[3] Heralds: officers who proclaimed war or peace, challenged to battle, and were bearers of messages from the commander-in-chief or king; here, messengers.
[4] Sacrifice: it was the custom of the Greeks to examine the entrails of the animals they sacrificed, in order that from their appearance they might learn the will of the gods; and next, that they might gain a knowledge of coming events.
In all important undertakings these signs were carefully consulted, before any decisive action was taken.
[5] Hellenic: pertaining to the Hellenes, or Greeks; Grecian.
[6] Array: disposition of forces with reference to defence or attack.
[7] Herald: here used apparently in the sense of a public crier.
[8] This seems to have been a standing military jest, to make the soldiers laugh at their past panic.
[9] Talent: about 57 pounds avoirdupois; or, taking silver at its present value, about $1250.
[10] Phalanx: a body of troops in compact array, with their shields joined and their pikes or spears crossing each other, so as to present a firm, unbroken front to the foe.
[11] Irrigation: during the long dry summer the crops in this region would have perished from drought if the fields had not been watered. This was done by a system of canals, in which the supply of water, drawn from the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates during the spring floods, was stored up to be used when needed. So abundant was the growth of grain on this rich soil that Herodotus did not dare state the amount for fear that he would be thought guilty of exaggeration.