Histories

Herodotus

Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).

After this, being pleased with his bridge of boats, Darius made a gift of ten of everything[*](Apparently a proverbial expression for great abundance; cp. a similar phrase in Hdt. 9.81.) to Mandrocles the Samian, the architect of it; Mandrocles took the first-fruits of these and had a picture made with them, showing the whole bridge of the Karadeniz Bogazi (strait), Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaBosporus, and Darius sitting aloft on his throne and his army crossing; he set this up in the temple of Hera, with this inscription:

  1. “After bridging the Karadeniz Bogazi (strait), Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaBosporus that teems with fish,
  2. Mandrocles dedicated a memorial of the floating bridge to Hera,
  3. Having won a crown for himself, and fame for the Samians,
  4. Doing the will of King Darius.”
This memorialized the builder of the bridge.

Darius, after rewarding Mandrocles, crossed over to Europe (continent)Europe; he had told the Ionians to sail into the +Black Sea [38,42] (sea) Pontus as far as the Ister river, and when they got to the Ister, to wait there for him, bridging the river meanwhile; for the fleet was led by Ionians and Aeolians and men of the Canakkale Bogazi (strait), Canakkale, Marmara, Turkey, Asia Hellespont.

So the fleet passed between the Dark Rocks and sailed straight for the Ister and, after a two days' voyage up the river from the sea, set about bridging the narrow channel of the river where its various mouths separate.

But Darius, passing over the Karadeniz Bogazi (strait), Istanbul, Marmara, Turkey, AsiaBosporus on the floating bridge of ships, journeyed through Thrace (region (general)), EuropeThrace to the sources of the Tearus river, where he camped for three days.