Reginald Walter Macan, Herodotus, The Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth Books with Introduction and Commentary

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ὅκως μιν λόγος αἱρέοι, “when the fancy took him” (Rawlinson), “whenever he was so disposed” (Macaulay). Cp. 1. 132, 4. 127.

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ἁρμάμαξα, a covered carriage, used especially by women; cp. c. 83 infra; Xen. Kyrop. 3. 1. 40, 6. 4. 11; Aristoph. Ach. 70 “ἐφ᾽ ἀρμαμαξῶν μαλθακῶς κατακείμενοι”; Diodor. 18. 26. 1 (the dead body of Alexander conveyed on a ἁρμάμαξα, perhaps described 20. 25. 4 ἅρμα τετράκυκλον σκηνὴν ἔχον); Plutarch Themist. 26, Artax. 5, Alexand. 43, Mor. 173 F; Athenaeus 206 E, etc.

αἰχμοφόροι Π. οἱ ἄριστοί τε καὶ γενναιότατοι χίλιοι. τε καί=id est. This chiliad has its spears point upwards.

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ἵππος ... χιλίη: χίλιος in the singular, with a collective noun.

ἄλλη, in distinction from the chiliad mentioned in c. 40; it is perhaps identical with οἱ ἱππόται οἱ χίλιοι of c. 55 infra, unless, indeed, there is some omission and confusion in that account.

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μν́ριοι, presumably the ‘Immortals,’ cp. c. 83, though why not so named here already is a mystery. The myriad of ‘Immortals’ forms an exception apparently to the other myriads, chiliads, and so forth, in that it is always maintained at its full strength. But it is natural to suspect that the chiliad of spearmen which preceded the king, and also the chiliad of the ‘best and noblest born’ who succeeded him in the procession, were ‘Immortals’ also, that is, drawn from the myriad: in which case the corps in this place would have numbered only 8000. Cp. also cc. 55, 211 infra.

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καὶ τούτων χίλιοι μέν κτλ. There are three curious chiliads in this passage: (i.) a chiliad of the ten thousand (Immortals?) which has golden pomegranates (ῥοιάς) on the butt end of its spears, and forms the outside rank of the ten thousand, the nine thousand within having pomegranates of silver. (ii.) A chiliad, likewise with golden pomegranates, which they held upwards (turning the spear points to the ground) as they marched in the procession in front of the king. (iii.) A chiliad of the noblest and best, who have ‘apples’ (μῆλα）—presumably of gold—and march immediately in the rear of the king. Whether the difference in this case between ‘apples’ and ‘pomegranates’ is one of kind or of degree, who shall say! But it is difficult to avoid a suspicion (a) that there is one chiliad too many, (b) that the two chiliads, the one before and the one after the king, were really divisions of the ten thousand Immortals. The one thousand élite (μηλοφόροι) are, however, mentioned by Athenaeus 12. 514 B, and in connexion with the ten thousand: χρῆται δὲ αὐταῖς (sc. ταῖς γυναιξί, a body-guard of 300) καὶ πολλάκις ὁ βασιλεὺς διὰ τῆς τῶν μηλοφόρων αὐλῆς. ἦσαν δὲ οὗτοι τῶν δορυφόρων καὶ τῷ γένει πάντες Πέρσαι, ἐπὶ τῶν στυράκων μῆλα χρυσᾶ ἔχοντες χίλιοι τὸν ἀριθμόν, ἀριστίνδην ἐκλεγόμενοι ἐκ τῶν μυρίων Περσῶν τῶν Ἀθανάτων καλουμένων. L. & S. sub v. seem to treat μηλοφόροι as an invention of Wesseling's. The ten thousand foot, and similarly the ten thousand horse, formed, probably, the full Persian Guard, the two chiliads of cavalry above specified, one in the van, the other in the rear, of the marching column, being similarly covered by the ἵππος Περσέων μυρίη which follows.

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διέλειπε: for the pluperfect (διελέλειπτο） and aorist (τρέψαντες) in c. 40 before the king passes, are substituted the present and imperfect, after mention of the king, and thus an air of motion is imparted to the passage. But cp. App. Crit.

ὁ λοιπὸς ὅμιλος might coneeivably stand here for the Anatolian levies that may have joined at Sardes, unless they were covered by the συμμικτὸς στρατὸς παντοίων ἐθνέων in c. 41, in which case ὁ λοιπὸς ὅμιλος may simply stand for the host of sutlers and non-combatants, other than the organized baggage-train, in the train of the army.