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Herodotus · Histories §7.30.1-7.30.2

March through Colossae to the Lydian Border

Passage 1093 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Xerxes continues his march, passing through the Phrygian city of Anaua and the great city of Colossae, and arrives at Cydrara on the Phrygian-Lydian border.

§7.30.1ταῦτα δὲ εἴπας καὶ ἐπιτελέα ποιήσας ἐπορεύετο τὸ πρόσω αἰεὶ.
Having said these things and carried them into effect, he continued to march ever forward.
Ἄναυα δὲ καλεομένην Φρυγῶν πόλιν παραμειβόμενος καὶ λίμνην ἐκ τῆς ἅλες γίνονται, ἀπίκετο ἐς Κολοσσὰς πόλιν μεγάλην Φρυγίης·
Passing by the Phrygian city called Anaua and a lake from which salt is produced, he arrived at Colossae, a great city of Phrygia.
ἐν τῇ Λύκος ποταμὸς ἐς χάσμα γῆς ἐσβάλλων ἀφανίζεται, ἔπειτα διὰ σταδίων ὡς πέντε μάλιστά κῃ ἀναφαινόμενος ἐκδιδοῖ καὶ οὗτος ἐς τὸν Μαίανδρον.
There the river Lycus plunges into a chasm in the earth and disappears, and then, reappearing after an interval of about five stades, this river also discharges its waters into the Maeander.
§7.30.2ἐκ δὲ Κολοσσέων ὁ στρατὸς ὁρμώμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς οὔρους τῶν Φρυγῶν καὶ Λυδῶν ἀπίκετο ἐς Κύδραρα πόλιν, ἔνθα στήλη καταπεπηγυῖα, σταθεῖσα δὲ ὑπὸ Κροίσου, καταμηνύει διὰ γραμμάτων τοὺς οὔρους.
Setting out from Colossae, the army arrived at the city of Cydrara on the borders of the Phrygians and Lydians, where a pillar is firmly fixed, which was set up by Croesus, indicating the borders by means of an inscription.

Notes

  1. 7.30.1ἐκ τῆς ἅλες γίνονται — A relative clause. τῆς after the preposition ἐκ is the genitive of the relative pronoun (or demonstrative used as relative) referring back to the feminine singular antecedent λίμνην. ἅλες is the nominative plural of ἅλς (salt), serving as the subject of the verb γίνονται.
  2. 7.30.1διὰ σταδίων ὡς πέντε μάλιστά κῃ — The preposition διὰ with the genitive (σταδίων) expresses spatial interval ("after an interval of / across a distance of"). ὡς... μάλιστά κῃ modifies the numeral πέντε, indicating an approximate number ("about", "roughly").
  3. 7.30.2στήλη καταπεπηγυῖα, σταθεῖσα δὲ ὑπὸ Κροίσου — The conjunction δέ connects two participles of different tenses: the perfect active participle καταπεπηγυῖα (describing the state of being firmly fixed) and the aorist passive participle σταθεῖσα (expressing the past action of being set up by Croesus).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §7.30.1-7.30.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:7.30.1-7.30.2

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