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Herodotus · Histories §1.15.1

Accession of Ardys and Cimmerian Capture of Sardis

Passage 15 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes the end of Gyges' reign, the accession of his son Ardys, and the invasion of Asia and capture of Sardis by the Cimmerians during Ardys' rule.

§1.15.1ἐσέβαλε μέν νυν στρατιὴν καὶ οὗτος ἐπείτε ἦρξε ἔς τε Μίλητον καὶ ἐς Σμύρνην, καὶ Κολοφῶνος τὸ ἄστυ εἷλε·
This man also, when he became king, invaded Miletus and Smyrna with his army, and captured the city of Colophon.
ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν γὰρ μέγα ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ἄλλο ἔργον ἐγένετο βασιλεύσαντος δυῶν δέοντα τεσσεράκοντα ἔτεα, τοῦτον μὲν παρήσομεν τοσαῦτα ἐπιμνησθέντες, Ἄρδυος δὲ τοῦ Γύγεω μετὰ Γύγην βασιλεύσαντος μνήμην ποιήσομαι.
But since no other great deed was performed by him during his reign of thirty-eight years, we shall pass him over after making only this much mention of him, and I shall make mention of Ardys, the son of Gyges, who reigned after Gyges.
οὗτος δὲ Πριηνέας τε εἷλε ἐς Μίλητόν τε ἐσέβαλε, ἐπὶ τούτου τε τυραννεύοντος Σαρδίων Κιμμέριοι ἐξ ἠθέων ὑπὸ Σκυθέων τῶν νομάδων ἐξαναστάντες ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην καὶ Σάρδις πλὴν τῆς ἀκροπόλιος εἷλον.
This Ardys captured the people of Priene and invaded Miletus; and during his reign over Sardis, the Cimmerians, driven from their homes by the nomad Scythians, came into Asia and captured Sardis, except for the acropolis.

Notes

  1. §1.15.1ἀλλʼ οὐδὲν γὰρ — The idiom ἀλλὰ ... γάρ marks an elliptical causal construction where the main statement is omitted but understood from the context: "But (we shall pass him over), for (no other great deed was done)." The actual main verb παρήσομεν ("we shall pass over") appears later in the sentence.
  2. §1.15.1δυῶν δέοντα τεσσεράκοντα — A numeral expression meaning "thirty-eight," literally "forty (τεσσεράκοντα) lacking (δέοντα) two (δυῶν)." The participle δέοντα is in the neuter plural accusative, agreeing with the accusative of duration of time ἔτεα ("years").
  3. §1.15.1βασιλεύσαντος — Genitive singular of the aorist participle, agreeing with the pronoun αὐτοῦ in the phrase ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ ("from him, who had reigned"), functioning like a genitive absolute or circumstantial participle modifying the agent.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §1.15.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.15.1

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