| Siege of Sardis (547 BC) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Campaigns ofCyrus the Great | |||||||||
 Remains of theacropolis of Sardis, where Croesus was finally captured[1] | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Lydia | Achaemenid Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Kroisos (POW) | Kyros II Harpagos | ||||||||
  Approximate location of the siege of Sardis | |||||||||
Thesiege of Sardis (547/546 BC) was the last decisive conflict after theBattle of Thymbra, which was fought between the forces ofCroesus ofLydia andCyrus the Great. In the battle, Croesus was defeated and was forced to retreat to his capital atSardis. Cyrus promptly followed Croesus to his city, laid siege to it for 14 days and captured it along with Croesus.[2]
The previous yearCroesus, the king ofLydia, impelled by various considerations, invaded the kingdom ofCyrus the Great. Croesus hoped to quell the growing power ofAchaemenid Persia, expand his own dominions and revenge the deposition of his brother-in-lawAstyages.[3] Also, Croesus thought himself certain of success since he was deluded by the ambiguous assurances of the apparently-reliable oracle ofApollo atDelphi.[4]
Croesus crossed theHalys and met Cyrus atPteria inCappadocia, 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.[5] 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.[6]
Undaunted, Croesus mustered his available troops and met Cyrus at theBattle of Thymbra outside the walls. Cyrus was victorious and had contrived to deprive the Lydians of their last resource, theircavalry (in which they allegedly surpassed all other nations at the time) by frightening off their horses with the sight of hiscamels. The remnants of the Lydian army were driven within the city and promptly besieged.[7]
Croesus was still confident in his chances becauseSardis was a well-fortified city consecrated by ancient prophecies to never be captured. Additionally, he had sent for immediate aid fromSparta, the strongest state in Greece and his firm ally, and hoped to enlist the Egyptians, theBabylonians and others in his coalition against Persia as well. In fact, however, the Spartans were then occupied in a war with neighboringArgos, and neither they nor any other of Croesus's allies would assemble in time.[8]
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 toHerodotus, 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.[9]
Cyrus had issued orders forCroesus 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 ofApollo, who caused a well-timed rainfall.[10] 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.[11]
The kingdom ofLydia 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. TheAeolian andIonian cities on the coast ofAsia-Minor, 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 thePersian Wars in the succeeding century.
There was a second siege of Sardis, in 498 BC, during theIonian Revolt.
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