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.
οὗτος ὡνὴρ τότε ὑπὸ Κύρου στρατηγὸς ἀποδεχθεὶς ὡς ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Ἰωνίην, αἵρεε τὰς πόλιας χώμασι· ὅκως γὰρ τειχήρεας ποιήσειε, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν χώματα χῶν πρὸς τὰ τείχεα ἐπόρθεε.
After he was dead, Harpagos came down to take his place in command, being also a Mede by race (this was the man whom the king of the Medes Astyages feasted with the unlawful banquet, and who helped to give the kingdom to Cyrus). This man, being appointed commander then by Cyrus, came to Ionia and proceeded to take the cities by throwing up mounds against them: for when he had enclosed any people within their walls, then he threw up mounds against the walls and took their city by storm; and the first city of Ionia upon which he made an attempt was Phocaia.
πρώτῃ δὲ Φωκαίῃ Ἰωνίης ἐπεχείρησε. οἱ δὲ Φωκαιέες οὗτοι ναυτιλίῃσι μακρῇσι πρῶτοι Ἑλλήνων ἐχρήσαντο, καὶ τὸν τε Ἀδρίην καὶ τὴν Τυρσηνίην καὶ τὴν Ἰβηρίην καὶ τὸν Ταρτησσὸν οὗτοι εἰσὶ οἱ καταδέξαντες·
ἐναυτίλλοντο δὲ οὐ στρογγύλῃσι νηυσὶ ἀλλὰ πεντηκοντέροισι. ἀπικόμενοι δὲ ἐς τὸν Ταρτησσὸν προσφιλέες ἐγένοντο τῷ βασιλέι τῶν Ταρτησσίων, τῷ οὔνομα μὲν ἦν, Ἀργανθώνιος, ἐτυράννευσε δὲ Ταρτησσοῦ ὀγδώκοντα ἔτεα, ἐβίωσε δὲ πάντα εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατόν.
τούτῳ δὴ τῷ ἀνδρὶ προσφιλέες οἱ Φωκαιέες οὕτω δή τι ἐγένοντο ὡς τὰ μὲν πρῶτα σφέας ἐκλιπόντας Ἰωνίην ἐκέλευε τῆς ἑωυτοῦ χώρης οἰκῆσαι ὅκου βούλονται· μετὰ δέ, ὡς τοῦτό γε οὐκ ἔπειθε τοὺς Φωκαιέας, ὁ δὲ πυθόμενος τὸν Μῆδον παρʼ αὐτῶν ὡς αὔξοιτο, ἐδίδου σφι χρήματα τεῖχος περιβαλέσθαι τὴν πόλιν,
ἐδίδου δὲ ἀφειδέως· καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἡ περίοδος τοῦ τείχεος οὐκ ὀλίγοι στάδιοι εἰσί, τοῦτο δὲ πᾶν λίθων μεγάλων καὶ εὖ συναρμοσμένων.
Now these Phocaians were the first of the Hellenes who made long voyages, and these are they who discovered the Adriatic and Tyrsenia and Iberia and Tartessos: and they made voyages not in round ships, but in vessels of fifty oars. These came to Tartessos and became friends with the king of the Tartessians whose name was Arganthonios: he was ruler of the Tartessians for eighty years and lived in all one hundred and twenty. With this man, I say, the Phocaians became so exceedingly friendly, that first he bade them leave Ionia and dwell wherever they desired in his own land; and as he did not prevail upon the Phocaians to do this, afterwards, hearing from them of the Mede how his power was increasing, he gave them money to build a wall about their city: and he did this without sparing, for the circuit of the wall is many furlongs in extent, and it is built all of large stones closely fitted together.
τὸ μὲν δὴ τεῖχος τοῖσι Φωκαιεῦσι τρόπῳ τοιῷδε ἐξεποιήθη. ὁ δὲ Ἅρπαγος ὡς ἐπήλασε τὴν στρατιήν, ἐπολιόρκεε αὐτούς, προισχόμενος ἔπεα ὥς οἱ καταχρᾷ εἰ βούλονται Φωκαιέες προμαχεῶνα ἕνα μοῦνον τοῦ τείχεος ἐρεῖψαι καὶ οἴκημα ἓν κατιρῶσαι.
οἱ δὲ Φωκαιέες περιημεκτέοντες τῇ δουλοσύνη ἔφασαν θέλειν βουλεύσασθαι ἡμέρην μίαν καὶ ἔπειτα ὑποκρινέεσθαι·
ἐν ᾧ δὲ βουλεύονται αὐτοί, ἀπαγαγεῖν ἐκεῖνον ἐκέλευον τὴν στρατιὴν ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχεος. ὁ δʼ Ἅρπαγος ἔφη εἰδέναι μὲν εὖ τὰ ἐκεῖνοι μέλλοιεν ποιέειν, ὅμως δὲ σφι παριέναι βουλεύσασθαι. ἐν ᾧ ὦν ὁ Ἅρπαγος ἀπὸ τοῦ τείχεος ἀπήγαγε τὴν στρατιήν, οἱ Φωκαιέες ἐν τούτῳ κατασπάσαντες τὰς πεντηκοντέρους, ἐσθέμενοι τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας καὶ ἔπιπλα πάντα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀγάλματα τὰ ἐν τῶν ἱρῶν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀναθήματα, χωρὶς ὅ τι χαλκὸς ἢ λίθος ἢ γραφὴ ἦν, τὰ δὲ ἄλλα πάντα ἐσθέντες καὶ αὐτοὶ εἰσβάντες ἔπλεον ἐπὶ Χίου. τὴν δὲ Φωκαίην ἐρημωθεῖσαν ἀνδρῶν ἔσχον οἱ Πέρσαι.
The wall of the Phocaians was made in this manner: and Harpagos having marched his army against them began to besiege them, at the same time holding forth to them proposals and saying that it was enough to satisfy him if the Phocaians were willing to throw down one battlement of their wall and dedicate one single house. But the Phocaians, being very greatly grieved at the thought of subjection, said that they wished to deliberate about the matter for one day and after that they would give their answer; and they asked him to withdraw his army from the wall while they were deliberating. Harpagos said that he knew very well what they were meaning to do, nevertheless he was willing to allow them to deliberate. So in the time that followed, when Harpagos had withdrawn his army from the wall, the Phocaians drew down their fifty-oared galleys to the sea, put into them their children and women and all their movable goods, and besides them the images out of the temples and the other votive offerings except such as were made of bronze or stone or consisted of paintings, all the rest, I say, they put into the ships, and having embarked themselves they sailed towards Chios; and the Persians obtained possession of Phocaia, the city being deserted of the inhabitants.
οἱ δὲ Φωκαιέες, ἐπείτε σφι Χῖοι τὰς νήσους τὰς Οἰνούσσας καλεομένας οὐκ ἐβούλοντο ὠνευμένοισι πωλέειν, δειμαίνοντες μὴ αἳ μὲν ἐμπόριον γένωνται, ἡ δὲ αὐτῶν νῆσος ἀποκληισθῇ τούτου εἵνεκα, πρὸς ταῦτα οἱ Φωκαίες ἐστέλλοντο ἐς Κύρνον· ἐν γὰρ τῇ Κύρνῳ εἴκοσι ἔτεσι πρότερον τούτων ἐκ θεοπροπίου ἀνεστήσαντο πόλιν, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ἀλαλίη.
Ἀργανθώνιος δὲ τηνικαῦτα ἤδη τετελευτήκεε. στελλόμενοι δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν Κύρνον, πρῶτα καταπλεύσαντες ἐς τὴν Φωκαίην κατεφόνευσαν τῶν Περσέων τὴν φυλακήν, ἣ ἐφρούρεε παραδεξαμένη παρὰ Ἁρπάγου τὴν πόλιν. μετὰ δέ, ὡς τοῦτο σφι ἐξέργαστο, ἐποιήσαντο ἰσχυρὰς κατάρας τῷ ὑπολειπομένῳ ἑωυτῶν τοῦ στόλου,
πρὸς δὲ ταύτῃσι καὶ μύδρον σιδήρεον κατεπόντωσαν καὶ ὤμοσαν μὴ πρὶν ἐς Φωκαίην ἥξειν πρὶν ἢ τὸν μύδρον τοῦτον ἀναφανῆναι. στελλομένων δὲ αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὴν Κύρνον, ὑπερημίσεας τῶν ἀστῶν ἔλαβε πόθος τε καὶ οἶκτος τῆς πόλιος καὶ τῶν ἠθέων τῆς χώρης, ψευδόρκιοι δὲ γενόμενοι ἀπέπλεον ὀπίσω ἐς τὴν Φωκαίην. οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν τὸ ὅρκιον ἐφύλασσον, ἀερθέντες ἐκ τῶν Οἰνουσσέων ἔπλεον.
But as for the Phocaians, since the men of Chios would not sell them at their request the islands called Oinussai, from the fear lest these islands might be made a seat of trade and their island might be shut out, therefore they set out for Kyrnos: for in Kyrnos twenty years before this they had established a city named Alalia, in accordance with an oracle, (now Arganthonios by that time was dead). And when they were setting out for Kyrnos they first sailed to Phocaia and slaughtered the Persian garrison, to whose charge Harpagos had delivered the city; then after they had achieved this they made solemn imprecations on any one of them who should be left behind from their voyage, and moreover they sank a mass of iron in the sea and swore that not until that mass should appear again on the surface would they return to Phocaia. However as they were setting forth to Kyrnos, more than half of the citizens were seized with yearning and regret for their city and for their native land, and they proved false to their oath and sailed back to Phocaia. But those of them who kept the oath still, weighed anchor from the islands of Oinussai and sailed.
Cite This Text