the capture of babylon section 3

γενομένου δὲ τούτου τοιούτου,

When this happened in such a way,

οἱ Πέρσαι οἵπερ τεταγμένοι

the Persians who had been arranged

ἦσαν ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τούτῳ,

for this very purpose

ὑπονενοστηκότος τοῦ Εὐφράτου ποταμοῦ,

after the river Euphrates had dropped,

ἀνδρὶ ὡς εἰς μέσον μηρὸν μάλιστα,

roughly as far as the middle of a man's thigh,

κατὰ τὸ ῥεῖθρον εἰσῇσαν εἰς τὴν Βαβυλῶνα.

the Persians went into Babylon along the river

εἰ μέν νυν…οἱ Βαβυλώνιοι

now if the Babylonians

προεπύθοντο ἢ ἔμαθον

had found out in advance or learnt

τὸ ἐκ τοῦ Κύρου ποιούμενον,

what was being done by Cyrus,

περιιδόντες τοὺς Πέρσας εἰσελθεῖν

and had watched out for the Persians coming

εἰς τὴν πόλιν

into the city

διέφθειραν ἂν κάκιστα·

they would have utterly destroyed them;

κατακλείσαντες γὰρ πάσας τὰς πυλίδας τὰς εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἀγούσας,

for if they had shut all the gateways leading to the river

καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπὶ τὰς αἱμασιὰς ἀναβάντες

or if they themselves had gone up onto the stone walls

τὰς παρὰ τὰ τοῦ ποταμοῦ χείλη ἐληλαμένας,

built beside the banks of the river,

ἔλαβον ἂν αὐτοὺς ὡς ἐν κύρτῃ.

they would have caught them like a fish in trap