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Herodotus, the 'Early State,' and LydiaAuthor(s): Jack Martin BalcerSource: Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, Bd. 43, H. 2 (2nd Qtr., 1994), pp. 246-249Published by: Franz Steiner VerlagStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4436327Accessed: 03-03-2015 13:45 UTC

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247

It is a

necessaryexercise,

therefore, o test

Claessen's

andSkalnfk's

problemsand

Sancisi-

Weerdenburg's

estructuring

f the

traditional

icture f theMedian

Empire y testing

Herodotus'

sketch

of

the Lydian

Empire,

he

LydikosLogos

(1.6-94),

to

see whether

he same

problems

and

characteristics

re

applicable

o that Early

State. They

are

clearly

applicable o

the

Persian

Empiredeveloped

by

Cyrus

andhissuccessors5

s

noted n the

Achaemenid

mperial

nscriptions6

and throughout

Herodotus'

Histories.

The

following

analysis

of the

LydianEmpire

as

given

by

Herodotus,

onsequently,

s

structured

pon he problems

and

characteristics

ivenby

Sancisi-

Weerdenburg

or the

EarlyState.

As

Sancisi-Weerdenburg

oted,

what we

areinvestigating

is the

point

of no return,

he

moment

n

time

whenvarious

tendencies

hat

may lead to

the

development

of a state

structure

oincide and where

he effects of

these various endencies

are

no longer

reversible. 7

This

exercise,

therefore,

focuses solely

upon Herodotus'

report

of

Lydia,

and

not what

later

writerscontribute as Sancisi-Weerdenburg's

tudy

of Media

had

focused uponHerodotus' eport f Mediaandnot upon aterGreekauthors); ndtheoutcome s

most interesting.

Herodotus'

briefsketch

of the Heraklid

Dynasty

of

five

hundred

ndfive

years

from

Agron

to Kandaules

1.7)

provides

no

hint of an EarlyState,

and that

genealogy

gathered

by

means

of oral tradition

ppears

more

fictive thanhistorical

as it links the

early

Lydians

with the

demi-

god

Herakles,probably

he Asiatic sun god

identified with

Herakles.

The

quaint

story

that

Herodotus

ffers for the fall

of

that

dynasty,

he assassination

f Kandaules

nd the

rise of

the

new Mermnad

Dynasty

founded

by

Gyges

(1.8-12),

also offers no suggestions

of an

Early

State

n

its

implausible

tory

of

secretly

peep

ata naked

ady.

It

may

have been

a charming

oral folk tale,

confirmed

n

the

iambic

versesof Archilochos

of Paros I. 12.2),

to explain

the

change in dynasties.

Even if

its

core,

the murder

of Kandaules

by

Gyges,

is fundamentally

historical,

we

cannot

assign

to

Gyges'

newly

gained

power

the status

of state. The

brief

references

o Kandaules

s

King,

and

Gyges

as

his

trusted

bodyguard

1.18.

1),

that

Gyges

took he

sovereignpower

but

the

Lydians

divided

nto rivalfactions

until the Delphic

Oracle

confirmed Gyges'

kingship (1.13.1)

and,

in

turn,

that

Gyges

sent many fine gold

and

silver

offerings

to Delphi (1.14.1),

lack the fundamental

haracteristics f

an

Early

State.

The report

hat

Gyges,

like

othersbefore

him,

led an

army

against

he

Greek

city-states

of

Miletos

and

Smyrna,

and took

Kolophon,

butdid

nothing

else in his

thirty-eight

year

reign

(1.15.1) begins

to suggest

the

king

held authority

nd with his army

forced othersto

comply.

Yet Herodotus'

Medes

under

Phraortes

ubjugated

he

Persians,

other

nations

n

Asia,

and

had attacked

the Assyrians

(1.102.1),

or the Medes

under

Kyaxares

battling

the

Lydians,

Assyrians,and Scythians(1.103-6), are also referencesunsupportive f the structureof an

Early State.

Similarly,

Gyges'

son Ardys,

who

reigned

for forty-nine

years, took

Priene,

invadedMiletos,

but suffered

he

attacks

of the Kimmerians

who

took Lydian

Sardis,

all but

the

acropolis

(1.15-16.1);

and for

Ardys'

son

Sadyattes,

who

reigned

or

twelve

years,

Herodotus

failed

to

record

any

event

(1

16.

1).

At the

moment

of

the adventof

Alyattes,

Sadyattes'

on,

and

his

reign

we must conclude

thatLydia

had

not

developed

an

Early

State

any

more than

had

5 M.

A. Dandamaev,

Persien

unter den ersten

Achameniden

6. Jahrhundert

v.

Chr.),

(Wiesbaden

1976);

A Political

History

of the Achaemenid

Empire (Leiden

1989);

DandamaevandVladimirR. Lukonin,TheCultureandSocialInstitutions fAncient ran

(Cambridge

1989);

Christopher

uplin,

TheAdministration

f the Achaemenid

Empire,

in Ian

Carradice

ed.),

Coinage

and Administration

n the

Athenianand Persian

Empires

(Oxford

1987),

109-58.

6

Roland

G. Kent,

Old Persian:

Grammar,

Texts,Lexicon,

2nd ed. (New

Haven

1953).

7

Was here

ever

a Median

Empire?,

Achaemenid

HistoryIII,

198.

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249

strove to win favors

with Delphi by sacrifices

(1.50.1), and great

gold and silvergifts

(I.51.1,

1.54.1), as hadhis

predecessors, nd

Croesusalso sentgifts to the

otheroracularenters 1.52),

to markhis

GreatEmpire

1.53.3, 1.56.1). With the

most powerfulGreeks he

allied to be

friends (1.56.1),

especially with the

Spartansas friendand ally,

without

deceit or guile

(1.69.2),

and thus

formeda

militaryalliance with

Sparta 1.70.1).

With his campaignagainst

Cyrus

of

Persia,

Croesus nvadedCappadocia

1.71.1),

crossing he Halys River

thatHerodotus

noted as the

boundary

between Lydia and Persia

(1.72.2).

Croesus did so, according to

Herodotus

1.73.1),

to

gain territory, o demonstratehis

trust in the

Delphic Oracle, and to

avenge

his

brother-in-law,

Astyages whomCyrus

defeatedand

overthrew. n Cyrus' territory,

at Pteria

n

Cappadocia,

Croesus'

army

aid waste

farmsand enslaved

(in chains) the city-state

of

the Pterians.

Croesus

quickly realized,

however,

that his

army was smaller than

Cyrus'

(1.77.1);

therefore, Croesus

attempted o rely upon his

diplomaticalliances

with Pharaoh

Amasis of

Egypt,King

Nabonidus

Labynetos

sic])

of

Babylonia

1.77.2-3),

and the

Spartans

(1.83.1).He sent hisheralds othese militaryallies(1.77.4, 1.81-82.1), butbeforesoldiers rom

those allies could

arrive,

Croesus

gathered

is

Lydian

andEastGreek

orces,

andset the

ranking

Lydian

cavalryequipped

with

long spears

o face

Cyrus'

Persian

orces

(1.77.4,

1.79.4, 1.80.1).

Commanding

he

Lydian army

was

usually

the

Lydian

crown

prince

(1.34.1).

Croesus was

attempting

o halt

Cyrus

he Great's

power

(1.46.1). Instead,Cyrus'

forces routed he

Lydians

and East

Greeks,

and Croesus ell from

power

o remainan advisor o the PersianGreat

King.

Throughout

hese

Herodotean

assages,

Croesus'charisma

s central o his

great

nterna-

tional

fame,

and

the

common

deology

of

Mermnad ontrolof

western

Anatolia

appears

as firm

basis for the

legitimacy

of

the

Lydian

ruling

stratum.Croesus'

LydianEmpire,

consequently,

can be classed an

Early

State,

not too dissimilar o

Cyrus' early

Persian

Empire,especially

after

Cyrus'

conquest

of

Babylon

and the overthrowof Nabonidus n 539 B.C.

(1.178-200).

The brief events of Croesus'

reign

reflect that momentof no

return,

when the

centrifugal

forces of his

emerging

state became enmeshed within a centralized

monarchy, wielding

establishedarmed

orces,

a NearEastern

kingdom

built

upon

the tribute f

foreign

subjects,

and

reaffirmedwith

strong

nternational

iplomatic

ies.

Cyrus'conquest

of

Lydia,

546

B.C., may

signal

the first

Early

State withinthe

newly

developing,vast,

and

complex

Persian

Empire.

Ohio State

University,

Columbus Jack

Martin

Balcer

DID

ALFENUS

VARUS

CAMPAIGN IN

GERMANY?

Servius,

ad

Vergil, Ecl.

6.6

NAMQUE

SUPER TIBI

ERUNT, has been

thought to provide

otherwise unknown

historical

nformation bout Alfenus

Varus,

cos.

suff

39

BCE.' Servius

comments,2

I

On the

shadowy

figure of

Alfenus Varus,

see, recently,

M.

Pavan and F.

della Corte,

Enciclopedia

Virgiliana,

vol.

1

(Rome 1984), pp.

92-93, s.v.

Alfeno Varo.

-

For

convenience,

the

following

short

forms of referencewill

be used:

Cova, Vario

=

P.

V.

Cova, 11poeta

Vario Milan

1989);Jocelyn,

Fate

=

H.

D. Jocelyn,

TheFate

of Varius'

Thyestes, CQ n.s. 30 (1980) 387-400; Suerbaum, Ehebrecher W. Suerbaum, Vergil

als Ehebrecher L.

VariusRufusals

Plagiator.

Anekdotenum

Plotia

Hieria n der

Vergil-

Tradition,

n

Festschrift ur Robert

Muth,

eds. P.

Handel and W.

Meid

(Innsbrucker

Beitrdgezur

Kulturwissenschaft,ol.

22) (Innsbruck

983), pp.

507-529.

2

According

o the

accepted

convention, give

the text of

Servius n Roman

ype

andthat

of

Historia,Band

XLIII/2 (1994)

?

Franz

Steiner

Verlag Wiesbaden

GmbH, Sitz

Stuttgart

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