SOL Search

A Lydian. "Now this man also led an army, once he had become ruler, into both Miletus and Smyrna, and he took the city of Colophon. But no other great deed was done by him during his reign of thirty-eight years, so, having mentioned these few things we will move on. I will make mention of Ardys the son of Gyges, who reigned after Gyges. This man took Priene and invaded Miletus. During his rule of Sardis the Cimmerians were driven from their land by the nomadic Scythians and came into Asia and took Sardis, except for the acropolis. Ardys ruled for forty-nine years and Sadyattes the son of Ardys succeeded him and reigned for twelve years, and after Sadyattes was Alyattes. This man made war against Cyaxares the descendent of Deioces and the Medes, and drove the Cimmerians from Asia, and took Smyrna, which had been founded by Colophon, and invaded Clazomenae. The results of this were not as he had wished; instead he suffered a major defeat; yet he did accomplish other things while he was in power, most notably the following. He waged war on the Milesians, inheriting the war from his father. For he attacked and laid siege to Miletus in this way: when the fruit was ripe in the land, then he invaded with his army. He marched out with pipes and harps and auloi both treble and baritone.[1] And as he came into the land of the Milesians, he neither tore down nor set fire to the homesteads in the country, nor even tore off the doors, but permitted them to stand in the country; but he did destroy both the trees and the crops in the land, and then went back. For the Milesians controlled the sea, so that a siege was not the job for the army. The Lydian did not tear down their houses for the following reasons: that from there the Milesians would begin to plant and till the earth, and he would have what they had cultivated and could do some injury whenever he invaded. He did these things and waged war for 11 years, during which twofold great wounds were inflicted on the Milesians: one after the fighting in Limeneion in their own territory and one in the plain of [the river] Maeander."

*gu/ghs, *ludo/s. e)se/bale me/n nu stratih\n kai\ ou(=tos, e)pei/ te h)=rcen, e)/s te *mi/lhton kai\ *smu/rnhn, kai\ *kolofw=nos to\ a)/stu ei(=len. a)ll' ou)de\n me/ga a)p' au)tou= a)/llo e)/rgon e)ge/neto basileu/santos duoi=n de/onta m# e)/tea, tou=ton me\n parh/somen tosau=ta e)pimnhsqe/ntes, *)/arduos de\ tou= *gu/gew meta\ *gu/ghn basileu/santos mnh/mhn poih/somai. ou(=tos *prihne/as te ei(=len e)s *mi/lhto/n te e)se/balen. e)pi\ tou/tou turanneu/ontos *sardi/wn *kimme/rioi e)c h)qe/wn u(po\ *skuqe/wn tw=n *noma/dwn e)canasta/ntes a)pi/konto e)s th\n *)asi/hn kai\ *sa/rdeis plh\n th=s a)kropo/lews ei(=lon. *)/arduos de\ basileu/santos e(no\s de/onta n# e)/tea e)cede/cato *sadua/tths o( *)/arduos kai\ e)basi/leusen e)/th ib#, *sadua/ttew de\ *)alua/tths. ou(=tos de\ *kuaca/rh| te tw=| *dhi+o/kew a)pogo/nw| e)pole/mhse kai\ *mh/doisi, *kimmeri/ous te e)k th=s *)asi/hs e)ch/lase, *smu/rnhn te th\n a)po\ *kolofw=nos ktisqei=san e)cei=len, e)s *klazomena/s te e)se/ballen. a)po\ me/n nu tou/twn ou)x w(s h)/qelen a)ph/llacen, a)lla\ prosptai/sas mega/lws: a)/lla de\ e)/rga a)pede/cato e)w\n e)n th=| a)rxh=| a)ciaphghto/tata ta/de. e)pole/mhse *milhsi/oisi paradeca/menos to\n po/lemon a)po\ tou= patro/s. e)pelau/nwn ga\r e)polio/rkee th\n *mi/lhton tro/pw| toiw=|de. o(/kws me\n ei)/h e)n th=| gh=| karpo\s a(dro/s, thnikau=ta e)se/balle th\n stratih/n: e)strateu/eto de\ u(po\ suri/ggwn te kai\ phkti/dwn kai\ au)lou= gunaikhi/+ou te kai\ a)ndrhi/+ou. w(s de\ e)s th\n *milhsi/hn a)pi/koito, oi)kh/mata me\n ta\ e)pi\ tw=n a)grw=n ou) kate/ballen ou)/te e)nepi/mprh ou)/te qu/ras a)pe/spa, e)/a de\ kata\ xw/rhn e(sta/nai: o( de\ ta/ te de/ndrea kai\ to\n karpo\n to\n e)n th=| gh=| o(/kws diafqei/reie, a)palla/sseto o)pi/sw. th=s ga\r qala/sshs oi( *milh/sioi e)pekra/teon w(/ste e)pe/drhs mh\ ei)=nai to\ e)/rgon th=| stratih=|. ta\s de\ oi)ki/as ou) kate/ballen o( *ludo\s tw=nde ei(/neka, o(/kws e)nteu=qen o(rmw/menoi th\n gh=n spei/rein te kai\ e)rga/zesqai oi( *milh/sioi, au)to\s de\ e)kei/nwn e)rgazome/nwn e)/xoi ti kai\ si/nesqai e)sba/llwn. tau=ta poie/wn e)pole/mee e)/tea ia#, e)n toi=si trw/mata mega/la difa/sia *milhsi/wn e)ge/neto e)/n te e)n limenhi/+w| xw/rhs th=s sfete/rhs maxesame/nwn kai\ e)n *maia/ndrou pedi/w|.

After the opening 'a Lydian', this entire entry quotes Herodotus 1.14.4-18.1 (web address 1 below); cf. delta 1289, tau 1084. For Gyges see also gamma 473.
[1] The Greek has "both feminine and masculine". Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 1.11, took this to mean played by women and men, respectively, but a simple differentiation of pitch is far more likely. For the classification(s) of auloi see generally M.L. West, Ancient Greek Music (Oxford 1992) 89-94.

William Hutton (Minor corrections) on 22 September 2000@00:25:16.
David Whitehead (added note and keywords; cosmetics) on 16 August 2001@06:31:30.
William Hutton (modified translation, added cross-references and modified links) on 9 June 2005@08:22:25.
William Hutton (modified note, added keywords) on 9 June 2005@08:34:59.
David Whitehead (tweaked end of translation; another x-ref; cosmetics) on 9 June 2005@09:57:33.
David Whitehead (more keywords; cosmetics) on 11 June 2012@09:54:13.
Catharine Roth (upgraded link, coding) on 9 October 2012@01:33:03.
Catharine Roth (cosmetics) on 21 November 2014@23:47:49.
David Whitehead on 30 September 2015@03:18:28.

Suda On Line Search