| Keywords |
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| ID |
5832 |
| Text |
Historiarum adversum paganos libri VII (417 - 418) Orosius |
| Quotation |
1. Anno ab urbe condita CCXLV Darius Cyro apud Scythas interfecto post aliquantum interuallum sorte regnum adeptus est. regnauit enim medius eorum Cambyses Cyri filius; 2 Qui deuicta Aegypto cunctam Aegypti religionem abominatus caerimonias eius et templa deposuit. 3 Post hunc etiam magi sub nomine quem occiderant regis regno obrepere ausi; qui quidem mox deprehensi et oppressi sunt. 4 Darius itaque, unus ex his qui magorum audaciam ferro coercuerant, consensu omnium rex creatus est. qui postquam Assyrios ac Babylonam a Persarum regno deficientem bello recuperauit, Antyro, regi Scytharum, hac uel maxime causa bellum intulit, quod filiae eius petitas sibi nuptias non obtinuisset. 5 Magna scilicet necessitas, pro unius libidine hominis septingenta milia uirorum periculo mortis exponi. incredibili quippe apparatu cum septingentis milibus armatorum Scythiam ingressus, non facientibus hostibus iustae pugnae potestatem, insuper repentinis incursibus extrema copiarum dilacerantibus, 6 Metuens ne sibi reditus interrupto ponte Histri fluminis negaretur, amissis octoginta milibus bellatorum trepidus refugit, quamuis hunc amissorum numerum inter damna non duxerit, et, quem habendum uix quisquam ambire ausus esset, perditum ille non sensit. 7 Inde Asiam Macedoniamque adgressus perdomuit. Ionas quoque nauali congressione superauit. deinde in Athenienses, cur Ionas aduersum se auxilio iuuissent, impetum fecit atque arma direxit. |
| Translation |
1. 245 years after the foundation of the City, when Cyrus had been killed in
Scythia, after an interval of time, the lot fell on Darius to take possession of
his kingdom. 2. Between the reigns of these two came that of Cambyses,
the son of Cyrus. He conquered Egypt and, having a loathing for every
aspect of Egyptian religion, put an end to their rites and temples. 3. After
him, the Magi dared to seize the kingdom in the name of a king whom they
had killed. They were, however, soon found out and done away with. 4.
Darius, one of those who had put an end to the audacity of the Magi by the
sword, was made king with the approval of all.
After he had re‑conquered Assyria and Babylon, which had rebelled
against the empire of the Persians, he made war on Antyrus, the king of
the Scythians. The prime cause of this war was that he had sought, but
not obtained, Antyrus’s daughter in marriage, 5. so one can see the great
necessity that made 700,000 men be exposed to the threat of death to satisfy
the lusts of one man. After making an incredible number of preparations,
Darius entered Scythia with 700,000 men. His enemy did not give him the
chance to fight a set‑piece battle, but whittled his troops away with sudden
sorties on their flanks. 6. Fearing that he would not be able to withdraw if
the bridge over the Danube was destroyed, Darius fled in panic having lost
80,000 warriors, although he did not count their deaths among his losses
and did not feel the loss of a number of men which hardly anyone would
have dared to imagine to have in their army in the first place. 7. After this,
he marched on and subjugated Asia and Macedonia, and, after fighting a
naval battle, also conquered the Ionians. |
| Quotation source |
Lib. 2, Cap. 8, 1-7 (pp. 99-101, trans. Fear, pp. 86-7) |
| Temporal Coverage |
-508 - -508 |
| Associated use case(s) |
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| Comment |
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