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“O King, I acted thus for your good fortune, but for my own ill fortune. The god of the Hellenes is responsible for these things, inciting me to wage war. No one is so foolish as to choose war over peace. In peace sons bury their fathers, in war fathers bury their sons. But I suppose it was dear to the divinity that this be so.”
CROESUS TO CYRUS; HISTORIES, BOOK 1.87; A. D. GODLEY TRANSLATION
Summary
Croesus crossed the Halys, the river that marked the boundary between the Lydian empire and the Persian empire, and attacked Cappadocia, a region controlled by the Persians. Croesus subjugated the Cappadocians which caused Cyrus to launch a counterattack upon the Lydians. Although the Lydian army was smaller than the Persian army, The Persians and Lydians fought to a stalemate.
Herodotus explains that, aside from Croesus’ interpretation of Delphi’s oracle that he would destroy a great empire, Croesus wanted to depose Cyrus because he overthrew the previous king Astyages, who was Croesus’ brother-in-law. When Croesus’ father was king, the Lydians and the Medians1 went to war for five years because the Lydians harbored fugitives the Medians wanted returned to them. After a solar eclipse occurred,2 the two armies stopped fighting and made a peace agreement. Part of that agreement was that Croesus’ sister would be sent to the Medians and marry Astyages.
Herodotus also tells of how Croesus managed to cross the river Halys. According to the Greeks, Thales3 devised a plan to make the river Halys safer to cross. He dug a trench upstream which caused the river to flow in two different places, thereby lowering the volume of water in the spot the Lydians needed to cross.
After the Lydians and Persians fought to a stalemate, Croesus thought it would be okay to disband the army and return to Sardis, thinking that Cyrus wouldn’t dare attack after the stalemate. He sent messengers to petition the help of his allies—especially the Lacedaemonians whom he just formed an alliance with (and whom he thought would help ensure his victory over the Persians). He asked them to join him in five months, after winter was over.
When Cyrus learned Croesus returned to Sardis, he marched his army into Lydia and attacked Sardis. Croesus gathered up his cavalry to launch a counterattack which made Cyrus hesitant. The Lydian cavalry were notoriously fierce and difficult to deal with. One of Cyrus’ advisors told him to gather their camels, which were being used as pack animals, have men ride them in the front, and charge the Lydian army. Horses were known for not liking the looks or smell of camels, so when the camel riders came after the Lydian cavalry, the horses fled, forcing their riders to fight on foot. The Persians then laid siege to Sardis.
Croesus sent a messenger to Sparta, informing them that he needed their help immediately rather than after the winter, but by the time they got the message, Sardis had already fallen. Fourteen days after the siege began, one of Cyrus’ men found a lightly guarded area on Sardis’ walls, led the army over the wall, and sacked the city.
Croesus was brought before Cyrus chained to a pyre. After the fire was lit, it was then Croesus realized that what Solon had told him during his visit, that no one can be considered fortunate until their death, was correct all along and began calling out his name. Cyrus heard this and forced Croesus to explain himself. When Croesus did, Cyrus saw the wisdom in Solon’s words and ordered the flames to be extinguished. The fire, however, couldn’t be contained. When Croesus saw that Cyrus was trying to spare his life, he called out to Apollo. The clear sky suddenly became stormy and a heavy rain extinguished the fire.
After witnessing all of this, Cyrus had Croesus brought to him. He first asked Croesus why he attacked the Persians and Croesus responded that the Greek god Apollo tricked him into attacking the Persians, convincing him he could win. When Croesus gave Cyrus some good advice about another matter, Cyrus determined Croesus would be a valuable advisor and decided to keep him close. Seeing that he had Cyrus’ favor, Croesus asked if he could confront the oracle at Delphi about their trickery and Cyrus agreed. Croesus sent some messengers to Delphi with Croesus’ accusations. Delphi responded that Croesus interpreted their oracle how he wanted to rather than asking for clarification about whose empire would fall if Croesus attacked. Croesus also didn’t bother asking for clarification about the “mule” that would rule the Medes and be Croesus’ downfall (the mule was Cyrus because he was mixed, Median and Persian, just like a mule is a mixed animal). Plus, was it not Apollo, the very god he accused of deception, that saved him from the burning pyre? When Croesus heard Delphi’s response, he stopped blaming the gods for his downfall and instead blamed himself.
Thus was the end of the reign of Croesus, king of Lydia, as well as the Lydian empire.
I Left Out a Lot
I left out a lot in my summary. If I hadn’t, it would be far too long for this blog post. The story about the fugitives the Lydians harbored is full of intrigue. I also omitted a story about a strange omen that foreshadowed Sardis’ doom, as well as a story about Croesus’ mute son speaking for the first time. Lastly, I didn’t give justice to the interactions between Croesus and Cyrus. Book 1.86-90 is well worth reading if you’re not reading the Histories along with me.
The Prideful Ruler Turned Wise Advisor
Even though we have now come to the end of Croesus’ reign as king of Lydia, it won’t be the last time he will appear in Herodotus’ account. Herodotus shows that Cyrus took a real liking to Croesus and made him an advisor. Croesus will prove to be a well regarded advisor not just to Cyrus, but to his son Cambyses as well.
It’s really interesting seeing the shift. Croesus goes from a ruler full of hubris, thinking we was on top of the world and indestructible, to a humbled and wise slave to the Persian royal family. I’ve noticed that this is a bit of a trope: a great man experiences a downfall due to his own actions and becomes a valuable advisor to others or a critical member of a community.
The Lydians Invented… Escapism?
According to Herodotus, the Lydians, long before Croesus, were the first ones to invent several games that were enjoyed in that day: dice, knuckle-bones, ball, and others. Why the Lydians invented these games, though, is the most interesting part.
The Lydians were suffering through a severe famine and were looking for ways to alleviate their suffering. Eventually, they came up with these games.
Then, using their discovery to lighten the famine, every other day they would play for the whole day, so that they would not have to look for food, and they next day they quit their play and ate. This was their way of life for eighteen years. (1.94)
Whether to take their minds off of their suffering, or to stretch out their food supply, or both, they would spend every other day playing games. To put it another way, they used entertainment to help them through their suffering. They used escapism.
Did it help?
Of course it didn’t.
But the famine did not cease to trouble them, and instead afflicted them even more. (1.94)
They were escaping their suffering, not eliminating it.
After this, the king divided the Lydians into two groups. One group stayed with the king while the other group left with his son, the prince. They eventually set up a colony in what is now northern Italy.
This is one of those stories where you can say: “there is nothing new under the sun.”
Escapism is understandable. Most of us engage in it. It’s often far easier to escape than to solve the problem that is causing us to want to escape. That’s because the solution could be painful, or upend your life, or cause you to separate from others you feel obligated to. So, we ignore the problem and soldier on. But, at the end of the day, the problem will still be there waiting for us when we return.
That’s the truly sad thing about escapism: it’s poorly worded. You’re not really escaping anything. You’re just turning your eyes away from the problem until you’re forced to look at it again. Often, this leads to the problem getting worse. Eventually, you’ll no longer be able to ignore it. The problem will force you to make a choice.
It was the same way with the Lydians. They ignored the famine with games for eighteen years! It wasn’t until they reached a breaking point that they implemented a (very painful) solution. What if they had put that plan into place eighteen years earlier? Yeah, it would have been terrible, but they would have had more resources to work with. Fewer people dead from starvation. Eighteen additional years for the colony to establish itself.
Instead, they wasted those eighteen years putting off the solution they probably knew they had to implement from the start.
That's all for the Histories, Book 1.71-94.
May your days be filled with grace.
-Andronikos
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Thumbnail: Croesus on the Funeral Pyre by Hermann Vogel. 1878. Public domain.
1The Medians were the ones in control before the Persians took over the empire under Cyrus. Herodotus explains that before Cyrus took over, the Medians considered themselves superior to the Persians. Cyrus was the son of a Median princess and a Persian man (see 1.91). When Cyrus overthrew the Median king Astyages, the Persians took over.
2This eclipse happened on May 28, 585 BC. The amazing thing about eclipses is that they can be traced to not just the year, but the very day they occurred. It’s thanks to the ancients recording these events (especially the Assyrians) that we have better approximations for when different events occurred and which kings were in power at the time.
3Recall that Thales of Miletus is one of the Seven Sages of Greece. He is considered the father of western philosophy because he was one of the first to seek explanations for natural phenomena outside of the mythical. He is known for coining the phrase “Know thyself” which was popularized by Socrates and Plato. Thales had also predicted the solar eclipse that ended the war between the Lydians and Medians.