and moreover of almost all other things that contribute to luxury and wealth.
ὑπὲρ ὧν τὰ κατὰ μέρος ἡ Σεμίραμις ἀκούσασα προήχθη μηδὲν προαδικηθεῖσα τὸν πρὸς Ἰνδοὺς ἐξενεγκεῖν πόλεμον.
Having heard of these things in detail, Semiramis was prompted, although she had suffered no previous wrong, to wage war against the Indians.
§2.16.5ὁρῶσα δʼ αὑτὴν μεγάλων καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν προσδεομένην δυνάμεων, ἐξέπεμψεν ἀγγέλους εἰς ἁπάσας τὰς σατραπείας, διακελευσαμένη τοῖς ἐπάρχοις καταγράφειν τῶν νέων τοὺς ἀρίστους, δοῦσα τὸν ἀριθμὸν κατὰ τὰ μεγέθη τῶν ἐθνῶν· προσέταξε δὲ πᾶσι κατασκευάζειν καινὰς πανοπλίας καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἅπασι λαμπρῶς παραγίνεσθαι κεκοσμημένους μετὰ τρίτον ἔτος εἰς Βάκτρα.
Seeing that she stood in need of exceedingly great forces, she dispatched messengers to all the satrapies, commanding the governors to enroll the best of the young men, giving the number according to the sizes of the nations; and she ordered them all to prepare new suits of armor and to present themselves brilliantly equipped in all other respects at Bactra after the third year.
§2.16.6μετεπέμψατο δὲ καὶ ναυπηγοὺς ἔκ τε Φοινίκης καὶ Συρίας καὶ Κύπρου καὶ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς παραθαλαττίου χώρας, οἷς ἄφθονον ὕλην μεταγαγοῦσα διεκελεύσατο κατασκευάζειν ποτάμια πλοῖα διαιρετά.
She also summoned shipbuilders from Phoenicia, Syria, Cyprus, and the rest of the coastal country, and having transported an abundant supply of timber for them, she commanded them to build river boats that could be taken apart.
§2.16.7ὁ γὰρ Ἰνδὸς ποταμός, μέγιστος ὢν τῶν περὶ τοὺς τόπους καὶ τὴν βασιλείαν αὐτῆς ὁρίζων, πολλῶν προσεδεῖτο πλοίων πρός τε τὴν διάβασιν καὶ πρὸς τὸ τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς ἀπὸ τούτων ἀμύνασθαι· περὶ δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν οὐκ οὔσης ὕλης ἀναγκαῖον ἦν ἐκ τῆς Βακτριανῆς πεζῇ παρακομίζεσθαι τὰ πλοῖα.
For the Indus River, being the greatest of those in the regions and bounding her kingdom, required many boats both for crossing and for repelling the Indians from them; and as there was no timber near the river, it was necessary for the boats to be conveyed by land from Bactriana.
§2.16.8θεωροῦσα δʼ ἡ Σεμίραμις ἑαυτὴν ἐν τῇ τῶν ἐλεφάντων χρείᾳ πολὺ λειπομένην, ἐπενοήσατό κατασκευάζειν εἴδωλα τούτων τῶν ζῴων, ἐλπίζουσα καταπλήξεσθαι τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς διὰ τὸ νομίζειν αὐτοὺς μηδʼ εἶναι τὸ σύνολον ἐλέφαντας ἐκτὸς τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἰνδικήν.
Now Semiramis, seeing that she was far inferior in the use of elephants, devised the plan of making mock figures of these animals, hoping to terrify the Indians because she believed they thought that there were no elephants at all except those in India.
§2.16.9ἐπιλέξασα δὲ βοῶν μελάνων τριάκοντα μυριάδας τὰ μὲν κρέα τοῖς τεχνίταις καὶ τοῖς πρὸς τὴν τῶν κατασκευασμάτων ὑπηρεσίαν τεταγμένοις διένειμε, τὰς δὲ βύρσας συρράπτουσα καὶ χόρτου πληροῦσα κατεσκεύασεν εἴδωλα, κατὰ πᾶν ἀπομιμουμένη τὴν τῶν ζῴων τούτων φύσιν.
Selecting three hundred thousand black oxen, she distributed their meat to the artisans and to those appointed to the service of making the constructions, but sewing the hides together and filling them with hay, she fashioned mock figures, imitating in every respect the nature of these animals.
ἕκαστον δὲ τούτων εἶχεν ἐντὸς ἄνδρα τὸν ἐπιμελησόμενον καὶ κάμηλον, ὑφʼ οὗ φερόμενον φαντασίαν τοῖς πόρρωθεν ὁρῶσιν ἀληθινοῦ θηρίου παρείχετο.
Each of these had inside a man to manage it and a camel, by which it was carried, presenting to those who saw it from a distance the appearance of a real beast.
§2.16.10οἱ δὲ ταῦτα κατασκευάζοντες αὐτῇ τεχνῖται προσεκαρτέρουν τοῖς ἔργοις ἔν τινι περιβόλῳ περιῳκοδομημένῳ καὶ πύλας ἔχοντι τηρουμένας ἐπιμελῶς, ὥστε μηδένα μήτε τῶν ἔσωθεν ἐξιέναι τεχνιτῶν μήτε τῶν ἔξωθεν εἰσιέναι πρὸς αὐτούς.
The artisans who were constructing these for her remained constantly at their tasks in a certain enclosure that had been walled around and had gates carefully guarded, so that none of the artisans from within could go out, nor anyone from without enter to them.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐποίησεν, ὅπως μηδεὶς τῶν ἔξωθεν ἴδῃ τὸ γινόμενον μηδὲ διαπέσῃ φήμη πρὸς Ἰνδοὺς περὶ τούτων.
She did this so that no one from without might see what was being done, and that no rumor might leak out to the Indians concerning these matters.