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ὁρμημένῳ: cp. ὅρμητο στρατεύεσθαι c. 1 supra, ‘put himself in motion,’ the motiou being mental. Cp. Il. 21. 571-2 “ἐν δέ οἱ ἦτορ ἄλκιμον ὡρμᾶτο πτολεμίζειν ήδὲ μάχεσθαι”. The unaugmented form is admitted iu Hdt. τρίτη: the first in c. 12 supra, the second in c. 14; the apparition to Artabanos in c. 17 is not counted.
τήν: relative. οἰ Μάγοι are here, and elsewhere in the Bk. (cc. 37, 43, 113, 191 infra), taken for granted, as though their position and functions were notorious. The reff to the Magi in Bk. 1 are more intelligible and explicatory; but even there it cannot be said that any systematic account of them is giveu. They figure also largely iu Bk. 3. These observations are not prima facie favourable to the hypothesis of the prior composition of Bks. 7, 8, 9, but it must be admitted that Hdt. nowhere gives a distinct description of the Magi and their fnnctions. They were ‘Medes,’ not ‘Persians,’ 1. 101, a statement fully accepted by James Darmesteter, and made the basis of the best account of the origin of the Avesta and Zoroastrianism (cp. Sacred Books of the East, iv.; Introduction, § 14). The account of the Persian Religion in Bk. 1. 131-40 certainly appears later than these Bks. (cp. c. 10 supra ad f.), and it is easy to understand the reff. to the Magi in these Bks. as independent and of earlier composition than Bk. 1. The absence of any reference back is indeed significant. Cp. Introduction, § 7. Blakesley infers an Athenian origin for the anecdote, from the mention of the olive, and even Rawlinson regards the olive-crown as proving a Greek origin for the story. The olive might be taken as symbolizing Athens, or Hellas, or even Europe generally. What is the exact interpretation (κρινάντων) given by the Magi, Hdt. does not state; the disappearance of the crown Greeks could easily interpret of a nemesis on Xerxes after his destruction of Athens (cp. 8. 54 infra).
ἐς τὴν ἀρχήν: the Council then had been composed of satraps, governors, etc. Cp. c. 8 supra.
τὰ προκείμενα δῶρα: c. 8 supra. Rawlinson has a good note with reff. Xen. Anab. 1. 2. 29, 1. 8. 29, Kyrop. 7. 2. 8; Ktesias 22. Also Esther 6. 9, 1 Esdr. 3. 6, Plutarch Artax. 15, Procop. de bell. Pers. 1. 17. The gifts enumerated by Xenophon (perhaps the best authority) comprised a horse with a golden bridle, a golden sword, a gold chain, golden armlets, and a robe.
ἐπάγερσιν: cp. ἄγερσιν c. 5 supra. τῆς ἠπείρου: sc. Ἀσίης; cp. c. 11 supra.
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