After Cyrus completed the conquest of Lydia, the Ionian cities now offered to be his subjects under the same terms as they had been subjects of Croesus.

After Cyrus finished the conquest of Lydia, the Ionian cities now offered to be his subjects under the same terms as they had been subjects of Croesus.

At the time when Croesus sent his embassy to form alliance with " the mightiest of the Greeks ," i. e. about 554, the war with Tegea, which in the late reigns went against them, had now been decided in the Spartans ' favour, under Anaxandrides and Ariston.

Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, poses the question and is disappointed by Solon's response: that three have been happier than Croesus, Tellus, who died fighting for his country, and Kleobis and Biton, brothers who died peacefully in their sleep when their mother prayed for their perfect happiness, after they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves.

He inherited a large empire, ruled in alliance with his two brothers-in-law, Croesus of Lydia and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whose wife, Amytis, Astyages ' sister, was the queen for whom Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

He also married a Greek princess named Ladice daughter of King Battus III and made alliances with Polycrates of Samos and Croesus of Lydia.

Anacharsis to Croesus: O king of the Lydians, I am come to the country of the Greeks, in order to become acquainted with their customs and institutions ; but I have no need of gold, and shall be quite contented if I return to Scythia a better man than I left it.

It was only with the recovery of Phoenician trade in the ninth and tenth centuries BC that saw a return to prosperity, and the appearance of real coinage, possibly first in Anatolia with Croesus of Lydia and subsequently with the Greeks and Persians.

Later on, the military power of Alyattes and Croesus expanded Lydia into an empire, with its capital at Sardis, which controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except Lycia.

Croesus proclaimed the oracle at Delphi to be the most accurate, who correctly reported that the king was making a lamb-and-tortoise stew, and so he graced her with a magnitude of precious gifts.

According to Herodotus and Plutarch, he met with Croesus and gave the Lydian king advice, which however Croesus failed to appreciate until it was too late.

Many of his epithets however serve a thematic and not just a decorative function, as for instance in Ode 3, where the " bronze-walled court " and " well-built halls " of Croesus ( Ode 3. 30 – 31 and 3. 46 ) contrast architecturally with the " wooden house " of his funeral pyre ( Ode 3. 49 ), in an effect that aims at pathos and which underscores the moral of the ode.

Croesus is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardised purity for general circulation.

Herodotus presents the Lydian accounts of the conversation with Solon ( Histories 1. 29 -. 33 ), the tragedy of Croesus ' son Atys ( Histories 1. 34 -. 45 ) and the fall of Croesus ( Histories 1. 85 -. 89 ); Xenophon instances Croesus in his panegyric fictionalized biography of Cyrus: Cyropaedia, 7. 1 ; and Ctesias, whose account is also an encomium of Cyrus.

Croesus ' uneasy relations with the Greeks obscures the larger fact that he was the last bastion of the Ionian cities against the increasing Persian power in Anatolia.

The oracles answered, with typical ambiguity, that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire – this would become one of the most famous oracular statements from Delphi.

Croesus was also advised to find out which Greek state was most powerful and to ally himself with it.

In Bacchylides ' ode, composed for Hiero of Syracuse, who won the chariot race at Olympia in 468, Croesus with his wife and family mounted the funeral pyre, but before the flames could envelop the king, he was snatched up by Apollo and spirited away to the Hyperboreans.

The interpreters returned the answer that Solon had warned Croesus of the fickleness of good fortune: see Interview with Solon below.

It has long been assumed that this sign should have been LU, so that the country referred to would be Lydia, with Croesus as the king that was killed.

The episode of Croesus ' interview with Solon reported by Herodotus is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject " Which man is happy?

They were incorporated by king Croesus within the Lydian monarchy, with which they fell under the dominion of Persia ( 546 BC ), and were included in the satrapy of Phrygia, which comprised all the countries up to the Hellespont and Bosporus.

Phocaea remained independent until the reign of the Lydian king Croesus ( circa 560 – 545 BC ), when they, along with the rest of mainland Ionia, first, fell under Lydian control and then, along with Lydia ( who had allied itself with Sparta ) were conquered by Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC, in one of the opening skirmishes of the great Greco-Persian conflict.

It was famous in antiquity for its oracle of Apollo Abaeus, one of those consulted by Croesus, king of Lydia, and Mardonius, among others.

As was usual in those days, the armies would disband for winter and Croesus did accordingly.

Croesus had considered himself to be the happiest man alive and Solon had advised him, " Count no man happy until he be dead ", because at any minute, fortune might turn on even the happiest man and make his life miserable.

It was only after he had lost his kingdom to the Persian king Cyrus, while awaiting execution, that Croesus acknowledged the wisdom of Solon's advice.

Evans remarked, " Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology.

King Croesus ' gold coins follow the first silver coins that had been minted by King Pheidon of Argos around 700 BC.

Born about 595 BC, Croesus received tribute from the Ionian Greeks but was friendlier to the Hellenes than his father had been.

* Herodotus ' account of Croesus ( from the Perseus Project ): see 1. 6-94 ; contains links Croesus was the son of Alyattes II and continued the conquest of Ionian cities of Asia Minor that his father had begun to both English and Greek versions

Cyrus has been known for sparing the lives of the kings whom he had defeated, an idea that is based on his treatment of King Croesus of Lydia, who was allowed to live after his defeat at King Cyrus's court as an advisor.

The cities of Ionia had remained independent until they were conquered by the famous Lydian king Croesus, in around 560 BC.

The cities of Ionia had remained independent until they were conquered by the famous Lydian king Croesus, in around 560 BC.

Cyrus's plan was to catch the Lydian king unprepared for battle, but at Thymbra Croesus had more than twice as many men as Cyrus.

The same historian says Croesus had 420, 000 men in total, which was composed of 60, 000 Babylonians, Lydians, and Phrygians, also Cappadocians, plus nations of the Hellespont, which amounted to 300, 000 men which also had 60, 000 cavalry in them.

Croesus ' wealth had repercussions on a number of Asian cultures in a vein similar to his fame in the western cultures, and is referred to either as Qarun ( Arabic ) or Karun ( Turkish ), with the mythical proportions of his fortune also echoed in various ways, parallel to the English language expression " as rich as Croesus ".

In the mid-sixth century the face of Apollo had been veneered with gold from Lydia, the gift of Croesus.

In particular, the tomb at Pasargadae has almost exactly the same dimensions as the tomb of Alyattes II, father of the Lydian King Croesus ; however, some have refused the claim ( according to Herodotus, Croesus was spared by Cyrus during the conquest of Lydia, and became a member of Cyrus ' court ).

According to Herodotus, Mandana was born to Astyages, King of Media and son of Cyaxares the Great, and Princess Aryenis of Lydia, daughter of Alyattes II, the father of Croesus of Lydia.

According to the Greek author Herodotus, Cyrus treated Croesus well and with respect after the battle, but this is contradicted by the Nabonidus Chronicle, one of the Babylonian Chronicles ( although whether or not the text refers to Lydia's king or prince is unclear ).