Lydia

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Lydia

Defining LydiaAside from a legend related by HerodotusHerodotus Overview

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father o...
, who states that the name Lydia came from king LydusLydus

Lydus was the third king of Maeonia in succession to his father Atys....
at the time of the fall of TroyTroy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Trojan War cycle, especially in the Iliad, o...
(the Bronze AgeBronze Age

The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced metalworking included technique...
), and that Lydus' brother TyrrhenusTyrrhenus

In Etruscan mythology, Tyrrhenus was one of the founders of the Etruscan Federation of twelve cities, along with his brother...
led the Tyrrhenians to Italy, the name Lydia is limited to Greek and AssyrianAssyrian

Assyrian may refer to:*Anything from Assyria, an ancient empire in Mesopotamia...
records and Biblical passages no earlier than the 8th century BC. It seems to be associated with Guggu of Luddu in Assyrian records, who acceded to the throne about 680 BC as the first of the Mermnad DynastyList of Kings of Lydia

This page lists Kings of Lydia, an ancient Kingdom in western Anatolia, based on the city of Sardis....
.

Despite events portrayed as historic in VirgilVirgil

Publius Vergilius Maro , later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Vergil, was an ancient ...
's epic poem the AeneidAeneid Overview

The Aeneid : is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan...
, the Bronze Age Sea PeopleSea Peoples

Sea Peoples is the term used for a mysterious confederacy of seafaring raiders who sailed into the eastern shores of the Med...
called the Teresh and the Etruscan-like language of the Lemnos stele, the recent decipherment of LydianLydian language

Lydian was an Indo-European language that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Western Anatolia, present-day Turkey....
and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even in the same language family; moreover, there is no substantial evidence of Etruscans in Lydia.

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Defining Lydia

Aside from a legend related by HerodotusHerodotus Overview

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father o...
, who states that the name Lydia came from king LydusLydus

Lydus was the third king of Maeonia in succession to his father Atys....
at the time of the fall of TroyTroy

Troy is a legendary city and center of the Trojan War, as described in the Trojan War cycle, especially in the Iliad, o...
(the Bronze AgeBronze Age

The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced metalworking included technique...
), and that Lydus' brother TyrrhenusTyrrhenus

In Etruscan mythology, Tyrrhenus was one of the founders of the Etruscan Federation of twelve cities, along with his brother...
led the Tyrrhenians to Italy, the name Lydia is limited to Greek and AssyrianAssyrian

Assyrian may refer to:*Anything from Assyria, an ancient empire in Mesopotamia...
records and Biblical passages no earlier than the 8th century BC. It seems to be associated with Guggu of Luddu in Assyrian records, who acceded to the throne about 680 BC as the first of the Mermnad DynastyList of Kings of Lydia

This page lists Kings of Lydia, an ancient Kingdom in western Anatolia, based on the city of Sardis....
.

Despite events portrayed as historic in VirgilVirgil

Publius Vergilius Maro , later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or Vergil, was an ancient ...
's epic poem the AeneidAeneid Overview

The Aeneid : is a Latin epic written by Virgil in the 1st century BC that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan...
, the Bronze Age Sea PeopleSea Peoples

Sea Peoples is the term used for a mysterious confederacy of seafaring raiders who sailed into the eastern shores of the Med...
called the Teresh and the Etruscan-like language of the Lemnos stele, the recent decipherment of LydianLydian language

Lydian was an Indo-European language that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Western Anatolia, present-day Turkey....
and its classification as an Anatolian language mean that Etruscan and Lydian were not even in the same language family; moreover, there is no substantial evidence of Etruscans in Lydia. Since Ionia was between historical Lydia and the sea, the Lydians had no coastline from as early as at least the 10th century BC from which to launch and maintain fleets. Historic Lydia was not a maritime power, and there is no documentary evidence of any state or people possibly called Luddu before the 8th century BC.

While the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible

Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons....
mentions LudLud son of Shem Overview

Lud was a Shemite grandson of Noah....
in three different places, scholars of various religions are not agreed as to whether all these represent the same entity. The only instance generally agreed to refer to the Anatolian Lydia occurs in IsaiahIsaiah

Isaiah or Yeshayhu was the son of Amoz, and commonly considered the author of the Book of Isaiah....
66:19 where Lud is listed with Javan (Ionia) as being one of the people "that draw the bow" who have not heard of God.

The name Lydia and its Biblical and Assyrian forms appear to have been or were derived from an exonym assigned by the Ionian Greeks (who invaded the coastal part of their country) on the basis of some now unknown understanding. The endonym survives in a larger and more official body of records inscribed in bilingual and trilingual stone-carved notices of the Achaemenid EmpireAchaemenid Empire Overview

The Achaemenid Empire was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire with high cultural and economical achievements during its ...
: LydianLydian language

Lydian was an Indo-European language that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Western Anatolia, present-day Turkey....
Sfard, the satrapy of Sparda, Aramaic Saparda, Babylonian Sapardu, Elamitic Išbarda. These in the Greek tradition are associated with SardisSardis

Sardis, , modern Sart in the Manisa province of Turkey, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, the seat of a p...
, the capital city of GygesGyges

Gyges can be:* A figure from Greek mythology, one of the Hecatonchires...
, constructed in the 7th century BC. The inscriptions mean, however, the entire state; moreover, the entire people.

This array of names evidences the development of the Lydian languageLydian language

Lydian was an Indo-European language that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Western Anatolia, present-day Turkey....
itself: Anatolian p became f and there was extensive syncopeFacts About Syncope

In linguistics, syncope is the loss of one or more sounds or letters in the interior of a word or from a phrase treated as a...
of vowels. Saparda must precede Sfard. If the SepharadSepharad

Sepharad is a Biblical placename of uncertain location....
of the Hebrew BibleHebrew Bible Summary

Hebrew Bible is a term that refers to the common portions of the Jewish and Christian biblical canons....
is Sfard that word can be dated to at least as early as 600 BC, before the Persians invaded Lydia.

Like the Lydian language, the names Lydia and Sfard seem to have appeared out of the Greek Dark AgesGreek Dark Ages

The Greek Dark Ages refers to the period of Greek history from the presumed Dorian invasion and end of the Mycenaean civiliz...
without documentation of their immediate precedents or any known connections to the historical records of the Bronze AgeBronze Age Summary

The term Bronze Age refers to a period in human cultural development when the most advanced metalworking included technique...
. The cultural ancestors appear to have been associated with or part of the Luwian political entity of ArzawaArzawa

Arzawa is a region or kingdom in what was later to be known as Lydia in Western Anatolia....
and yet Lydian is not part of the Luwian subgroup (as is CarianCarian language

The Carian language was the language of the Carians....
and LycianLycian language

Lycian was an Indo-European language, one of the Anatolian languages, that was spoken in the Iron age region of Lycia in Ana...
). The ancestral population was Anatolian but not Luwian. In this gap the Greeks placed the Maeonians of the Trojan Battle OrderTrojan Battle Order

The Trojan Battle Order is a section of the second book of the Iliad....
but the connections are essentially legendary; no documents illuminate them.

Geography

The boundaries of historical Lydia varied across the centuries. It was first bounded by MysiaMysia

Mysia was a region in the northwest of Turkey....
, CariaFacts About Caria

Caria was a region of the Asia Minor situated south of Ionia and west of Phrygia and Lycia....
, Phrygia and coastal IoniaIonia

Ionia was an ancient region of southwestern coastal Anatolia on the Aegean Sea....
. Later on, the military power of AlyattesAlyattes

Alyattes may refer to:* Alyattes I, king of Lydia...
and Croesus expanded Lydia into an empire, with its capital at Sardis, which controlled all Asia Minor west of the River Halys, except LyciaLycia

Lycia is a region in the modern day Antalya Province on the southern coast of Turkey....
. Lydia never again shrank back into its original dimensions. After the Persian conquest the Maeander was regarded as its southern boundary, and under Rome, Lydia comprised the country between Mysia and Caria on the one side and Phrygia and the AegeanAegean Sea

The Aegean Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, located between the Greek peninsula and Anatolia....
on the other.

Language

The Lydian languageLydian language

Lydian was an Indo-European language that was spoken in the state of Lydia in Western Anatolia, present-day Turkey....
was an Indo-European language in the Anatolian language familyAnatolian languages

The Anatolian languages are a group of extinct Indo-European languages, which were spoken in Asia Minor, the best attested o...
, related to Luwian and HittiteHittite language

Hittite is the extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who once created an empire centered on ancient Hattusa...
. It used many prefixesPrefix (linguistics)

In linguistics, a prefix is a type of affix that precedes the morphemes to which it can attach....
and particlesGrammatical particle

In linguistics, the term particle is often employed as a useful catch-all lacking a strict definition....
. Lydian finally became extinctExtinct language

An extinct language is a language which no longer has any native speakers....
during the first century BC.

History

Early history: Maeonia and Lydia

Lydia arose as a Neo-HittiteNeo-Hittite

, and [[Lydi...
kingdom following the collapse of the Hittite Empire in the twelfth century BC. In Hittite times, the name for the region had been ArzawaArzawa

Arzawa is a region or kingdom in what was later to be known as Lydia in Western Anatolia....
, a Luwian-speaking area. According to Greek source, the original name of the Lydian kingdom was Maionia (or Maeonia): HomerHomer

Homer was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with the composition of the Iliad and the ...
(IliadIliad

The Iliad is, together with the Odyssey, one of two ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer, a supposedly blin...
ii. 865; v. 43, xi. 431) refers to the inhabitants of Lydia as Maiones (?a???e?). Homer describes their capital not as Sardis but as Hyde (Iliad xx. 385); Hyde may have been the name of the district where Sardis stood. Later, HerodotusHerodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father o...
(HistoriesHistories (Herodotus)

The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature....
i. 7) adds that the "Meiones" were renamed Lydians after their king, LydusLydus Summary

Lydus was the third king of Maeonia in succession to his father Atys....
(??d??), son of AttisAttis

Attis, a life-death-rebirth deity, was both the son and the lover of Cybele, her eunuch attendant and driver of her lion-dri...
, in the mythical epoch that preceded the rise of the Heracleid dynasty. This etiologicalEtiology

Etiology is the study of causation....
eponymEponym

An eponym is the name of a person, whether real or fictitious, which has given rise to the name of a particular place, trib...
served to account for the GreekGreek language

Greek has a documented history of 3,500 years, the longest of any single language within the Indo-European family....
ethnic name Lydoi (??d??). The HebrewHebrew language

Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by more than seven million people in Israel and Jew...
term for Lydians, Ludim

Ludim is the Hebrew term for Lydia used in Jeremiah and Ezekiel....
(?????), as found in Jeremiah 46.9Book of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah, or Jeremiah , is a book that is part of the Hebrew Bible, Judaism's Tanakh, and later became a p...
, is similarly considered to be derived from the eponymous Lud son of ShemLud son of Shem

Lud was a Shemite grandson of Noah....
; in Biblical times, the Lydian warriors were also famous archers. Some Maeones still existed in historical times in the upland interior along the River Hermus, where a town called Maeonia existed, according to Pliny the ElderFacts About Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author and natural philosopher of some import...
(Natural History book v:30) and HieroclesHierocles

Hierocles was a common first name in the Hellenized world and later in the Roman Empire that conquered much of it....
.

Lydia in Greek mythology

Lydian mythology is virtually unknown, and their literature and rituals lost, in the absence of any monuments or archaeological finds with extensive inscriptions; therefore those myths involving Lydia are mainly in the realm of Greek mythologyGreek mythology Summary

Greek mythology consists in part of a large collection of narratives that explain the origins of the world and detail the l...
.

For the Greeks, TantalusTantalus

In Greek mythology Tantalus was a son of Zeus and the nymph Plouto ....
was a primordial ruler of mythic Lydia, and NiobeNiobe

A mortal woman in Greek mythology, Niobe, daughter of Tantalus and either Euryanassa, Eurythemista, Clytia, Dione, or Laodic...
his proud daughter; her husband Zethos linked the affairs of Lydia with ThebesThebes, Greece

Thebes is a city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the sou...
, and through PelopsPelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops was a son of Tantalus and Dione....
the line of Tantalus was part of the founding myths of MycenaeMycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese....
's second dynasty.

In Greek myth, Lydia was also the first home of the double-axe, the labrysLabrys Summary

Labrys is the term for a doubleheaded axe, known to the Classical Greeks as pelekys p??e??? or sagaris, and to the ...
. OmphaleOmphale Summary

In Greek mythology, Omphale was a daughter of the river Iardanus and queen of the kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor; accordin...
, daughter of the river Iardanos, was a ruler of Lydia, whom HeraclesHeracles

In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles was a divine hero, the son of Zeus and Hera, stepson of Amphitryon and great...
was required to serve for a time. His adventures in Lydia are the adventures of a Greek hero in a peripheral and foreign land: during his stay, Heracles enslaved the Itones, killed Syleus who forced passers-by to hoe his vineyard; slew the serpent of the river Sangarios; and captured the simian tricksters, the CercopesCercopes Summary

In Greek mythology, the Cercopes were mischievous forest creatures who lived in Thermopylae or on Euboea but roamed the worl...
. Accounts speak of at least one son born to Omphale and Heracles: Diodorus SiculusFacts About Diodorus Siculus

Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian, born at Agyrium in Sicily....
(4.31.8) and OvidOvid

Publius Ovidius Naso , a Roman poet known to the English-speaking world as Ovid, wrote on topics of love, abandoned wo...
(Heroides 9.54) mention a son Lamos, while pseudo-Apollodorus (Bibliotheke 2.7.8) gives the name Agelaus, and PausaniasPausanias (geographer)

Pausanias was a Greek traveller and geographer of the 2nd century A.D., who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius an...
(2.21.3) names Tyrsenus son of Heracles by "the Lydian woman."

All three heroic ancestors indicate a Lydian dynasty claiming descent from Heracles. Herodotus (1.7) refers to a Heraclid dynasty of kings who ruled Lydia, yet were perhaps not descended from Omphale. He also mentions (1.94) the recurring legend that the Etruscan civilizationEtruscan civilization

The Etruscan civilization is the name given today to the culture and way of life of a people of ancient Italy whom ancient R...
was founded by colonists from Lydia led by TyrrhenusTyrrhenus

In Etruscan mythology, Tyrrhenus was one of the founders of the Etruscan Federation of twelve cities, along with his brother...
, brother of Lydus. However, Dionysius of HalicarnassusDionysius of Halicarnassus Overview

Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus...
was skeptical of this story, pointing out that the Etruscan languageEtruscan language

Etruscan was a language spoken and written in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of what are now Lombardy, Veneto, ...
and customs were known to be totally dissimilar to those of the Lydians. Later chronographers also ignored Herodotus's statement that AgronAgron of Lydia

Agron was the fourth king of Maeonia, which was also known as Lydia from this time onwards ....
was the first to be a king, and included AlcaeusAlcaeus

Alcaeus may refer to several ancient Greek figures, notably:...
, BelusBelus

Belus in Latin or Belos in accurate Greek transliteration is one of: ...
, and NinusNinus

Ninus was accepted in texts arising in Hellenistic period and later as the eponymous founder of Nineveh, and thus the city i...
in their list of kings of Lydia. Strabo (5.2.2) makes Atys, father of Lydus and Tyrrhenus, to be a descendant of Heracles and Omphale. All other accounts place Atys, Lydus, and Tyrrhenus among the pre-Heraclid kings of Lydia. The gold deposits in the river PactolusPactolus

Pactolus is a river, now in modern Turkey....
that were the source of the proverbial wealth of CroesusCroesus

Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560/561 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC....
(Lydia's last historical king) were said to have been left there when the legendary king MidasMidas

In Greek mythology Midas is popularly remembered for his ability to turn anything he touched into gold: the "Midas touch"....
of PhrygiaPhrygia

In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of the Anatolia ....
washed away the "Midas touch" in its waters.

First coinage

According to HerodotusHerodotus Overview

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father o...
, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coin, and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations. It is believed that these first stamped coins were minted around 650-600 BC. The first coin was made of electrumElectrum

Electrum is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, with trace amounts of copper and other metals....
, a naturally occurring alloyAlloy

An alloy is a combination, either in solution or compound, of two or more elements, at least one of which is a metal, and wh...
of gold and silver. It was made in the 1/3 staterStater

The stater was an ancient coin of Greek or Lydian origin which circulated from about 500 BC to 50 AD....
(trite) denomination, meaning that it weighed 4.76 grams. It was stamped with a lion's head, the king's symbol. 14.1 grams of electrum was one stater (meaning "standard"). A stater was about one month's pay for a soldier. To complement the stater, fractions were made: the trite (third), the hekte (sixth), and so forth, including 1/24 of a stater, and even down to 1/48th and 1/96th of a stater. The 1/96 stater was only about 0.14 to 0.15 grams. The name of Croesus of Lydia became synonymous with wealth. Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. Around 550 BC, Croesus paid for the construction of the templeFacts About Temple of Artemis

The Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to Artemis completed around 550...
of ArtemisArtemis

Artemis , in Greek mythology was daughter of Zeus and of Leto and the twin sister of Apollo....
at EphesusEphesus

Ephesus or Efes , was one of the great cities of the Ionian Greeks in Anatolia, located in Lydia where the Cayster river ...
, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Croesus was beaten by Cyrus IICyrus the Great Summary

Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Persian Empire und...
of PersiaFacts About Persian Empire

The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau and beyond....
in 546 BC, and the kingdom became a satrapy.

Autochthonous Dynasties

Lydia was ruled by three dynasties:

Atyads (1300BC or earlier) - Heraclids (Tylonids) (to 687 BC)
According to HerodotusFacts About Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "father o...
the Heraclids ruled for 22 generations during the period from 1185 BC, lasting for 505 years). Alyattes was the king of Lydia in 776 BC. The last king of this dynasty was Myrsilos or Candaules.

CandaulesCandaules

Candaules was a king of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia from 735 BC to 718 BC....
- After ruling for seventeen years he was assassinated by his former friend Gyges, who succeeded him on the throne of Lydia.

Mermnads

GygesGyges of Lydia Summary

Gyges was the founder of the third or Mermnad dynasty of Lydian kings and reigned from 687 BC to 652 BC....
, called Gugu of Luddu in Assyrian inscriptions (687-652 BC or (690-657 BC) - Once established on the throne, Gyges devoted himself to consolidating his kingdom and making it a military power. The capital moved from Hyde to Sardis. Barbarian CimmeriansCimmerians

The Cimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Cauc...
sacked many Lydian cities, except for Sardis. Gyges was the son of Dascylus, who, when recalled from banishment in Cappadocia by the Lydian king Mursylos — called Candaules "the Dog-strangler" (a title of the Lydian Hermes) by the Greeks — sent his son back to Lydia instead of himself. Gyges turned to Egypt, sending his faithful Carian troops along with Ionian mercenaries to assist Psammetichus in shaking off the Assyrian yoke. Some Bible scholars believe that Gyges of Lydia was the Biblical figure of GogGog Summary

Gog may refer to:* Gog and Magog, an enigmatic Biblical pair often associated with apocalyptic prophecy....
, ruler of Magog, who is mentioned in the Book of Ezekiel and the Book of RevelationBook of Revelation

The book of Revelation or The Apocalypse of John is the last canonical book of the New Testament in the Bible....
.

Ardys IIArdys II

Ardys II was the twenty-seventh king of Lydia, and second king of the Mermnad dynasty, the son of King Gyges of Lydia; see L...
(652-621BC)

SadyattesSadyattes

Sadyattes, son of Ardys II, was King of Lydia from 624 BC to 610 BC....
(621-609BC) or (624-610BC) - Herodotus wrote (in Inquiries) that he fought with CyaxaresCyaxares

Hvakhshathra or Cyaxares or Kayxosrew was the most capable king of Media....
, the descendant of Deioces, and with the MedesMedes

The Medes were an ancient Iranian people, who lived in the north, western, and northwestern portions of present-day Iran, an...
, drove out the CimmeriansCimmerians

The Cimmerians were ancient equestrian nomads who, according to Herodotus, originally inhabited the region north of the Cauc...
from Asia, took SmyrnaSmyrna

Smyrna is an ancient city that was founded in a very early stage at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of A...
, which had been founded by colonists from Colophon, and invaded ClazomenaeClazomenae

Clazomenae was an ancient Greek city of Ionia and a member of the Ionian Dodecapolis, it was one of the first cities to issu...
and MiletusMiletus

Miletus was an ancient city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River....
.

Alyattes IIAlyattes II

Alyattes II, king of Lydia , the real founder of the Lydian empire, was the son of Sadyattes, of the house of the Mermnadae....
(609 or 619-560BC) - one of the greatest rulers of Lydia. When Cyaxares attacked Lydia, the kings of CiliciaCilicia

In Antiquity, Cilicia was the name of a region, now known as ukurova, and often a political unit, on the southeastern coast ...
and BabylonBabylon

Babylon was an ancient city in Mesopotamia, the ruins of which can be found in present-day Babil Province, Iraq, about 50 mi...
intervened and negotiated a peace in 585 BC, whereby the HalysHalys

Halys may refer to:*The Halys River in Anatolia, Turkish Kizilirmak...
was established as the Medes' frontier with Lydia. Herodotus writes:

"On the refusal of Alyattes to give up his supplicants when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between the Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes."

The Battle of the Eclipse was the final battle in a fifteen-year war between Alyattes II of Lydia and Cyaxares of the Medes. It took place on May 28, 585 BC, and ended abruptly due to a total solar eclipse.

CroesusCroesus

Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560/561 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC....
(560-546 BC) - the expression "rich as Croesus" came from this king. The Lydian Empire came to an end when Croesus attacked the Persian Empire of Cyrus IIFacts About Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Persian Empire und...
and was defeated in 546 BC.

Persian Empire

In 546 BC, the Achaemenid king Cyrus II captured Sardis and Lydia became his satrapy.

Hellenistic Empire

Lydia remained a satrapy after Persia's conquest by the Macedonian king Alexander IIIFacts About Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon , was one of the most successful military commander...
of MacedonMacedon

Macedon or Macedonia was the name of an ancient kingdom in the northern-most part of ancient Greece, bordering the ki...
. When Alexander's empire fell apart after his death, Lydia went to the major Asian diadoch dynasty, the Seleucids, and when it was unable to maintain its territory in Asia Minor, Lydia fell to the Attalid dynasty of Pergamum. Its last king avoided the spoils and ravage of a Roman conquest war by leaving the realm by testament to the Roman EmpireRoman Empire

The Roman Empire was a phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by an autocratic form of government....
.

Roman province of Asia

When the Romans entered its capital Sardis in 133 BC, Lydia, as the other western parts of the Attalid legacy, became part of the province of Asia, a very rich Roman provinceRoman province

In Ancient Rome, a province was the basic, and until the Tetrarchy, largest territorial and administrative unit of the empir...
, worthy of a governor of the high rank of proconsulProconsul

Sorry, no overview for this topic
. The whole west of Asia Minor had Jewish colonies very early, and Christianity was also soon present there. Acts of the ApostlesActs of the Apostles Summary

The Acts of the Apostles is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament....
16:14-15 mentions the baptism of a merchant woman called "Lydia" who came from ThyatiraThyatira Summary

...
, in what had once been the satrapy of Lydia. Christianity spread rapidly in the 3rd century AD, centered on the nearby Exarchate of Ephesus.

Roman province of Lydia

Under the tetrarchyTetrarchy

Tetrarchy can be applied to any system of government where power is divided between four individuals but is rarely used....
reform of Emperor DiocletianDiocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born ??????? and known in English as Diocletian, was Roman Emperor fro...
in 296 AD, Lydia was revived as the name of a separate Roman province, much smaller than the former satrapy, with its capital at Sardis. Together with the provinces of Caria, Hellespontus, Lycia, Pamphylia, Phrygia prima and secunda, Pisidia and the Insulae (Ionian islands), it formed the dioceseDiocese Summary

In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit administrated by a bishop, hence also referred...
(under a vicariusVicarius

Vicarius is a Latin word, meaning substitute or deputy....
) of Asiana, which was part of the praetorian prefecturePraetorian prefecture

The division of the Roman Empire into four Praetorian prefectures originated in the age of the Tetrarchy yet outlived that p...
of Oriens, together with the dioceses Pontiana (most of the rest of Asia Minor), Oriens proper (mainly Syria), Aegyptus and Thraciae (on the Balkans, roughly Bulgaria). Under the Byzantine emperor Heraclius (610-641), Lydia became part of Anatolikon, one of the original themataTheme (Byzantine administrative unit)

The themes or themata of the Byzantine Empire were administrative units established by a reform promulgated by Emperor...
, and later of Thrakesion. Although the Seljuk Turks conquered most of the rest of Anatolia for Islam, forming the Sultanate of Ikonion, Lydia remained part of the Byzantine Empire. During the occupation of Constantinople in the Fourth CrusadeFourth Crusade

The Fourth Crusade, originally designed to conquer Jerusalem through an invasion of Egypt, instead, in 1204, invaded and con...
, Lydia continued to be a part of the Byzantine orthodox 'Greek Empire' based at NicaeaIznik

Iznik is a city in Turkey which is known primarily as the site of two major meetings in the early history of the Christian c...
.

Under Turkish rule

Lydia finally fell to new Turkish beylikAnatolian Turkish Beyliks

Anatolian beyliks were small Turkish emirates or muslim principalities governed by tribal beys, which were founded in severa...
s, which were all absorbed by the Ottoman state in 1390. The area became part of the Ottoman vilayet (province) of AydinAydin

Aidin is a city in and the seat of Aydin Province in Turkey's Aegean Region....
, ending up as the westernmost part of the modern republic of TurkeyTurkey

Turkey, officially the Republic of Turkey, is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in Sou...
.

Lydia

Defining Lydia

Geography

Language

History

Early history: Maeonia and Lydia

Lydia in Greek mythology

First coinage

Autochthonous Dynasties

Persian Empire

Hellenistic Empire

Roman province of Asia

Roman province of Lydia

Under Turkish rule

See also

External links