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Histories

§1.162.1-1.162.2

Harpagus's Arrival and Siege Operations in Ionia

After the death of Mazares, Harpagus was sent to Ionia as general and began to capture the cities one by one by raising earthworks against their walls.

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§1.162.1

ἀποθανόντος δὲ τούτου, Ἅρπαγος κατέβη διάδοχος τῆς στρατηγίης, γένος καὶ αὐτὸς ἐὼν Μῆδος, τὸν ὁ Μήδων βασιλεὺς Ἀστυάγης ἀνόμῳ τραπέζῃ ἔδαισε, ὁ τῷ Κύρῳ τὴν βασιληίην συγκατεργασάμενος.1

​Upon his death, Harpagus came down as successor to the generalship. He too was a Mede by birth, the very man whom Astyages, the king of the Medes, had feasted at an unlawful banquet, and who had helped Cyrus to win the kingship.

§1.162.2

οὗτος ὡνὴρ τότε ὑπὸ Κύρου στρατηγὸς ἀποδεχθεὶς ὡς ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Ἰωνίην, αἵρεε τὰς πόλιας χώμασι· ὅκως γὰρ τειχήρεας ποιήσειε,2 τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν χώματα χῶν πρὸς τὰ τείχεα ἐπόρθεε.

​This man, having then been appointed general by Cyrus, when he arrived in Ionia, began to take the cities by means of earthworks; for whenever he had shut them up within their walls, he would thereupon construct mounds against the walls and take them.

Syntax notes2 items
  1. 1.162.1ὁ τῷ Κύρῳ τὴν βασιληίην συγκατεργασάμενος

    The participle phrase ὁ ... συγκατεργασάμενος is in the nominative and stands in apposition to the subject of the main clause, Ἅρπαγος (Harpagus). Based on historical context (Harpagus's complicity in Cyrus's seizure of power), it modifies Harpagus, not Ἀστυάγης (Astyages) within the preceding relative clause.

  2. 1.162.2ὅκως γὰρ τειχήρεας ποιήσειε

    The conjunction ὅκως (= ὅπως) is used here with the optative ποιήσειε to express past repetition ("whenever he had made..."). Combined with the imperfect ἐπόρθεε in the main clause, it describes Harpagus's repeated tactical procedure during his campaign.

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.162.1-1.162.2