The siege of Sardis (547/546 BC) was the last decisive conflict after the

Battle of Thymbra The Battle of Thymbra was the decisive battle in the war between Croesus of the Lydian Kingdom and Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus, after he had pursued Croesus into Lydia after the drawn Battle of Pteria, met the remains of Cr ...

, which was fought between the forces of

Croesus Croesus ( ; ; Latin: ; reigned: ) was the Monarch, king of Lydia, who reigned from 585 BC until his Siege of Sardis (547 BC), defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 547 or 546 BC. According to Herodotus, he reigned 14 years. Croesus was ...

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

and

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

, when Cyrus followed Croesus to his city, laid siege to it for 14 days and captured it.

Background

The previous year

, the king of

, impelled by various considerations, invaded the kingdom of

. Croesus hoped to quell the growing power of

Achaemenid Persia The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larges ...

, expand his own dominions and revenge the deposition of his brother-in-law

Astyages Astyages was the last king of the Median kingdom, reigning from 585 to 550 BCE. The son of Cyaxares, he was dethroned by the Persian king Cyrus the Great. Reign Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Halys, wh ...

. Also, Croesus thought himself certain of success since he was deluded by the ambiguous assurances of the apparently-reliable oracle of

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

Delphi Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...

Croesus crossed the Halys and met Cyrus at Pteria in

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

, but after a drawn-out battle against superior forces in which neither side obtained the victory, Croesus resolved to fall back for the winter, summon new allies and renew the war with reinforcements the next spring. In the interim, he disbanded his army and returned to Sardis. He expected Cyrus to hang back after the sanguinary battle in Cappadocia, but the energetic Cyrus, as soon as he heard that Croesus's forces were dispersed, crossed the Halys and advanced with such speed that he had arrived at the Lydian capital, Sardis, before Croesus had any word of his approach. Undaunted, Croesus mustered his available troops and met Cyrus at the

outside the walls. Cyrus was victorious and had contrived to deprive the Lydians of their last resource, their

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

(in which they allegedly surpassed all other nations at the time) by frightening off their horses with the sight of his

camels A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provide ...

. The remnants of the Lydian army were driven within the city and promptly besieged.

Siege

Croesus was still confident in his chances because

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

was a well-fortified city consecrated by ancient prophecies to never be captured. Additionally, he had sent for immediate aid from

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, the strongest state in Greece and his firm ally, and hoped to enlist the Egyptians, the

Babylonians Babylonia (; , ) was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as an Akkadian-populated but Amorite-ru ...

and others in his coalition against Persia as well. In fact, however, the Spartans were then occupied in a war with neighboring

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece * Argus (Greek myth), several characters in Greek mythology * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer in the United Kingdom Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, and neither they nor any other of Croesus's allies would assemble in time. Cyrus had meanwhile stimulated his troops by the offer of large rewards to the first soldiers who should ascend the battlements, but repeated Persian attacks were repulsed with loss. According to

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, the city ultimately fell by the agency of a Persian soldier, who climbed up a section of the walls that was neither adequately garrisoned nor protected by the ancient rites, which had dedicated the rest of the cities' defenses to impregnability. The steepness of the adjoining ground outside the walls was responsible for that piece of Lydian hubris. Hyroeades, the Persian soldier, saw a Lydian soldier climbing down the walls to retrieve a dropped helmet and tried to follow the example. The success of his ascent set the example to the rest of Cyrus's soldiers, and they swarmed over the exposed wall and promptly took the city.

Aftermath

Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...

had issued orders for

to be spared, and the latter was hauled a captive before his exulting foe. Cyrus' first intentions to burn Croesus alive on a pyre were soon diverted by the impulse of mercy for a fallen foe and, according to ancient versions, by divine intervention of

, who caused a well-timed rainfall. Tradition represents the two kings as reconciled thereafter; Croesus succeeded in preventing the worst rigors of a sack by representing to his captor that it was Cyrus's, not Croesus's, property being plundered by the Persian soldiery.Herodotus, I., p. 77 The kingdom of

came to an end with the fall of Sardis, and its subjection was confirmed in an unsuccessful revolt in the following year that was promptly crushed by Cyrus's lieutenants. The Aeolian and

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

n cities on the coast of

Asia-Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, formerly tributaries of Lydia, were likewise conquered not long afterward. That established the circumstances for Greco-Persian animosity, which would last until the outbreak of the

Persian Wars The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of th ...

in the succeeding century. There was a second siege of Sardis, in 498 BC, during the

Ionian Revolt The Ionian Revolt, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris (Asia Minor), Doris, Ancient history of Cyprus, Cyprus and Caria, were military rebellions by several Greek regions of Asia Minor against Achaemenid Empire, Persian rule, lasting from 499 ...

References

Battles involving Lydia Sardis 547 Battles of Cyrus the Great 6th-century BC conflicts 6th century BC in Iran 6th century BC 546 BC Sardis {{Iran-battle-stub