A War between Astyages and Alyattes Huxley, George Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1965; 6, 3; ProQuest pg. 201

A War between Astyages and Alyattes 
George Huxley 

The Evidence 

OXYRHYNCHUS PAPYRUS 2506 FR. 98, a comment on a poem of 
Alcaeus, mentions a war between Astyages and Alyattes, 

. kings of Media and of Lydia. In the papyrus the poet's return 
a third time from exile is somehow related to the Lydo-Median war. 
The less damaged part of the text of this interesting document must 
first be given: 

f£[ 
n[ 
JLa[ ] TavT"T} V 

&AA[ n)Jr D£VT€-
pay [ ...... ] . ~f CPVY17V Kat 
n)v 1T[POC] ril' y£cpvPTJt 1Tapa-
t" I -'A Ta~ tV £n IJ.£JLV7JTat TOV v-

J ,~ '\ \ \ \ ,~, , Tt ft£VLOa. al\J\a yap ovo av-
TOJV 'AAKaiov EV Tfjt T[ 
1Tapa] Tag£[ £ T] £A£VT[ 

oJft0Ao[Y]OVCt<v> &A[A 
T]O TptTov Toic [ 

. . ]v KaOoDov V1TO[ 

... ] DUX TO cvvtcTaclJ[ at 
1Tol AEft0V EV[. )feT[ 'A-
cT]vaYTJt TW[ . . J .£cp[ 'A-
AvaJTTTJV W [ 

• KT£. 

5 

10 

15 

The mutually consistent supplements in lines 15 to 17 'AlaT]vaYTJt and 
• A I Ava]TT"T}v are cogent, but they do raise a historical problem. For 
Herodotos (1.74.1-6) describes a war between Alyattes of Lydia and 
Kyaxares of Media, but has nothing to say about hostilities between 
Alyattes and Astyages, son of Kyaxares. An episode in the war was a 
battle at night, but the most famous event was the eclipse battle in 

201 



202 A WAR BETWEEN ASTYAGES AND ALYATTES 

the sixth year; after the eclipse, Herodotos (1.74.3) remarked, both 
sides were somewhat more eager for peace, Tfj~ JLa.XTJ~ T€ J7TfXVUaVTo Ka~ 
JLaM6v Tt €U7T€VUaV Kat. awp6T€pot €lp~VTJv EWVTO'iUt Y€VEu{)at, but 
it is noteworthy that he does not state that the eclipse brought all 
hostilities to an end. Peace was brought, he remarks, by the diplo­
matic intervention of Syennesis the Kilikian and Naf3VVTJTO~, Naby­
netos (Nabun'aid; the name is given as Aaf3VVTJTo~ in all manuscripts 
of Herodotos) the Babylonian,! and the treaty was sealed by the 
marriage of Astyages to Aryenis, daughter of Alyattes. Elsewhere 
(1.103.2) Herodotos again declares that the eclipse battle was fought 
in the reign of Kyaxares, and (1.16.2) that the Median opponent of 
Alyattes was Kyaxares. He also intends the reader to understand that 
there were after the treaty no hostilities between the Lydians and the 
Medians, by his remark that one reason why Kroisos attacked was his 
d . A "() () 1\ ., 'A I K" eSlre to avenge styages, Kat TEtUaU at €I\WV V7T€P u'TVay€o~ vpov 

(1.73.1), and by his emphasis upon the strength of the marriage 
tie between Astyages and Aryenis. From Herodotos alone therefore 
it would be just to assert: (1) the Lydo-Median treaty was made not 
long after the eclipse battle; (2) K yaxares was king of Media when 
in the sixth year of the war the eclipse battle was fought; (3) there 
were no hostilities between Lydia and Media from the time of the 
treaty to the overthrow of Astyages by Kyros. 

No doubt with Herodotos in mind, Professor Page2 in his publica­
tion of the new text remarks: "The 'war between Astyages and Alyat­
tes' seems not to be recorded elsewhere." That is, however, not true. 
For, firstly, Cicero declares, in the De Divinatione (1.49.112), Et qUidem 
idem (Thales) defectionem solis, quae Astyage regnante facta est, praedixisse 
fertur. Now the eclipse said to have been predicted by Thales was that 
which helped to bring the Lydo-Median war to a close (Herodotos 
1.74.2). Cicero's statement therefore implies that Astyages was king 
of Media before the end of that war and contradicts the remarks of 
Herodotos that the eclipse battle was fought in the reign of K yaxares. 
Secondly, other writers mention a war between Alyattes and As-

1 At the time of the battle, 585 B.C., the king of Babylonia was Nebuchadrezzar, not 
Nabynetos/Nabonidus. Herodotos is often considered to have made a mistake here: but 
Nabynetos may have acted as agent for Nebuchadrezzar, as R. P. Dougherty pointed out 
(Nabonidus and Belshazzar [New Haven 1929] 35). Note also that king Nabynetos is said to 
have had a father of the same name (Herodotos 1.188.1): Herodotos may mean the father 
here. 

a The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XXIX (London 1963) p. 45 note. 



GEORGE HUXLEY 203 

tyages. The Armenian version of the Eusebian Canon (p. 187 Karst) 
under Olympiad 49, 2 (583/2 B.C.) declares, "Die Sonne ward ver­
finstert nach Thales des Weisen Vorausverkiindigung. Aliates und 
Azdahak (= Astyages) lieferten eine Schlacht"; and again under 
Olympiad 51, 2 (574/3), "Azdahak lieferte gegen die Lyder einen 
heftigen Kampf." Jerome dates the eclipse said to have been predicted 
by Thales in 586/5 B.C. (p. 177 Fotheringham); then mentions fighting 
between Astyages and Alyattes in 582/1 (01. 49, 3: Alyattes et Astyages 
dimicaverunt); and later states under 577/6: Astyages contra Lydos 
pugnat (Fotheringham p. 178).3 

The Armenian version cannot be reconciled with Herodotos' 
statement that Kyaxares was king at the time of the eclipse battle, nor 
can Cicero's remarks. Moreover, Eusebius and Jerome both believed 
that there was fighting between Astyages and Alyattes and both 
claimed that the Lydo-Median war continued for some time, at least 
nine years, after the eclipse battle. It is the order of events which is 
significant here; the exact dates the chronographers offer do not here 
concern us, but in view of the evidence in POxy. 2506 fro 98 that a 
war between Astyages and Alyattes was mentioned by Alcaeus, the 
repeated statements that Astyages and Alyattes were at war deserve 
attention." It now appears most unlikely that Jerome and the 
Armenian version (or their source) have simply confused Astyages 
with K vaxares. 

J 

The Problem 

The problem then is this: can the evidence for a war between 
Astyages and Alyattes be reconciled with Herodotos? Obviously it 
can if Astyages conducted the war on behalf of his father, who by 
585 B.C., the year of the eclipse, may have been well advanced in 
years, since he had already been engaged in fighting the Skythians 
ca. 610 B.C. But this solution is too facile a compromise and cannot be 
presented tout court. For, as Grote insisted,S Cicero believed that at the 
time of the eclipse battle Astyages was already king: his words are 
<c ••• defectionem solis, quae Astyage regnante facta est," and the 
manuscripts are, it seems, unanimous in giving the name Astyages. 

3 See also H. Kaletsch, Historia 7 (1958) 17. 
'The papyrus has SLa 'TO avvt(]'Taa8[aLl1T()]'\~}LOV. The words do not prove that a Lydo­

Median war broke out under Astyages: they may mean that the war begun by K yaxares 
was continued by his son. In Herodotos 7.225, for instance, 'TOV'TO St aVVm'T~K£E means 'the 
battle went on ... .' 

5 History of Greece, Everyman Edition, vol. 4 p. 29 note. 



204 A WAR BETWEEN ASTYAGES AND ALYATTES 

Moreover Herodotos does state that Kyaxares fought (p.ax€ucXp.€Vos) in 
the eclipse battle. The only eclipse suited to the data of Herodotos is 
that of 28th May 585 B.C. (Oppolzer No. 1489),6 which late in the day 
was total near the Halys in central Asia Minor: to have made so great 
an impression on the two armies it must have been total and the belt 
of totality must have passed over the territory between the Lydian and 
Median empires. It is true that Cicero does not say that the eclipse 
took place during the Lydo-Median war, so that it might be argued that 
another eclipse, not that of 28th May 585 B.C., was meant: however, 
no total eclipse was visible in Asia Minor during the reign of Astyages 
ca. 585 to 550 B.C. except that of 28th May 585 B.C.; and even if Cicero's 
words are not taken as evidence for a war between Astyages and the 
Lydians, the statements of the chronographers and of POxy. 2506 fro 98 
provide ample proof that such a war was believed to have been 
fought. 7 

Our problem is thus to decide whether Kyaxares had died by May 
585 B.C. or Herodotos was correct in stating that he was king at the 
time of the eclipse battle. Herodotos himself, if he thought the matter 
out, may have supposed that the eclipse was much earlier than 585 
B.C. because in 1.130.1 he can be taken to give Astyages a reign of 35 
years from ca. 594 to ca. 559, and mistakenly to date the overthrow of 
Astyages to the time of Kyros' accession.s But Astyages fell in ca. 550 
B.C., in the sixth year of Nabonidus of Babylon; and if the thirty-five 
years assigned to his reign are approximately correct then Astyages 
came to the throne about 585 B.C. The number 35 in Herodotos 
(1.130.1) is not however impeccable, and cuneiform sources do not 
hel p to fix the accession date of Astyages. 

Suggested Solution 

A solution which does least violence to Herodotos and to the 

8 Canon of Eclipses (Dover Ed. 1962.) p. 60. 
7 Apollodoros dated the fortieth year of Thales in 585/4 B.C. for he gave the year of his 

birth as 624/3 B.C. (FGrHist 2.44 F 2.8): the chronographer almost certainly therefore dated 
the eclipse correct! y to the nearest year. The date 585 for the eclipse recurs in Pliny, NH 2.12. 
See also F. Jacoby's Commentary on Apollodoros loc.dt. 

8 Hellenistic chronographers. followed by Eusebius. may have taken Herodotos' words 
in that sense (see Kaletsch. Historia 7 [1958] 20-23). but I am not sure that we have to follow 
them in convicting Herodotos of chronolOgical inconsistency. He placed the accession of 
K yros in ca. 558 (Kaletsch op.at. 9). but in 1.130.1 is speaking of the Persian' s rule over Media, 
which was conquered some time after Kyros became king of the Persians. H. Strasburger 
(Historia 5 [1956] 136) also supposes that Astyages. according to Herodotos. ceased to reign 
in 559. 



GEORGE HUXLEY 205 

remaining evidence may be set out as follows: (1) Kyaxares was king 
of Media ca. 590 at the beginning of the Lydo-Median war. (2) He died 
during the war. (3) Astyages conducted the war, after the death of 
Kyaxares; but (4) it is not certain whether Kyaxares or Astyages was 
king of Media at the time of the eclipse said to have been predicted 
by Thales. (5) Astyages was already king, no longer crown prince, 
when he married Aryenis, daughter of Alyattes. (6) There were no 
hostilities after the marriage. 

Speculations 
We can now return to POxy. 2506 fro 98. In the damaged lines above 

the names of Astyages and Alyattes it is apparent that Alcaeus 
mentioned Antimenidas his brother in the context of a 'Second 
Exile' and an 'Action at the Bridge'. The expression 7T[POS] Tfj' YEcpUpTJt 
is Ionic, but gives no evidence that the <Action', 7TapaTa.g,s, took place 
in Ionia (Gephyre could, as Mr W. C. Forrest points out, be a place 
name-hence, perhaps, the Ionic form was preserved). Next the 
papyrus shows that some people claimed that Alcaeus did not die in a 
certain Action (which may not be the same as the <Action at the 
Bridge'); they held that the poet returned a third time from exile, 
his homecoming having something to do with the war between 
Astyages and Alyattes. The commentator is very reasonably supposed 
by Page (The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XXIX, p. 44) to have referred 
to Alcaeus' mention of his brother in connexion with the 'Second 
Exile' and the 'Action at the Bridge' in order to refute an opinion that 
Antimenidas died before those events. 

Unfortunately the remains of the commentary do not make clear 
whether or not the' Action at the Bridge' was an engagement in the 
Lydo-Median war: we cannot therefore profitably enquire whether 
the Bridge was one of those across the Halys, which Herodotos 
(1.75.3) thought to have existed not later than the Pterian campaign 
of Kroisos in ca. 547 B.C.; but in the Lydo-Median war ca. 585 B.C. the 
Halys crossing of the Royal Road must already have been strategically 
important.9 It is quite possible that Antimenidas, after his return 

9 Concerning the early importance of the Royal Road see especially W. M. Ramsay, The 
Historical Geography of Asia Minor (London 1890) 29. In the context of the Royal Road we 
may perhaps look in the papyrus for Asianic place names. In line 19 7T£p' -ra[ calls to mind 
Taov,ov on the road east of the Halys bridge. £v[.J!c-r[ in line 15 conceals a place name: 
there was an 'OpK,uTor; west of the Halys on the road in Phrygia, but the papyrus hardly 
leaves room for the name. Other supplements are of course possible (cf Page. The Oxy­
rhynchus Papyri. Part XXIX. p. 45). Unfortunately there is no certainty that ].E4>[ in line 16 
conceals JYE,p[VplJ' vel.sim. 



206 A WAR BETWEEN ASTYAGES AND ALYATTES 

from mercenary service ca. 600 to 590 B.C. in Palestine,I° fought in the 
Lydo-Median war, and the 'Action at the Bridge' may even have been 
at the Halys: but the speculation is without profit. Besides, the papy­
rus mentions the 'Action at the Bridge' before the outbreak of war 
between Astyages and Alyattes: thus the action may not have been 
part of that war. 

Another hint that Alcaeus was interested in fighting in the interior 
of Asia Minor is however given in POxy. 2506 fro 77, where somebody 
is said to have met death grievously struck by the blows of the 
Allienes, V-I7T 'AAAt.ryvwv. The termination looks, as Page says, 
Asiatic and there were two Phrygian places called Alia; but there is 
no evidence that the engagement was an episode in the Lydo-Median 
war. 

Conclusion 
It appears that the war between Alyattes and the Medes, which was 

in its sixth year in 585 B.C., was carried on by Astyages after his father's 
death. We do not know that either Alcaeus or Antimenidas fought in 
the Lydo-Median war, but it is plain that a Hellenistic scholar (per­
haps Apollodoros), whom Eusebius and Jerome followed, had evi­
dence, not given by Herodotos, that there was fighting between 
Astyages and Alyattes about a decade after the eclipse battle. As the 
new Alcaeus commentary shows, the evidence may well have been 
of the highest quality, namely the testimony of the aging poet 
himself. 11 

THE QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY OF BELFAST 

September, 1965 

10 For possible dates of his service in the Near East see D. L. Page. Sappho and A/caeus 
(Oxford 1955) 224. 

11 I thank M W. G. Forrest for helpful comments on a draft of this paper.