This article lists the knownkings ofLydia, both legendary and historical. Lydia was an ancient kingdom in westernAnatolia during the first millennium BC. It may have originated as a country in the second millennium BC and was possibly called Maeonia at one time, given thatHerodotus says the people were called Maeonians before they became known asLydians. Herodotus and other sources refer to three dynasties: the Maeoniae,Heracleidae (Heraclids) and Mermnadae. The first two are legendary, though later members of the Heraclid dynasty are at least semi-legendary. The Mermnadae are historical.
The earliest Maeonian or Lydian king mentioned byHerodotus isManes who was the father ofAtys. There was a severe famine during the reign of Atys and half of the citizens, led by Atys' son Tyrrhenus, emigrated to Italy as theTyrrhenians.[1] Other sources, such asStrabo, nameTmolus and his sonTantalus as kings of the region about the same time, supposedly ruling from the land aboutMount Sipylus,[2] but it is asserted that these two were the same people as Manes and Atys, especially asOmphale is a member of both families.[3] Dionysius of Halicarnassus instead puts Cotys as the son of Manes, and as the father of Atys.[4][5]
The known legendary kings are:
Herodotus says that Lydus gave his name to the country and its people.[7] The line of Lydus continued through an unstated number of generations until they, as Herodotus says, "turned over the management of affairs to the Heraclids".[7] He adds that the Heraclids in Lydia were the descendants ofHeracles and a slave-girl belonging to Iardanus; the line was from Heracles throughAlcaeus, Belus and Ninus to Agron who was the first Heraclid king of Lydia.[7]
Herodotus says the Heraclids ruled Lydia for 505 years through 22 generations with son succeeding father all down the line from Agron to Candaules.[8] While Candaules was the last of the Heraclids to reign atSardis, Herodotus says Agron was the first and thereby implies that Sardis was already the capital of Lydia in Maeonian times.[7] Candaules died c. 687 BC and so the 505-year span stated by Herodotus suggests c.1192 BC for Agron's accession.[9]
The known Heraclid kings are:
Although this dynasty is historical, the dates for it have never been determined with certainty. The traditional dates are derived from Herodotus, who gives some reign-lengths, but these have been questioned by modern scholars on the basis of synchronisms withAssyrian history.[11][12][13] The name of the dynasty (Ancient Greek:Μερμνάδαι) may be attested in Lydian transmission as -𐤪𐤷𐤦𐤪𐤫𐤠mλimna-.[14] Etymologically, it possibly contains the Carian wordmno- 'son' or 'descendant', which would then represent an argument for the Carian origin of the Mermnad clan.[14]
There were five kings, all historical figures, in the Mermnad line:
Gyges died in battle c.644 BCE, fighting against theCimmerians, and was succeeded by Ardys.[9] The most successful king was Alyattes, under whom Lydia reached its peak of power and prosperity.[20] Croesus was defeated byCyrus the Great at the battles ofPteria andThymbra. Cyrus annexed Lydia after theSiege of Sardis which ended in early 546 BC, but the fate of Croesus himself is uncertain.[21]
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| Ardys | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sadyattes | Lyde | Miletus | Median dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greek woman | Alyattes | Carian noblewoman | Cyaxares | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pantaleon | Croesus | Aryenis | Astyages | Achaemenid dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Atys | Mandane | Cambyses I | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amytis | Cyrus II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||