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[Croesus] was a native Lydian, son of Alyattes, [and] ruler of the peoples to the west of[1] the river Halys. This man [was] the first of the non-Greeks, to my knowledge, who compelled some of the Greeks to pay him tribute and made the others his allies. Prior to the reign of Croesus all the Greeks had been free. For the Kimmerian expedition against Ionia, earlier than Croesus,[2] was not an overthrow of the cities but [sc. mere] plundering arising from a raid.

Κροι̂σος Λυδὸς μὲν ἠ̂ν τὸ γένος, παι̂ς δὲ ̓Αλυάττεω, τύραννος δὲ ἐθνέων τω̂ν ἐντὸς ̔́Αλυος ποταμου̂. οὑ̂τος πρω̂τος βαρβάρων, τω̂ν ἡμει̂ς ἴδμεν, τοὺς μὲν κατεστρέψατο ̔Ελλήνων ἐς φόρου ἀπαγωγήν, τοὺς δὲ φίλους προσεποιήσατο. πρὸ δὲ τη̂ς Κροίσου ἀρχη̂ς πάντες ἠ̂σαν ̔́Ελληνες ἐλεύθεροι. τὸ γὰρ Κιμμερίων στράτευμα τὸ ἐπὶ τὴν ̓Ιωνίαν ἀφικόμενον, Κροίσου ἐὸν πρεσβύτερον, οὐ καταστροφὴ ἐγένετο τω̂ν πολίων, ἀλλ' ἐξ ἐπιδρομη̂ς ἁρπαγή.

For Croesus cf. kappa 2498, kappa 2499, kappa 2500, and see generally OCD(4) s.v. The present entry abridges Herodotus 1.6.1-3 (web address 1).
[1] Greek idiom says "inside".
[2] Approximately a century earlier (mid C7 BCE).

Catharine Roth (cosmetics, link, status) on 24 October 2003@11:46:44.
David Whitehead (another keyword; cosmetics) on 26 October 2003@04:05:40.
David Whitehead (more keywords; tweaks) on 4 July 2008@09:23:44.
Catharine Roth (tweaked link, raised status) on 9 August 2011@13:02:52.
David Whitehead on 4 August 2014@07:46:04.

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