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Cyrus had captured this Astyages, who was his mother's father, and

kept him prisoner, for a reason which I shall bring forward in another

of my history. This capture formed the ground of quarrel between Cyrus

and Croesus, in consequence of which Croesus sent his servants to

ask the oracle if he should attack the Persians; and when an evasive

answer came, fancying it to be in his favour, carried his arms into

the Persian territory. When he reached the river Halys, he transported

his army across it, as I maintain, by the bridges which exist there

by the aid of Thales the Milesian. The tale is that Croesus was in

doubt how he should get his army across, as the bridges were not made

the stream and caused it to flow on both sides of the army instead

of on the left only. This he effected thus:- Beginning some distance

above the camp, he dug a deep channel, which he brought round in a

semicircle, so that it might pass to rearward of the camp; and that

thus the river, diverted from its natural course into the new channel

of the army, and afterwards fall again into the ancient bed. In this

way the river was split into two streams, which were both easily fordable.

It is said by some that the water was entirely drained off from the

natural bed of the river. But I am of a different opinion; for I do

not see how, in that case, they could have crossed it on their return.

Having passed the Halys with the forces under his command, Croesus

entered the district of Cappadocia which is called Pteria. It lies

in the neighbourhood of the city of Sinope upon the Euxine, and is

the strongest position in the whole country thereabouts. Here Croesus

pitched his camp, and began to ravage the fields of the Syrians. He

besieged and took the chief city of the Pterians, and reduced the

inhabitants to slavery: he likewise made himself master of the surrounding

villages. Thus he brought ruin on the Syrians, who were guilty of

no offence towards him. Meanwhile, Cyrus had levied an army and marched

against Croesus, increasing his numbers at every step by the forces

of the nations that lay in his way. Before beginning his march he

had sent heralds to the Ionians, with an invitation to them to revolt

from the Lydian king: they, however, had refused compliance. Cyrus,

notwithstanding, marched against the enemy, and encamped opposite

them in the district of Pteria, where the trial of strength took place

between the contending powers. The combat was hot and bloody, and

upon both sides the number of the slain was great; nor had victory

declared in favour of either party, when night came down upon the

battle-field. Thus both armies fought valiantly. 

Croesus laid the blame of his ill success on the number of his troops,

which fell very short of the enemy; and as on the next day Cyrus did

not repeat the attack, he set off on his return to Sardis, intending

to collect his allies and renew the contest in the spring. He meant

to call on the Egyptians to send him aid, according to the terms of

the alliance which he had concluded with Amasis, previously to his

league with the Lacedaemonians. He intended also to summon to his

assistance the Babylonians, under their king Labynetus, for they too

were bound to him by treaty: and further, he meant to send word to

Sparta, and appoint a day for the coming of their succours. Having

got together these forces in addition to his own, he would, as soon

as the winter was past and springtime come, march once more against

the Persians. With these intentions Croesus, immediately on his return,

despatched heralds to his various allies, with a request that they

would join him at Sardis in the course of the fifth month from the

time of the departure of his messengers. He then disbanded the army

consisting of mercenary troops- which had been engaged with the Persians

and had since accompanied him to his capital, and let them depart

to their homes, never imagining that Cyrus, after a battle in which

victory had been so evenly balanced, would venture to march upon Sardis.

While Croesus was still in this mind, all the suburbs of Sardis were

found to swarm with snakes, on the appearance of which the horses

left feeding in the pasture-grounds, and flocked to the suburbs to

eat them. The king, who witnessed the unusual sight, regarded it very

rightly as a prodigy. He therefore instantly sent messengers to the

soothsayers of Telmessus, to consult them upon the matter, His messengers

reached the city, and obtained from the Telmessians an explanation

of what the prodigy portended, but fate did not allow them to inform

their lord; for ere they entered Sardis on their return, Croesus was

a prisoner. What the Telmessians had declared was that Croesus must

look for the entry of an army of foreign invaders into his country,

and that when they came they would subdue the native inhabitants;

since the snake, said they, is a child of earth, and the horse a warrior

and a foreigner. Croesus was already a prisoner when the Telmessians

thus answered his inquiry, but they had no knowledge of what was taking

place at Sardis, or of the fate of the monarch. 

Cyrus, however, when Croesus broke up so suddenly from his quarters

after the battle at Pteria, conceiving that he had marched away with

the intention of disbanding his army, considered a little, and soon

saw that it was advisable for him to advance upon Sardis with all

haste, before the Lydians could get their forces together a second

time. Having thus determined, he lost no time in carrying out his

plan. He marched forward with such speed that he was himself the first

to announce his coming to the Lydian king. That monarch, placed in

the utmost difficulty by the turn of events which had gone so entirely

against all his calculations, nevertheless led out the Lydians to

battle. In all Asia there was not at that time a braver or more warlike

people. Their manner of fighting was on horseback; they carried long

lances, and were clever in the management of their steeds.

The two armies met in the plain before Sardis. It is a vast flat,

bare of trees, watered by the Hyllus and a number of other streams,

which all flow into one larger than the rest, called the Hermus. This

river rises in the sacred mountain of the Dindymenian Mother, and

falls into the sea near the town of Phocaea. 

When Cyrus beheld the Lydians arranging themselves in order of battle

on this plain, fearful of the strength of their cavalry, he adopted

a device which Harpagus, one of the Medes, suggested to him. He collected

together all the camels that had come in the train of his army to

carry the provisions and the baggage, and taking off their loads,

he mounted riders upon them accoutred as horsemen. These he commanded

to advance in front of his other troops against the Lydian horse;

behind them were to follow the foot soldiers, and last of all the

cavalry. When his arrangements were complete, he gave his troops orders

to slay all the other Lydians who came in their way without mercy,

but to spare Croesus and not kill him, even if he should be seized

and offer resistance. The reason why Cyrus opposed his camels to the

enemy's horse was because the horse has a natural dread of the camel,

and cannot abide either the sight or the smell of that animal. By

this stratagem he hoped to make Croesus's horse useless to him, the

horse being what he chiefly depended on for victory. The two armies

then joined battle, and immediately the Lydian war-horses, seeing

and smelling the camels, turned round and galloped off; and so it

came to pass that all Croesus's hopes withered away. The Lydians,

however, behaved manfully. As soon as they understood what was happening,

they leaped off their horses, and engaged with the Persians on foot.

The combat was long; but at last, after a great slaughter on both

sides, the Lydians turned and fled. They were driven within their

walls and the Persians laid siege to Sardis. 

Thus the siege began. Meanwhile Croesus, thinking that the place would

hold out no inconsiderable time, sent off fresh heralds to his allies

from the beleaguered town. His former messengers had been charged

to bid them assemble at Sardis in the course of the fifth month; they

whom he now sent were to say that he was already besieged, and to

beseech them to come to his aid with all possible speed. Among his

other allies Croesus did not omit to send to Lacedaemon.

It chanced, however, that the Spartans were themselves just at this

time engaged in a quarrel with the Argives about a place called Thyrea,

which was within the limits of Argolis, but had been seized on by

the Lacedaemonians. Indeed, the whole country westward, as far as

Cape Malea, belonged once to the Argives, and not only that entire

tract upon the mainland, but also Cythera, and the other islands.

The Argives collected troops to resist the seizure of Thyrea, but

before any battle was fought, the two parties came to terms, and it

was agreed that three hundred Spartans and three hundred Argives should

meet and fight for the place, which should belong to the nation with

whom the victory rested. It was stipulated also that the other troops

on each side should return home to their respective countries, and

not remain to witness the combat, as there was danger, if the armies

stayed, that either the one or the other, on seeing their countrymen

undergoing defeat, might hasten to their assistance. These terms being

agreed on, the two armies marched off, leaving three hundred picked

men on each side to fight for the territory. The battle began, and

so equal were the combatants, that at the close of the day, when night

put a stop to the fight, of the whole six hundred only three men remained

alive, two Argives, Alcanor and Chromius, and a single Spartan, Othryadas.

The two Argives, regarding themselves as the victors, hurried to Argos.

Othryadas, the Spartan, remained upon the field, and, stripping the

bodies of the Argives who had fallen, carried their armour to the

Spartan camp. Next day the two armies returned to learn the result.

At first they disputed, both parties claiming the victory, the one,

because they had the greater number of survivors; the other, because

their man remained on the field, and stripped the bodies of the slain,

whereas the two men of the other side ran away; but at last they fell

from words to blows, and a battle was fought, in which both parties

suffered great loss, but at the end the Lacedaemonians gained the

victory. Upon this the Argives, who up to that time had worn their

hair long, cut it off close, and made a law, to which they attached

a curse, binding themselves never more to let their hair grow, and

never to allow their women to wear gold, until they should recover

Thyrea. At the same time the Lacedaemonians made a law the very reverse

of this, namely, to wear their hair long, though they had always before

cut it close. Othryadas himself, it is said, the sole survivor of

the three hundred, prevented by a sense of shame from returning to

Sparta after all his comrades had fallen, laid violent hands upon

himself in Thyrea. 

Although the Spartans were engaged with these matters when the herald

arrived from Sardis to entreat them to come to the assistance of the

besieged king, yet, notwithstanding, they instantly set to work to

afford him help. They had completed their preparations, and the ships

were just ready to start, when a second message informed them that

the place had already fallen, and that Croesus was a prisoner. Deeply

grieved at his misfortune, the Spartans ceased their efforts.

The following is the way in which Sardis was taken. On the fourteenth

day of the siege Cyrus bade some horsemen ride about his lines, and

make proclamation to the whole army that he would give a reward to

the man who should first mount the wall. After this he made an assault,

but without success. His troops retired, but a certain Mardian, Hyroeades

by name, resolved to approach the citadel and attempt it at a place

where no guards were ever set. On this side the rock was so precipitous,

and the citadel (as it seemed) so impregnable, that no fear was entertained

of its being carried in this place. Here was the only portion of the

circuit round which their old king Meles did not carry the lion which

his leman bore to him. For when the Telmessians had declared that

if the lion were taken round the defences, Sardis would be impregnable,

and Meles, in consequence, carried it round the rest of the fortress

where the citadel seemed open to attack, he scorned to take it round

this side, which he looked on as a sheer precipice, and therefore

absolutely secure. It is on that side of the city which faces Mount

Tmolus. Hyroeades, however, having the day before observed a Lydian

soldier descend the rock after a helmet that had rolled down from

the top, and having seen him pick it up and carry it back, thought

over what he had witnessed, and formed his plan. He climbed the rock

himself, and other Persians followed in his track, until a large number

had mounted to the top. Thus was Sardis taken, and given up entirely

to pillage. 

With respect to Croesus himself, this is what befell him at the taking

of the town. He had a son, of whom I made mention above, a worthy

youth, whose only defect was that he was deaf and dumb. In the days

of his prosperity Croesus had done the utmost that be could for him,

and among other plans which he had devised, had sent to Delphi to

consult the oracle on his behalf. The answer which he had received

from the Pythoness ran thus:- 

Lydian, wide-ruling monarch, thou wondrous simple Croesus,

Wish not ever to hear in thy palace the voice thou hast prayed for

Uttering intelligent sounds. Far better thy son should be silent!

Ah! woe worth the day when thine car shall first list to his

accents. 

When the town was taken, one of the Persians was just going to kill

Croesus, not knowing who he was. Croesus saw the man coming, but under

the pressure of his affliction, did not care to avoid the blow, not

minding whether or no he died beneath the stroke. Then this son of

his, who was voiceless, beholding the Persian as he rushed towards

Croesus, in the agony of his fear and grief burst into speech, and

said, "Man, do not kill Croesus." This was the first time that he

had ever spoken a word, but afterwards he retained the power of speech

for the remainder of his life. 

Thus was Sardis taken by the Persians, and Croesus himself fell into

their hands, after having reigned fourteen years, and been besieged

in his capital fourteen days; thus too did Croesus fulfill the oracle,

which said that he should destroy a mighty empire by destroying his

own. Then the Persians who had made Croesus prisoner brought him before

Cyrus. Now a vast pile had been raised by his orders, and Croesus,

laden with fetters, was placed upon it, and with him twice seven of

the sons of the Lydians. I know not whether Cyrus was minded to make

an offering of the to some god or other, or whether he had vowed a

vow and was performing it, or whether, as may well be, he had heard

that Croesus was a holy man, and so wished to see if any of the heavenly

powers would appear to save him from being burnt alive. However it

might be, Cyrus was thus engaged, and Croesus was already on the pile,

when it entered his mind in the depth of his woe that there was a

divine warning in the words which had come to him from the lips of

Solon, "No one while he lives is happy." When this thought smote him

he fetched a long breath, and breaking his deep silence, groaned out

aloud, thrice uttering the name of Solon. Cyrus caught the sounds,

and bade the interpreters inquire of Croesus who it was he called

on. They drew near and asked him, but he held his peace, and for a

long time made no answer to their questionings, until at length, forced

to say something, he exclaimed, "One I would give much to see converse

with every monarch." Not knowing what he meant by this reply, the

interpreters begged him to explain himself; and as they pressed for

an answer, and grew to be troublesome, he told them how, a long time

before, Solon, an Athenian, had come and seen all his splendour, and

made light of it; and how whatever he had said to him had fallen out

exactly as he foreshowed, although it was nothing that especially

concerned him, but applied to all mankind alike, and most to those

who seemed to themselves happy. Meanwhile, as he thus spoke, the pile

was lighted, and the outer portion began to blaze. Then Cyrus, hearing

from the interpreters what Croesus had said, relented, bethinking

himself that he too was a man, and that it was a fellow-man, and one

who had once been as blessed by fortune as himself, that he was burning

alive; afraid, moreover, of retribution, and full of the thought that

whatever is human is insecure. So he bade them quench the blazing

fire as quickly as they could, and take down Croesus and the other

Lydians, which they tried to do, but the flames were not to be mastered.

Then, the Lydians say that Croesus, perceiving by the efforts made

to quench the fire that Cyrus had relented, and seeing also that all

was in vain, and that the men could not get the fire under, called

with a loud voice upon the god Apollo, and prayed him, if he ever

received at his hands any acceptable gift, to come to his aid, and

deliver him from his present danger. As thus with tears he besought

the god, suddenly, though up to that time the sky had been clear and

the day without a breath of wind, dark clouds gathered, and the storm

burst over their heads with rain of such violence, that the flames

were speedily extinguished. Cyrus, convinced by this that Croesus

was a good man and a favourite of heaven, asked him after he was taken

off the pile, "Who it was that had persuaded him to lead an army into

his country, and so become his foe rather than continue his friend?"

to which Croesus made answer as follows: "What I did, oh! king, was

to thy advantage and to my own loss. If there be blame, it rests with

the god of the Greeks, who encouraged me to begin the war. No one

is so foolish as to prefer war to peace, in which, instead of sons

burying their fathers, fathers bury their sons. But the gods willed

it so." 

Thus did Croesus speak. Cyrus then ordered his fetters to be taken

off, and made him sit down near himself, and paid him much respect,

looking upon him, as did also the courtiers, with a sort of wonder.

Croesus, wrapped in thought, uttered no word. After a while, happening

to turn and perceive the Persian soldiers engaged in plundering the

town, he said to Cyrus, "May I now tell thee, oh! king, what I have

in my mind, or is silence best?" Cyrus bade him speak his mind boldly.

Then he put this question: "What is it, oh! Cyrus, which those men

yonder are doing so busily?" "Plundering thy city," Cyrus answered,

"and carrying off thy riches." "Not my city," rejoined the other,

"nor my riches. They are not mine any more. It is thy wealth which

they are pillaging." 

Cyrus, struck by what Croesus had said, bade all the court to withdraw,

and then asked Croesus what he thought it best for him to do as regarded

the plundering. Croesus answered, "Now that the gods have made me

thy slave, oh! Cyrus, it seems to me that it is my part, if I see

anything to thy advantage, to show it to thee. Thy subjects, the Persians,

are a poor people with a proud spirit. If then thou lettest them pillage

and possess themselves of great wealth, I will tell thee what thou

hast to expect at their hands. The man who gets the most, look to

having him rebel against thee. Now then, if my words please thee,

do thus, oh! king:- Let some of thy bodyguards be placed as sentinels

soldiers as they leave the town, and tell them that they do so because

the tenths are due to Jupiter. So wilt thou escape the hatred they

would feel if the plunder were taken away from them by force; and

they, seeing that what is proposed is just, will do it willingly."

Cyrus was beyond measure pleased with this advice, so excellent did

it seem to him. He praised Croesus highly, and gave orders to his

bodyguard to do as he had suggested. Then, turning to Croesus, he

said, "Oh! Croesus, I see that thou are resolved both in speech and

act to show thyself a virtuous prince: ask me, therefore, whatever

thou wilt as a gift at this moment." Croesus replied, "Oh! my lord,

if thou wilt suffer me to send these fetters to the god of the Greeks,

whom I once honoured above all other gods, and ask him if it is his

wont to deceive his benefactors- that will be the highest favour thou

canst confer on me." Cyrus upon this inquired what charge he had to

make against the god. Then Croesus gave him a full account of all

his projects, and of the answers of the oracle, and of the offerings

which he had sent, on which he dwelt especially, and told him how

it was the encouragement given him by the oracle which had led him

to make war upon Persia. All this he related, and at the end again

besought permission to reproach the god with his behaviour. Cyrus

answered with a laugh, "This I readily grant thee, and whatever else

thou shalt at any time ask at my hands." Croesus, finding his request

allowed, sent certain Lydians to Delphi, enjoining them to lay his

fetters upon the threshold of the temple, and ask the god, "If he

were not ashamed of having encouraged him, as the destined destroyer

of the empire of Cyrus, to begin a war with Persia, of which such

were the first-fruits?" As they said this they were to point to the

fetters- and further they were to inquire, "If it was the wont of

the Greek gods to be ungrateful?" 

The Lydians went to Delphi and delivered their message, on which the

Pythoness is said to have replied- "It is not possible even for a

god to escape the decree of destiny. Croesus has been punished for

the sin of his fifth ancestor, who, when he was one of the bodyguard

of the Heraclides, joined in a woman's fraud, and, slaying his master,

wrongfully seized the throne. Apollo was anxious that the fall of

Sardis should not happen in the lifetime of Croesus, but be delayed

to his son's days; he could not, however, persuade the Fates. All

that they were willing to allow he took and gave to Croesus. Let Croesus

know that Apollo delayed the taking of Sardis three full years, and

that he is thus a prisoner three years later than was his destiny.

Moreover it was Apollo who saved him from the burning pile. Nor has

Croesus any right to complain with respect to the oracular answer

which he received. For when the god told him that, if he attacked

the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire, he ought, if he had

been wise, to have sent again and inquired which empire was meant,

that of Cyrus or his own; but if he neither understood what was said,

nor took the trouble to seek for enlightenment, he has only himself

to blame for the result. Besides, he had misunderstood the last answer

which had been given him about the mule. Cyrus was that mule. For

the parents of Cyrus were of different races, and of different conditions-

his mother a Median princess, daughter of King Astyages, and his father

a Persian and a subject, who, though so far beneath her in all respects,

had married his royal mistress." 

Such was the answer of the Pythoness. The Lydians returned to Sardis

and communicated it to Croesus, who confessed, on hearing it, that

the fault was his, not the god's. Such was the way in which Ionia

was first conquered, and so was the empire of Croesus brought to a

close. 

Besides the offerings which have been already mentioned, there are

many others in various parts of Greece presented by Croesus; as at

Thebes in Boeotia, where there is a golden tripod, dedicated by him

to Ismenian Apollo; at Ephesus, where the golden heifers, and most

of the columns are his gift; and at Delphi, in the temple of Pronaia,

where there is a huge shield in gold, which he gave. All these offerings

were still in existence in my day; many others have perished: among

them those which he dedicated at Branchidae in Milesia, equal in weight,

as I am informed, and in all respects like to those at Delphi. The

Delphian presents, and those sent to Amphiaraus, came from his own

private property, being the first-fruits of the fortune which he inherited

from his father; his other offerings came from the riches of an enemy,

who, before he mounted the throne, headed a party against him, with

the view of obtaining the crown of Lydia for Pantaleon. This Pantaleon

was a son of Alyattes, but by a different mother from Croesus; for

the mother of Croesus was a Carian woman, but the mother of Pantaleon

an Ionian. When, by the appointment of his father, Croesus obtained

the kingly dignity, he seized the man who had plotted against him,

and broke him upon the wheel. His property, which he had previously

devoted to the service of the gods, Croesus applied in the way mentioned

above. This is all I shall say about his offerings. 

Lydia, unlike most other countries, scarcely offers any wonders for

the historian to describe, except the gold-dust which is washed down

from the range of Tmolus. It has, however, one structure of enormous

size, only inferior to the monuments of Egypt and Babylon. This is

the tomb of Alyattes, the father of Croesus, the base of which is

formed of immense blocks of stone, the rest being a vast mound of

earth. It was raised by the joint labour of the tradesmen, handicraftsmen,

and courtesans of Sardis, and had at the top five stone pillars, which

remained to my day, with inscriptions cut on them, showing how much

of the work was done by each class of workpeople. It appeared on measurement

that the portion of the courtesans was the largest. The daughters

of the common people in Lydia, one and all, pursue this traffic, wishing

to collect money for their portions. They continue the practice till

they marry; and are wont to contract themselves in marriage. The tomb

is six stades and two plethra in circumference; its breadth is thirteen

plethra. Close to the tomb is a large lake, which the Lydians say

is never dry. They call it the Lake Gygaea. 

The Lydians have very nearly the same customs as the Greeks, with

the exception that these last do not bring up their girls in the same

way. So far as we have any knowledge, they were the first nation to

introduce the use of gold and silver coin, and the first who sold

goods by retail. They claim also the invention of all the games which

are common to them with the Greeks. These they declare that they invented

about the time when they colonised Tyrrhenia, an event of which they

give the following account. In the days of Atys, the son of Manes,

there was great scarcity through the whole land of Lydia. For some

time the Lydians bore the affliction patiently, but finding that it

did not pass away, they set to work to devise remedies for the evil.

Various expedients were discovered by various persons; dice, and huckle-bones,

and ball, and all such games were invented, except tables, the invention

of which they do not claim as theirs. The plan adopted against the

famine was to engage in games one day so entirely as not to feel any

craving for food, and the next day to eat and abstain from games.

In this way they passed eighteen years. Still the affliction continued

and even became more grievous. So the king determined to divide the

nation in half, and to make the two portions draw lots, the one to

stay, the other to leave the land. He would continue to reign over

those whose lot it should be to remain behind; the emigrants should

have his son Tyrrhenus for their leader. The lot was cast, and they

who had to emigrate went down to Smyrna, and built themselves ships,

in which, after they had put on board all needful stores, they sailed

away in search of new homes and better sustenance. After sailing past

many countries they came to Umbria, where they built cities for themselves,

and fixed their residence. Their former name of Lydians they laid

aside, and called themselves after the name of the king's son, who

led the colony, Tyrrhenians.