- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.79.1-1.79.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-29
Cyrus marches rapidly on Sardis to catch Croesus before he can reassemble his forces. Croesus, caught completely by surprise, nevertheless leads out the Lydian army, which at the time possessed the finest cavalry in Asia.
Κῦρος δὲ αὐτίκα ἀπελαύνοντος Κροίσου1 μετὰ τὴν μάχην τὴν γενομένην ἐν τῇ Πτερίῃ, μαθὼν ὡς ἀπελάσας μέλλοι Κροῖσος διασκεδᾶν τὸν στρατόν, βουλευόμενος εὕρισκε πρῆγμά οἷ εἶναι2 ἐλαύνειν ὡς δύναιτο τάχιστα ἐπὶ τὰς Σάρδις, πρὶν ἢ τὸ δεύτερον ἁλισθῆναι τῶν Λυδῶν τὴν δύναμιν.
As for Cyrus, immediately upon Croesus’ retreat after the battle that took place in Pteria, having learned that Croesus, after his retreat, was going to disband his army, he found, upon deliberation, that it was to his advantage to march as quickly as possible against Sardis, before the force of the Lydians could be assembled for a second time.
ὡς δέ οἱ ταῦτα ἔδοξε, καὶ ἐποίεε κατὰ τάχος· ἐλάσας γὰρ τὸν στρατὸν ἐς τὴν Λυδίην αὐτὸς ἄγγελος Κροίσῳ ἐληλύθεε. ἐνθαῦτα Κροῖσος ἐς ἀπορίην πολλὴν ἀπιγμένος, ὥς οἱ παρὰ δόξαν ἔσχε τὰ πρήγματα3 ἢ ὡς αὐτὸς κατεδόκεε, ὅμως τοὺς Λυδοὺς ἐξῆγε ἐς μάχην.
And when he had so resolved, he acted with all speed; for having marched his army into Lydia, he came as his own messenger to Croesus. Thereupon Croesus, though brought into great perplexity, since affairs had turned out contrary to his expectation or what he himself had anticipated, nevertheless led the Lydians out to battle.
ἦν δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἔθνος οὐδὲν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ οὔτε ἀνδρηιότερον οὔτε ἀλκιμώτερον τοῦ Λυδίου. ἡ δὲ μάχη σφέων ἦν ἀπʼ ἵππων, δόρατά τε ἐφόρεον μεγάλα, καὶ αὐτοὶ ἦσαν ἱππεύεσθαι ἀγαθοί.4
Now at this time there was no nation in Asia more courageous or more warlike than the Lydian. Their fighting was from horseback, and they carried large spears, being themselves excellent horsemen.
- 1.79.1ἀπελαύνοντος Κροίσου
A genitive absolute construction accompanied by the adverb αὐτίκα (immediately), emphasizing the temporal immediacy of 'immediately upon Croesus' retreat'.
- 1.79.1πρῆγμά οἷ εἶναι
The predicate part of the clause taking the infinitive ἐλαύνειν as its subject. πρῆγμά ἐστί τινι means 'it is someone's business' or 'it is to someone's interest'. In indirect discourse, ἐστί becomes εἶναι, accompanied by the dative pronoun οἱ (3rd person singular dative, referring to Cyrus).
- 1.79.2ὥς οἱ παρὰ δόξαν ἔσχε τὰ πρήγματα
A causal clause introduced by the conjunction ὡς (since). The verb ἔχω is used intransitively with the adverbial phrase παρὰ δόξαν (contrary to expectation), meaning 'affairs (τὰ πρήγματα) turned out contrary to his (οἱ) expectation'.
- 1.79.3ἱππεύεσθαι ἀγαθοί
An infinitive of limitation (epexegetical infinitive) limiting the meaning of the adjective ἀγαθοί (good). It means 'good in respect to riding', i.e., 'excellent horsemen'.