The history of Herodotus — Volume 1, Herodotus [top 10 novels of all time TXT] 📗

who desired it of the enemy pass within their walls, having opened all the gates; but the Persians first broke down the concealed bridge and then began to run inside the city wall. And the reason why they broke down the bridge which they had made was that they might keep their goats, since they had sworn to the men of Barca that the oath should remain firm continually for so long time as the earth should remain as it then was, but after that they had broken it down, the oath no longer remained firm. 202. Now the most guilty of the Barcaians, when they were delivered to her by the Persians, Pheretime impaled in a ring round about the wall; and she cut off the breasts of their wives and set the wall round with these also in order: but the rest of the men of Barca she bade the Persians carry off as spoil, except so many of them as were of the house of Battos and not sharers in the guilt of the murder; and to these Pheretime gave the city in charge.

203. So the Persians having made slaves of the rest of the Barcaians departed to go back: and when they appeared at the gates of the city of Kyrene, the Kyrenians let them go through their town in order to avoid neglect of some oracle. Then as the army was going through, Badres the commander of the fleet urged that they should capture the city, but Amasis the commander of the land-army would not consent to it; for he said that they had been sent against no other city of the Hellenes except Barca. When however they had passed through and were encamping on the hill of Zeus Lycaios, they repented of not having taken possession of Kyrene; and they endeavoured again to pass into it, but the men of Kyrene would not allow them. Then upon the Persians, although no one fought against them, there fell a sudden panic, and they ran away for about sixty furlongs and then encamped. And when the camp had been placed here, there came to it a messenger from Aryandes summoning them back; so the Persians asked the Kyrenians to give them provisions for their march and obtained their request; and having received these, they departed to go to Egypt. After this the Libyans took them up,[183] and killed for the sake of their clothes and equipment those of them who at any time were left or straggled behind, until at last they came to Egypt.

204. This army of the Persians reached Euesperides, and this was their furthest point in Libya: and those of the Barcaians whom they had reduced to slavery they removed again from Egypt and brought them to the king, and king Dareios gave them a village in the land of Bactria in which to make a settlement. To this village they gave the name of Barca, and it still continued to be inhabited by them even down to my own time, in the land of Bactria.

205. Pheretime however did not bring her life happily to an end any more than they: for as soon as she had returned from Libya to Egypt after having avenged herself on the Barcaians, she died an evil death, having become suddenly full of worms while yet alive: for, as it seems, too severe punishments inflicted by men prove displeasing[184] to the gods. Such and so great was the punishment inflicted by Pheretime the wife of Battos on the men of Barca. -----

NOTES TO BOOK IV

[1] Some enterprises had been entrusted to others, e.g. the attack on
Samos; but this had not been the case with the capture of Babylon,
therefore some Editors have proposed corrections, e.g. {au tou}
(Schweighäuser), and {autika} (Stein).

[2] See i. 106.

[3] {tes ano 'Asies}: this means Eastern Asia as distinguished from
the coasts of Asia Minor; see i. 103 and 177.

[4] {katapausantes}: the expression is awkward if meant to be
equivalent to {kai katepausan}, but it is hardly improved by the
alteration to {katapausontes}. Perhaps the clause is out of place.

[5] {ponos}.

[6] {peristixantes}: so the two best MSS.; others have {peristesantes}
or {peristexantes}. The word {peristixantes} would be from
{peristikho}, equivalent to {peristikhizo}, and is acknowledged in
this sense by Hesychius.

[7] The connexion is not clear either at the beginning of the chapter
or here. This clause would seem to be a repetition of that at the
beginning of the chapter, and that which comes between should be
an explanation of the reason why the slaves are blinded. As it
stands, however, we can only refer it to the clause which follows,
{ou gar arotai eisi alla nomades}, and even so there is no real
solution of the difficulty, for it is not explained why nomads
should have blinded slaves. Perhaps the best resource is to
suppose that some part of the explanation, in connexion with the
manner of dealing with the milk, has been lost.

[8] {te per}: a conjectural emendation for {e per}, "which is a very
great lake."

[9] {epi touton arkhonton}: the word {arkhonton} is omitted in some
MSS. and by some Editors.

[10] {sagarin}.

[11] {tous basileious}: so Wesseling. The MSS. have {tous basileas},
"the kings," which may perhaps be used here as equivalent to {tous
basileious}: some Editors, including Stein, adopt the conjecture
{tou basileos}, "from the youngest of them who, was king, those
who," etc.

[12] {tou basileos}: some Editors read by conjecture {Skolotou
basileos}, "after their king Scolotos."

[12a] {katazonnumenon}: or {kata tade zonnumenon}, "girded in this
manner."

[13] {mekhanesasthai ten metera Skuthe}: the better MSS. read
{mekhanasthai} and {Skuthen}: the meaning seems doubtful, and some
Editors would omit the clause as an interpolation.

[14] {pros pollous deomenon}: the better MSS. read {pro pollou
deomena}. The passage has been emended in various ways, e.g. {pros
pollous deoi menontas} (Buttmann), {pros pollous menontas}
(Bredow), {pro spodou deomenon} (Stein).

[15] {poiesas}: some authorities have {eipas}.

[16] Italy means for Herodotus only the Southern part of the
peninsula.

[17] {diekosioisi}: so the best authorities; others have
{priekosioisi}.

[18] {'Italioteon}, i.e. Hellenic settlers in Italy.

[19] {to agalmati to 'Apollonos}: {agalma} is used for anything
dedicated to a god, most commonly the sacred image.

[20] {katuperthe}: "above," i.e. beyond them towards the North.
Similarly when dealing with Libya the writer uses the same word of
those further from the coast towards the South; see ch. 174.

[21] {en autoisi toisi epesi poieon}: "even in the verses which he
composed," in which he might be expected as a poet to go somewhat
beyond the literal truth.

[22] Or, "Alizonians."

[23] {'Olbiopolitas}.

[24] See ch. 101, where the day's journey is reckoned at 200 stades
(23 English miles).

[25] The meaning of {eremos} here is not waste and barren land, but
land without settled inhabitants.

[26] i.e. "Man-eaters."

[27] This is the reading of the MSS., but it is not consistent with
the distance given in ch. 101, nor with the actual facts: some
Editors therefore read "four" instead of "fourteen."

[28] i.e. "Cliffs."

[29] i.e. "Black-cloaks."

[30] {'Argippaioi}: it is not certain that this is the form which
ought to be read here: Latin writers make the name "Arimphaei,"
and in some MSS. it is given here as {'Orgempaioi}.

[31] {agalmati}.

[32] {ta genesia}.

[33] Or, "violent."

[34] Od. iv. 85.

[35] {e phuonta phuein mogis}.

[36] {prosthekas}, "additions."

[37] i.e. of Apollo and Artemis.

[37a] Omitting {legon}.

[38] The word "Asia" is not contained in the MSS. and need not be
inserted in the text, but it is implied, if not expressed; see
chap. 41.

[39] {aktai}.

[40] {ou legousa ei me nomo}.

[41] i.e. 100,000 fathoms, equivalent to 1000 stades; see ii. 6, note
10.

[42] {oude sumballein axie}.

[43] ii. 158.

[43a] {brota}: some MSS. have {probata} "cattle."

[44] {omoia parekhomene}: the construction is confused, but the
meaning is that all but the Eastern parts are known to be
surrounded by sea.

[45] {logion}: some MSS. have {logimon}, "of reputation."

[46] Stein reads {eisi de} for {eisi de}, and punctuates so that the
meaning is, "it has become the greatest of all rivers in the
following manner:-besides other rivers which flow into it, those
which especially make it great are as follows."

[47] {pente men oi}: this perhaps requires emendation, but the
corrections proposed are hardly satisfactory, e.g. {pente megaloi}
or {pente monoi}.

[48] Or "Skios": called by Thucydides "Oskios" (ii. 96).

[49] {eti}: most of the MSS. give {esti}, which is adopted by some
Editors.

[50] "Sacred Ways."

[51] {Gerreon}: in some MSS. {Gerrou}, "the region called Gerros."

[52] {tesserakonta}: some Editors have altered this number, but
without authority or sufficient reason.

[53] {di eremou}: see note 25 on ch. 18. The region here spoken of is
that between the Gerrians and the agricultural Scythians.

[53a] {es touto elos}: i.e. the Dneiper-Liman. (The Medicean and
Florentine MSS. read {es to elos}, not {es to telos}, as hitherto
reported.)

[54] {eon embolon tes khores}.

[55] {Metros}: i.e. the Mother of the gods, Kybele, cp. ch. 76; some
less good authorities have {Demetros}.

[56] {reei de}: most MSS. have {reei men gar}.

[57] Or, "Apia."

[58] Or, "Goitosyros."

[59] The MSS. have also "Arippasa" and "Artimpasa."

[60] The authorities have also "Thagimasa" and "Thamimasidas."

[61] {ton arkheion}: some read by conjecture {en to arkheio}, "at the
seat of government," or "in the public place."

[62] {eson t' epi stadious treis}.

[63] {upo ton kheimonon}.

[64] {akinakes}.

[65] {agalma}: see note 19 on ch. 15.

[66] {kata per baitas}.

[67] Or, "and put them together in one bundle."

[68] See i. 105.

[69] {kuperou}: it is not clear what plant is meant.

[70] i.e. for this purpose. The general use of bronze is attested by
ch. 81.

[71] {ode anabibazontes, epean k.t.l}: the reference of {ode} is
directly to the clause {epean--trakhelou}, though in sense it