2 Tim. 2:15: Orthotomeo IV

Yesterday I did not include all the references from the BAGD entry. However, there is no rush on my part to conclude this study so I thought that I would post these texts today. Here they are: Thucydides 2.100, Herodotus 4, 136, Plato , Leg 7 page 810E; Plutarch., Galba 24, 7; Josephus. C Ap. 1, 309.

The texts as they appear here are copied from the Perseus Digital Library. However, I did not sit at the computer to read many of these texts on the internet. My husband is a forestry consultant with an avid interest in modern and ancient military history. Thucydides and Herodotus were familiar to both of us already in their English Penguin paperback form so we were able to have a lively discussion about the military and social context of road-building.

I am simply going to post these texts for now so people can start building a semantic web from terms like ευθυτομος, συντομος, and the various meanings of τετμημένος. What looked originally like an unusual word appears to fit into a fairly common nomenclature for both roads and words.

Thucydides, Peloponnesian War

Archelaus, the son of Perdiccas, on his accession, who also cut straight roads, and otherwise put the kingdom on a better footing as regards horses, heavy infantry, and other war material than had been done by all the eight kings that preceded him. Thu. 2.100.1

καὶ ὁδοὺς εὐθείας* ἔτεμε Greek.

Herodotus, Histories

[A]nd as the Persian army was for the most part infantry and did not know the roads (which were not marked), while the Scythians were horsemen and knew the short cuts, they went wide of each other, and the Scythians reached the bridge long before the Persians. Herodotus Laws 4.136

ἅτε δὲ του̂ Περσικου̂ μὲν του̂ πολλου̂ ἐόντος πεζου̂ στρατου̂ καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς οὐκ ἐπισταμένου, ὥστε οὐ τετμημενέων τω̂ν ὁδω̂ν, του̂ δὲ Σκυθικου̂ ἱππότεω καὶ τὰ σύντομα τη̂ς ὁδου̂ ἐπισταμένου, ἁμαρτόντες ἀλλήλων, ἔφθησαν πολλῳ̂ οἱ Σκύθαι τοὺς Πέρσας ἐπὶ τὴν γέφυραν ἀπικόμενοι. Greek

Plato, Laws

You are, I say, bidding me adventure myself with the latter company and proceed boldly along the path of legislation marked out in our present discourse, without flinching. Plato's Laws 7.810e

μεθ' ὡ̂ν διακελεύῃ με παρακινδυνεύοντά τε καὶ θαρρου̂ντα τὴν νυ̂ν ἐκ τω̂ν παρόντων λόγων τετμημένην ὁδὸν τη̂ς νομοθεσίας πορεύεσθαι μηδὲν ἀνιέντα Greek

Plutarch, Galba

[H]e went on into the forum, near the spot where a golden pillar stands, at which all the several roads through Italy terminate.

ἐβάδιζεν εἰς ἀγοράν, οὗ χρυσοῦς εἱστήκει κίων, εἰς ὃν αἱ τετμημέναι τῆς ᾿Ιταλίας ὁδοὶ πᾶσαι τελευτῶσιν Greek

Josephus, Contra Apionem

[O]n the next day there was one Moses, who advised them that they should venture upon a journey, and go along one road till they should come to places fit for habitation:. Josephus, Contra Apionem, 1, 309

τῃ̂ δ' ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ Μωση̂ν τινα συμβουλευ̂σαι αὐτοι̂ς παραβαλλομένοις μίαν ὁδὸν τέμνειν ἄχρι ἂν ὅτου ἔλθωσιν εἰς τόπους οἰκουμένους Greek

Pindar, Odes

And he founded precincts of the gods that were greater than before, [90] and he established, for the processions of Apollo, protector of men, a straight cut, level, paved road for the clatter of horses' hooves, where at the edge of the marketplace he rests by himself in death. Pindar 5. 90

κτίσεν δ' ἄλσεα μείζονα θεω̂ν,
εὐθύτομόν τε κατέθηκεν ̓Απολλωνίαις
ἀλεξιμβρότοις* πεδιάδα* πομπαι̂ςἔμμεν ἱππόκροτον
σκυρωτὰν ὁδόν, ἔνθα πρυμνοι̂ς ἀγορα̂ς ἔπι* δίχα κει̂ται* θανών.
μάκαρ μὲν ἀνδρω̂ν μέτα
ἔναιεν, ἥρως δ' ἔπειτα λαοσεβής. Greek