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Herodotus · Histories §5.115.1-5.115.2

Retreat of the Ionians and the Fall of Soli

Passage 891 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Upon learning of Onesilus' defeat and the siege of most Cyprian cities, the Ionians immediately retreated to Ionia. Among the Cyprian cities, Soli held out the longest but was captured by the Persians in the fifth month.

§5.115.1Ἀμαθούσιοι μέν νυν ἐποίευν ταῦτα καὶ τὸ μέχρι ἐμεῦ·
The Amathusians, then, did these things even down to my own time.
Ἴωνες δὲ οἱ ἐν Κύπρῳ ναυμαχήσαντες ἐπείτε ἔμαθον τὰ πρήγματα τὰ Ὀνησίλου διεφθαρμένα καὶ τὰς πόλις τῶν Κυπρίων πολιορκευμένας τὰς ἄλλας πλὴν Σαλαμῖνος, ταύτην δὲ Γόργῳ τῷ προτέρῳ βασιλέι τοὺς Σαλαμινίους παραδόντας, αὐτίκα μαθόντες οἱ Ἴωνες ταῦτα ἀπέπλεον ἐς τὴν Ἰωνίην.
But the Ionians who had fought the sea battle in Cyprus, when they learned that the affairs of Onesilus were ruined, and that the other cities of the Cyprians were being besieged except for Salamis—and that the Salaminians had handed this city over to Gorgus, their former king—as soon as they learned this, the Ionians sailed away to Ionia.
§5.115.2τῶν δὲ ἐν Κύπρῳ πολίων ἀντέσχε χρόνον ἐπὶ πλεῖστον πολιορκευμένη Σόλοι, τὴν πέριξ ὑπορύσσοντες τὸ τεῖχος πέμπτῳ μηνὶ εἷλον οἱ Πέρσαι.
Of the cities in Cyprus, Soli held out for the longest time under siege; the Persians took it in the fifth month by digging under the wall all around it.

Notes

  1. §5.115.1ἔμαθον — Three participle clauses are parallelly dependent on the verb of perception ἔμαθον: (1) τὰ πρήγματα ... διεφθαρμένα (that the affairs were ruined), (2) τὰς πόλις ... πολιορκευμένας (that the cities were being besieged), and (3) τοὺς Σαλαμινίους ... παραδόντας (that the Salaminians had handed over). In each clause, the participle acts predicatively, with τοὺς Σαλαμινίους serving as the subject of the accusative participle παραδόντας.
  2. §5.115.2τὴν — This is a relative pronoun (here using the demonstrative form as a relative) referring to the antecedent Σόλοι (a feminine noun, treated here as singular). The syntactic structure is: 'the Persians captured it (Soli), by undermining (ὑπορύσσοντες) its wall (τὸ τεῖχος) all around.'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.115.1-5.115.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.115.1-5.115.2

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