ἀπικόμενοι δὲ τῷ στόλῳ τούτῳ Ἴωνες ἐς Ἔφεσον πλοῖα μὲν κατέλιπον ἐν Κορησῷ τῆς Ἐφεσίης, αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀνέβαινον χειρὶ πολλῇ, ποιεύμενοι Ἐφεσίους ἡγεμόνας τῆς ὁδοῦ. πορευόμενοι δὲ παρὰ ποταμὸν Καΰστριον, ἐνθεῦτεν ἐπείτε ὑπερβάντες τὸν Τμῶλον ἀπίκοντο, αἱρέουσι Σάρδις οὐδενός σφι ἀντιωθέντος, αἱρέουσι δὲ χωρὶς τῆς ἀκροπόλιος τἆλλα πάντα· τὴν δὲ ἀκρόπολιν ἐρρύετο αὐτὸς Ἀρταφρένης ἔχων ἀνδρῶν δύναμιν οὐκ ὀλίγην.
With this force then the Ionians came to Ephesos, and leaving their ships at Coresos in the land of Ephesos, went up themselves in a large body, taking Ephesians to guide them in their march. So they marched along by the river Caÿster, and then when they arrived after crossing the range of Tmolos, they took Sardis without any resistance, all except the citadel, but the citadel Artaphrenes himself saved from capture, having with him a considerable force of men.
τὸ δὲ μὴ λεηλατῆσαι ἑλόντας σφέας τὴν πόλιν ἔσχε τόδε. ἦσαν ἐν τῇσι Σάρδισι οἰκίαι αἱ μὲν πλεῦνες καλάμιναι, ὅσαι δʼ αὐτέων καὶ πλίνθιναι ἦσαν, καλάμου εἶχον τὰς ὀροφάς· τουτέων δὴ μίαν τῶν τις στρατιωτέων ὡς ἐνέπρησε, αὐτίκα ἀπʼ οἰκίης ἐπʼ οἰκίην ἰὸν τὸ πῦρ ἐπενέμετο τὸ ἄστυ πᾶν.
καιομένου δὲ τοῦ ἄστεος οἱ Λυδοί τε καὶ ὅσοι Περσέων ἐνῆσαν ἐν τῇ πόλι, ἀπολαμφθέντες πάντοθεν ὥστε τὰ περιέσχατα νεμομένου τοῦ πυρός, καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες ἐξήλυσιν ἐκ τοῦ ἄστεος, συνέρρεον ἔς τε τὴν ἀγορὴν καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν Πακτωλὸν ποταμόν, ὅς σφι ψῆγμα χρυσοῦ καταφορέων ἐκ τοῦ Τμώλου διὰ μέσης τῆς ἀγορῆς ῥέει καὶ ἔπειτα ἐς τὸν Ἕρμον ποταμὸν ἐκδιδοῖ, ὁ δὲ ἐς θάλασσαν· ἐπὶ τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Πακτωλὸν καὶ ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν ἀθροιζόμενοι οἵ τε Λυδοὶ καὶ οἱ Πέρσαι ἠναγκάζοντο ἀμύνεσθαι.
οἱ δὲ Ἴωνες ὁρέοντες τοὺς μὲν ἀμυνομένους τῶν πολεμίων τοὺς δὲ σὺν πλήθεϊ πολλῷ προσφερομένους, ἐξανεχώρησαν δείσαντες πρὸς τὸ ὄρος τὸν Τμῶλον καλεόμενον, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὑπὸ νύκτα ἀπαλλάσσοντο ἐπὶ τὰς νέας.
From plundering this city after they had taken it they were prevented by this:—the houses in Sardis were mostly built of reeds, and even those of them which were of brick had their roofs thatched with reeds: of these houses one was set on fire by a soldier, and forthwith the fire going on from house to house began to spread over the whole town. So then as the town was on fire, the Lydians and all the Persians who were in the city being cut off from escape, since the fire was prevailing in the extremities round about them, and not having any way out of the town, flowed together to the market-place and to the river Pactolos, which brings down gold-dust for them from Tmolos, flowing through the middle of their market-place, and then runs out into the river Hermos, and this into the sea;—to this Pactolos, I say, and to the market-place the Lydians and Persians gathered themselves together, and were compelled to defend themselves. The Ionians then, seeing some of the enemy standing on their defence and others in great numbers coming on to the attack, were struck with fear and retired to the mountain called Tmolos, and after that at nightfall departed to go to their ships.
καὶ Σάρδιες μὲν ἐνεπρήσθησαν, ἐν δὲ αὐτῇσι καὶ ἱρὸν ἐπιχωρίης θεοῦ Κυβήβης· τὸ σκηπτόμενοι οἱ Πέρσαι ὕστερον ἀντενεπίμπρασαν τὰ ἐν Ἕλλησι ἱρά. τότε δὲ οἱ Πέρσαι οἱ ἐντὸς Ἅλυος ποταμοῦ νομοὺς ἔχοντες, προπυνθανόμενοι ταῦτα, συνηλίζοντο καὶ ἐβοήθεον τοῖσι Λυδοῖσι.
καὶ κως ἐν μὲν Σάρδισι οὐκέτι ἐόντας τοὺς Ἴωνας εὑρίσκουσι, ἑπόμενοι δὲ κατὰ στίβον αἱρέουσι αὐτοὺς ἐν Ἐφέσῳ. καὶ ἀντετάχθησαν μὲν οἱ Ἴωνες, συμβαλόντες δὲ πολλὸν ἑσσώθησαν.
καὶ πολλοὺς αὐτῶν οἱ Πέρσαι φονεύουσι ἄλλους τε ὀνομαστούς, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ Εὐαλκίδην στρατηγέοντα Ἐρετριέων, στεφανηφόρους τε ἀγῶνας ἀναραιρηκότα καὶ ὑπὸ Σιμωνίδεω τοῦ Κηίου πολλὰ αἰνεθέντα· οἳ δὲ αὐτῶν ἀπέφυγον τὴν μάχην, ἐσκεδάσθησαν ἀνὰ τὰς πόλιας.
Sardis was then destroyed by fire, and in it also the temple of the native goddess Hybebe; which the Persians alleged afterwards as a reason for setting on fire in return the temples in the land of the Hellenes. However at the time of which I speak the Persians who occupied districts within the river Halys, informed beforehand of this movement, were gathering together and coming to the help of the Lydians; and, as it chanced, they found when they came that the Ionians no longer were in Sardis; but they followed closely in their track and came up with them at Ephesos: and the Ionians stood indeed against them in array, but when they joined battle they had very much the worse; and besides other persons of note whom the Persians slaughtered, there fell also Eualkides commander of the Eretrians, a man who had won wreaths in contests of the games and who was much celebrated by Simonides of Keos: and those of them who survived the battle dispersed to their various cities.
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