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Atitular see of Lydia, inAsia Minor probably the ancient Hyde of Homer (Iliad, II, 844; XX, 385), at the foot of Mount Tmolus; see also Strabo (XIII, iv, 5); Pliny (Hist. nat., v, 29), Stephen of Byzantium, s.v. The name Sardes, which replaced that of Hyde, seems to have been derived from the Shardani, a people mentioned in the cuneiform inscriptions as inhabiting this region. At an early period Sardes was the capital of the Lydians, an early dynasty of whom reigned from 766 to 687 B.C.; a second, that of Mermnades founded by Gyges in 687 B.C., reigned until 546 B.C. Its last king, the celebrated Croesus, was dethroned by Cyrus. Thenceforth it was the residence of the Persian satraps, who administered the conquered kingdom. The capture of the city by the Ionians and the Athenians in 498 B.C. was the cause ofwars between thePersians and Greeks. In 334 it surrendered without a struggle to Alexander the Great, after whose death it belonged to Antigonus until 301, when it fell into the power of theSeleucides. Antiochus III having been defeated atMagnesia by the Romans 190 B.C., Sardes was incorporated with the Kingdom ofPergamus, then with the Roman Empire, becoming the capital of the Province of Lydia. The famous river Pactolus flowed through itsagora, or forum.
In theApocalypse (3:1-3) a letter is written to theChurch of Sardes by St. John, who utters keen reproaches against it and itsbishop. Among itsmartyrs are mentioned thepriest Therapon,venerated 27 May, and Apollonius (10 July). Among itsbishops, of whomLe Quien (Oriens Christ., I, 859-66) gives a long list, were St. Meliton (second century), writer andapologist;St. Euthymius,martyred for the veneration of images (26 Dec., 824); John, his successor who also suffered for the Faith; Andronicus, who made several attempts for the reunion of the Churches. As religiousmetropolis of Lydia, Sardes ranked sixth in thehierarchy. As early as the seventh century (Gelzer, "Ungedruckte. . .Texte der Notitiae episcopatuum," 537), it had 27 suffragans, which number scarcely varied until the end of the tenth century. At the beginning of the fourteenth century the town, which was still very populous, was captured and destroyed by theTurks. In 1369 it ceased to exist, and Philadelphia replaced it asmetropolis (Waeechter,"Der Verfall des Griechentums in Kleinaim XIV Jahrhundert," 44-46). Since then it has been a Greektitularmetropolitansee. At present, under the name of Sart, it is but a miserableTurkish village in the sandjak of Saroukhan, and the vilayet ofSmyrna. Not one well-preserved and important monument is found among the very extensive ruins.
ARUNDELL, Discoveries in Asia Minor, I (London, 1834), 26-28; FELLOW, Journal written during an excursion in Asia Minor (London, 1839), 289-295; HEAD, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Lydia (London, 1901, 236-77); RAMSAY, The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia (London, 1908), 354-68; SMITH, Dict. Greek and Roman Geog., s.v.; FILLION in VIG., Dict. de la Bib., s.v.; RADET, La Lydie et le monde grec au temps des Mermnades (Paris, 1893); TCHIHATCHEF, Asie Mineure, I, 232-42; TEXIER, Asie Mineure (Paris, 1862): 252-59; PARGOIRE, Saint-Euthyme et Jean de Sardes in Echos d'Orient, V, 157-61; LE CAMUS, Les sept Eglises de l'Apocalypse (Paris, 1896), 218-30; LAMPAKES, The Seven Stars of the Apocalypse, in Greek (Athens, 1909).
APA citation.Vailhé, S.(1912).Sardes. InThe Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13472a.htm
MLA citation.Vailhé, Siméon."Sardes."The Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 13.New York: Robert Appleton Company,1912.<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13472a.htm>.
Transcription.This article was transcribed for New Advent by John Fobian.In memory of Sandra Fielding.
Ecclesiastical approbation.Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, D.D., Censor.Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
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