Histories, 7.28

Herodotus  translated by G. C. Macaulay

« Hdt. 7.27 | Hdt. 7.28 | Hdt. 7.29 | About This Work »

28Marvelling at the conclusion of these words Xerxes himself asked of Pythios then, how much money he had; and he said: "O king, I will not conceal the truth from thee, nor will I allege as an excuse that I do not know my own substance, but I will enumerate it to thee exactly, since I know the truth: for as soon as I heard that thou wert coming down to the Sea of Hellas, desiring to give thee money for the war I ascertained the truth, and calculating I found that I had of silver two thousand talents, and of gold four hundred myriads[29] of daric staters[30] all but seven thousand: and with this money I present thee. For myself I have sufficient livelihood from my slaves and from my estates of land."

« Hdt. 7.27 | Hdt. 7.28 | Hdt. 7.29 | About This Work »

Notes

  • [29] i.e. 4,000,000.

  • [30] The {stater dareikos} was of nearly pure gold (cp. iv. 166), weighing about 124 grains.