Lydia: A Visual History

Lydia was a kingdom of western Anatolia with its capital at Sardis, ruled by the Mermnad dynasty from Gyges (about 680 BC) to Croesus. It grew rich from the gold of the Pactolus river and trade with the Greek cities of Ionia, which it conquered, and around 600 BC struck the world's first coins in electrum. Alyattes fought the Medes to a draw at the Battle of the Eclipse in 585 BC. Croesus, richest of kings, consulted Delphi, was told he would destroy a great empire if he attacked Persia, did so, and destroyed his own; Cyrus took Sardis in 546 BC.

When it existed: the era ribbon

The bold bar is Lydia. The lighter bars are empires and wars from the same era and the same part of the world. Click any bar to jump to its page.

Lydian territory

Timeline of the Lydia

1. 680 BC
   Gyges founds the Mermnad dynasty
2. 652 BC
   Cimmerians sack Sardis
3. 600 BC
   First coins struck
4. 585 BC
   Battle of the EclipsePeace with the Medes on the Halys.
5. 560 BC
   Croesus becomes king
6. 546 BC
   Sardis falls to Cyrus

Gyges and the Mermnads

Herodotus tells how Gyges, a bodyguard, killed King Candaules after being made to see the queen naked, married her and founded the Mermnad dynasty; Plato tells it with a ring of invisibility. Gyges fought the Cimmerians, who killed him around 652 BC and burned Sardis, and sent gifts to Assyria and Egypt. His successors expelled the Cimmerians and pressed the Greek cities of the coast.

Coins and Croesus

Around 600 BC Lydia began stamping lumps of electrum from the Pactolus with a lion's head, the first coins; Croesus later struck pure gold and silver. Alyattes fought Miletus and the Medes; his son Croesus (about 560-546) subdued all Ionia except Miletus, ruled to the Halys, and sent lavish gifts to Delphi. His court hosted Solon of Athens, who told him to count no man happy until he is dead.

The fall of Sardis

Alarmed by Cyrus's overthrow of the Medes, Croesus asked Delphi and was told that if he crossed the Halys he would destroy a great empire. He fought Cyrus at Pteria, retired to Sardis for the winter, and was surprised when Cyrus followed and defeated his cavalry with camels. Sardis fell after a two-week siege in 546 BC. Herodotus says Croesus on the pyre remembered Solon and was spared by Cyrus; Lydia became a Persian satrapy.

Related empires and wars

Chosen automatically by overlap in time and geography, plus a few hand picked connections.

Empires of the same era and region

• Achaemenid Empire (550 BC to 330 BC)
• Median Empire (678 BC to 549 BC)
• Phrygia (1,200 BC to 700 BC)
• Neo-Assyrian Empire (911 BC to 609 BC)
• Neo-Babylonian Empire (626 BC to 539 BC)
• Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (Saite period) (664 BC to 525 BC)

Wars of the same era and region

• Greco-Persian Wars (499 BC to 449 BC)

8 surprising things about the Lydia

1. 'Rich as Croesus' has meant fabulously wealthy for 2,500 years.
2. The Battle of the Eclipse in 585 BC was stopped by a solar eclipse that Thales of Miletus supposedly predicted; it is the earliest precisely datable event in history.
3. The Pactolus was said to be gold-bearing because King Midas washed away his golden touch in it.
4. The Lydians, according to Herodotus, invented dice, knucklebones and ball games during a famine, eating only every other day.
5. The tomb of Alyattes at Bin Tepe is one of the largest burial mounds in the world, 355 metres across.
6. The Lydian language, an Anatolian tongue related to Hittite, is known from about 100 inscriptions.
7. Croesus's gold offerings to Delphi included a lion statue and 117 gold ingots.
8. Herodotus claimed the Etruscans of Italy were emigrant Lydians; genetics have not settled it.

Sources

• Lydia Encyclopaedia Britannica
• Lydia Wikipedia
• Lydia World History Encyclopedia
• Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1 Penguin Classics

Back to all empires and wars