§2.5.1τὰ μὲν οὖν κατὰ τὴν γένεσιν τῆς Σεμιράμιδος μυθολογούμενα σχεδὸν ταῦτʼ ἔστιν.
Now the stories mythologized about the birth of Semiramis are pretty much these.
ἤδη δʼ αὐτῆς ἡλικίαν ἐχούσης γάμου καὶ τῷ κάλλει πολὺ τὰς ἄλλας παρθένους διαφερούσης, ἀπεστάλη παρὰ βασιλέως ὕπαρχος ἐπισκεψόμενος τὰ βασιλικὰ κτήνη· οὗτος δʼ ἐκαλεῖτο μὲν Ὄννης, πρῶτος δʼ ἦν τῶν ἐκ τοῦ βασιλικοῦ συνεδρίου καὶ τῆς Συρίας ἁπάσης ἀποδεδειγμένος ὕπαρχος.
And when she was already of marriageable age and far surpassing the other maidens in beauty, there was sent from the king an officer to inspect the royal herds; this man was called Onnes, and he was the first of the royal council and had been appointed governor of all Syria.
ὃς καταλύσας παρὰ τῷ Σίμμᾳ καὶ θεωρήσας τὴν Σεμίραμιν ἐθηρεύθη τῷ κάλλει· διὸ καὶ τοῦ Σίμμα καταδεηθεὶς αὑτῷ δοῦναι τὴν παρθένον εἰς γάμον ἔννομον, ἀπήγαγεν αὐτὴν εἰς Νίνον, καὶ γήμας ἐγέννησε δύο παῖδας, §2.5.2Ὑαπάτην καὶ Ὑδάσπην.
Having lodged with Simmas and observed Semiramis, he was captured by her beauty; wherefore also, having entreated Simmas to give him the maiden in lawful marriage, he led her away to Nineveh, and marrying her begot two children, Hyapates and Hydaspes.
τῆς δὲ Σεμιράμιδος ἐχούσης καὶ τἄλλα ἀκόλουθα τῇ περὶ τὴν ὄψιν εὐπρεπείᾳ, συνέβαινε τὸν ἄνδρα τελέως ὑπʼ αὐτῆς δεδουλῶσθαι, καὶ μηδὲν ἄνευ τῆς ἐκείνης γνώμης πράττοντα κατευστοχεῖν ἐν πᾶσι.
Since Semiramis possessed other qualities also in keeping with the beauty of her appearance, it happened that her husband was completely enslaved by her, and doing nothing without her opinion, he succeeded in everything.
§2.5.3καθʼ ὃν δὴ χρόνον ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐπειδὴ τὰ περὶ τὴν κτίσιν τῆς ὁμωνύμου πόλεως συνετέλεσε, στρατεύειν ἐπὶ Βακτριανοὺς ἐπεχείρησεν.
At that very time the king, when he completed the business concerning the founding of the city of the same name, attempted to campaign against the Bactrians.
εἰδὼς δὲ τά τε πλήθη καὶ τὴν ἀλκὴν τῶν ἀνδρῶν, ἔτι δὲ τὴν χώραν ἔχουσαν πολλοὺς τόπους ἀπροσίτους διὰ τὴν ὀχυρότητα, κατέλεξεν ἐξ ἁπάντων τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτὸν ἐθνῶν στρατιωτῶν πλῆθος· ἐπεὶ γὰρ τῆς πρότερον στρατείας ἀποτετευχὼς ἦν, ἔσπευδε πολλαπλασίονι παραγενέσθαι δυνάμει πρὸς τὴν Βακτριανήν.
Knowing both the multitudes and the valor of the men, and further that the country had many places inaccessible due to their strength, he enrolled a multitude of soldiers from all the nations under him; for since he had failed in his former campaign, he was eager to arrive in Bactriana with a force many times larger.
§2.5.4συναχθείσης δὲ τῆς στρατιᾶς πανταχόθεν ἠριθμήθησαν, ὡς Κτησίας ἐν ταῖς ἱστορίαις ἀναγέγραφε, πεζῶν μὲν ἑκατὸν ἑβδομήκοντα μυριάδες, ἱππέων δὲ μιᾷ πλείους τῶν εἴκοσι μυριάδων, ἅρματα δὲ δρεπανηφόρα μικρὸν ἀπολείποντα τῶν μυρίων ἑξακοσίων.
When the army had been gathered from all sides, there were numbered, as Ctesias has written in his history, seventeen hundred thousand infantry, and twenty-one myriad cavalry, and scythed chariots slightly short of ten thousand six hundred.
§2.5.5ἔστι μὲν οὖν ἄπιστον τοῖς αὐτόθεν ἀκούσασι τὸ πλῆθος τῆς στρατιᾶς, οὐ μὴν ἀδύνατόν γε φανήσεται τοῖς ἀναθεωροῦσι τὸ τῆς Ἀσίας μέγεθος καὶ τὰ πλήθη τῶν κατοικούντων αὐτὴν ἐθνῶν.
Now the multitude of the army is unbelievable to those who hear it on the face of it, yet it will not appear impossible to those who review the size of Asia and the multitudes of nations inhabiting it.
εἰ γάρ τις ἀφεὶς τὴν ἐπὶ Σκύθας Δαρείου στρατείαν μετὰ ὀγδοήκοντα μυριάδων καὶ τὴν Ξέρξου διάβασιν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα τοῖς ἀναριθμήτοις πλήθεσι, τὰς ἐχθὲς καὶ πρῴην συντελεσθείσας πράξεις ἐπὶ τῆς Εὐρώπης σκέψαιτο, τάχιον ἂν πιστὸν ἡγήσαιτο τὸ ῥηθέν.
For if anyone, setting aside Darius's campaign against the Scythians with eight hundred thousand men and Xerxes' crossing into Greece with his countless multitudes, should look at the deeds accomplished yesterday and the day before in Europe, he would sooner consider what has been said credible.
§2.5.6κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὴν Σικελίαν ὁ Διονύσιος ἐκ μιᾶς τῆς τῶν Συρακοσίων πόλεως ἐξήγαγεν ἐπὶ τὰς στρατείας πεζῶν μὲν δώδεκα μυριάδας, ἱππεῖς δὲ μυρίους καὶ δισχιλίους, ναῦς δὲ μακρὰς ἐξ ἑνὸς λιμένος τετρακοσίας, ὧν ἦσαν ἔνιαι τετρήρεις καὶ πεντήρεις· §2.5.7Ῥωμαῖοι δὲ μικρὸν πρὸ τῶν Ἀννιβαϊκῶν καιρῶν, προορώμενοι τὸ μέγεθος τοῦ πολέμου, κατέγραψαν τοὺς κατὰ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐπιτηδείους εἰς στρατείαν πολίτας τε καὶ συμμάχους, ὧν ὁ σύμπας ἀριθμὸς μικρὸν ἀπέλιπε τῶν ἑκατὸν μυριάδων· καίτοι γʼ ἕνεκα πλήθους ἀνθρώπων τὴν Ἰταλίαν ὅλην οὐκ ἄν τις συγκρίνειε πρὸς ἓν ἔθνος τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν.
In Sicily, indeed, Dionysius led out for his campaigns from the single city of the Syracusans one hundred and twenty thousand infantry, and twelve thousand cavalry, and four hundred long ships from a single harbor, of which some were quadriremes and quinqueremes; and the Romans, a little before the times of Hannibal, anticipating the magnitude of the war, registered the citizens and allies in Italy fit for military service, of whom the entire number fell slightly short of a million; and yet for abundance of men, one could not compare the whole of Italy with one of the nations in Asia.
ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν εἰρήσθω πρὸς τοὺς ἐκ τῆς νῦν περὶ τὰς πόλεις οὔσης ἐρημίας τεκμαιρομένους τὴν παλαιὰν τῶν ἐθνῶν πολυανθρωπίαν.
Let these things indeed be said by us against those who judge the ancient populousness of nations from the present desolation around the cities.