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Xerxes weeps over his army

c. 430–425 BCE, Abydos. Xerxes speaking, as Herodotus tells it.

Where and when

c. 430–425 BCEAbydos

about 2,452 years ago

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Herodotus

, AbydosXerxes speaking, as Herodotus tells it

In plain words, ours

Xerxes said he felt pity: life is so short that of all these men, not one will be alive in a hundred years.

Xerxes said, “I was moved to compassion when I considered the shortness of all human life, since of all this multitude of men not one will be alive a hundred years from now.”

Herodotus, Histories 7.46.2Translated by A. D. Godley (1920)Read the full passage (Herodotus, Histories 7.46.2, opens scaife.perseus.org)

What was going on, our summary

As Herodotus tells it, Xerxes sat above the shore at Abydos watching his army and fleet fill the Hellespont. He called himself blessed, then wept, and his uncle Artabanus questioned him about it.

Checked claim by claim against: the passage around the quote.

Related moments

In time order, with this one in its place. Each says why it is here.

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  5. 427 BCEAbout the same year Athens votes to kill Mytilene's men, then relents Same years
  6. c. 430–425 BCEThis momentXerxes weeps over his army
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  10. 425 BCEabout 2 years later Spartans surrender on Sphacteria Same years

Just before and after

The text around the quote, word for word from the same translation.

Show the passageHide the passage

A lofty seat of white stone had been set up for him on a hill there for this very purpose, built by the people of Abydos at the king's command. There he sat and looked down on the seashore, viewing his army and his fleet; as he viewed them he desired to see the ships contend in a race. They did so, and the Phoenicians of Sidon won; Xerxes was pleased with the race and with his expedition. When he saw the whole Hellespont covered with ships, and all the shores and plains of Abydos full of men, Xerxes first declared himself blessed, and then wept. His uncle Artabanus perceived this, he who in the beginning had spoken his mind freely and advised Xerxes not to march against Hellas. Marking how Xerxes wept, he questioned him and said, “O king, what a distance there is between what you are doing now and a little while ago! After declaring yourself blessed you weep.”

The quote: Xerxes said, “I was moved to compassion when I considered the shortness of all human life, since of all this multitude of men not one will be alive a hundred years from now.”

Artabanus answered, “In one life we have deeper sorrows to bear than that. Short as our lives are, there is no human being either here or elsewhere so fortunate that it will not occur to him, often and not just once, to wish himself dead rather than alive. Misfortunes fall upon us and sicknesses trouble us, so that they make life, though short, seem long.

Herodotus, Histories 7.44.1–7.46.3Translated by A. D. Godley (1920)Read the full passage (opens scaife.perseus.org)

When, and whose words

Date
c. 430–425 BCE. When the Histories were being completed (c. 430–425 BCE); the scene is set as Xerxes' army crosses into Europe, 480 BCE.
Whose words
Xerxes speaking, as Herodotus tells it. Who was Herodotus?
How this post was checked
  • The plain-words line was read against the quote alone by a second, independent pass, which found it adds no claim the quote does not make (2026-10-03).
  • Each claim in the summary was checked by an independent pass against only the material it cites.
  • The quote itself is checked by the build: word for word, once, at the cited section of the stored translation.

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