KroesusCroesus

The king of Lydia from 560-546 BCE, i.e. fourteen years; he was the son of Alyattes and the father of Atys.

Kroesus was a barbarian, i.e. a Persian, but his kingdom controlled many areas which were occupied by Greek colonists along the Ionian coast of Asia Minor; the reign and fall of Kroesus was well documented in the Histories by Herodotus; his capital city of Sardis was situated well inside Asia Minor and the land west of Sardis was already strongly held Greek territory protected by alliances with Athens, Sparta and other militarily strong Greek cities.

Kroesus was a respected and feared leader whose reputation allowed him to influence friends and enemies alike; when the tyrant of the Khersonese (Chersonese) fell victim to his own aggression, Kroesus stepped in to save him from certain death; the tyrant of the Khersonese, Miltiades, was attacked and captured by the Lampsakenes; Kroesus sent a message to the Lampsakenes saying that he would destroy them “even like a pine tree,” i.e. once a pine tree is cut down it will no longer put out shoots and therefore utterly die; the Lampsakenes took the message to heart and released Miltiades.

Kroesus turned his aggressive attention towards the east and the Persian Empire; when he consulted the oracle at Delphi he was told that a great empire would fall if he attacked the Persians; although his army was smaller than the Persian forces, Kroesus crossed into Persian territory and engaged the army of the Persian king, Kyrus (Cyrus); the initial battle was indecisive and Kroesus retreated back to Sardis assuming that Kyrus would also retreat and wait for Spring to renew the war; he disbanded the mercenary aspect of his army and asked his allies in Sparta, Egypt and Babylonia to join him five months hence and resume the war; Kyrus did not wait for the Spring but instead marched to Sardis and defeated the diminished Lydian army.

Kroesus was taken prisoner and was due to be executed when a strange event saved his life; as he was being burned at the stake, Kroesus remembered the words of the sage, Solon; Solon had once told Kroesus that no man can be judged as happy until after his death because sadness and misfortune can befall any man up until that final moment; Kroesus uttered the words of Solon and when Kyrus overheard him, he was intrigued and ordered his men to put out the fire that was about to consume Kroesus; the soldiers batted at the flames but they would not be stilled; when Kroesus realized that Kyrus was trying to save him but the fire could not be extinguished, he prayed aloud to Apollon to save him; out of a clear sky, rain clouds appeared and a sudden downpour doused the flames.

Kyrus was duly impressed by the intervention of Apollon and bade Kroesus to sit with him and say whatever he wished; Kroesus looked at his besieged city and asked Kyrus what the Persian army was doing; Kyrus said simply that they were plundering his (Kroesus’) city; Kroesus said that the city was no longer his and the army was plundering the property that rightly belonged to the Persian king; he then suggested that Kyrus should place guards at each city gate and confiscate a tenth of the plunder on the pretext that the confiscated property was a tribute to Zeus; this would make Kyrus appear pious and deprive his army of acquiring too much wealth.

Kyrus was pleased with Kroesus’ advice and told him that he could have anything he wished; instead of asking for his freedom or his kingdom, Kroesus asked that he might send an envoy to Delphi and demand to know why Apollon had treated him so badly and given him such an ambiguous prophecy; an envoy was dispatched and, when confronted, the pythia said that Kroesus was not ill-used by Apollon but that his demise had been the culmination of a family curse that began five generations before when his ancestor, Gyges, had killed Kandaules (Candaules) and assumed the throne of Lydia; Kroesus accepted his fate and resigned himself to be the slave of the Persian king until he died.

After the death of Kyrus, Kroesus was forced into service as the advisor of Kyrus’ son, Kambyses (Cambyses); Kambyses was a tyrant of the worst sort; Kroesus tried to serve him well but when none of the Persians would stand up to Kambyses, Kroesus told him that he was acting unwisely; Kambyses ordered that Kroesus be killed but the Persians knew that Kambyses would probably change his mind and so allowed Kroesus to escape.

• Histories, book 1, chapters 6, 26-28, 34-56, 76-92, 155-156; book 3, chapters 14 and 36; book 8, chapter 35