Story Of Croesus

( Originally Published Early 1900's )

But one monarch in the world was alive to
the threat of the new power that lay in the hands of Cyrus. This was
Croesus, the Lydian king. His son had been killed in a very tragic
manner, which Herodotus relates, but which we will not describe here.
Says Herodotus:

"For two years then, Croesus remained quiet
in great mourning, because he was deprived of his son; but after this
period of time, the overthrowing of th rule of the son of Cyaxares by
Cyrus, and the growing greatness of the Persians, caused Croesus to
cease from his mourning, and led him to a care of cutting short the
power of the Persians if by any means he might, while yet it was in
growth and be-fore they should have become great."

He then made trial of the various oracles.

"To the Lydians who were to carry these
gifts to the temples Croesus gave charge that they should ask the
Oracles this question : whether Croesus should march against the
Persians, and, if so, whether he should join with himself any army of
men as his friends. And when the Lydians had arrived at the places to
which they had been sent and had dedicated the votive offerings, they
inquired of the Oracles, and said : 'Croesus, king of the Lydians and
of other nations, considering that these are the only true Oracles
among men, presents to you gifts such as your revelations deserve, and
asks you again now whether he shall march against the Persians, and, if
so, whether he shall' join with himself any army of men as allies.'
They inquired thus, and the answers of both the Oracles agreed i one,
declaring to Croesus that if he should march again t the Persians he
should destroy a great empire. . . So when the answers were brought
back and Croesus heard them, he was delighted with the Oracles, and
expecting that he would certainly destroy the kingdom of Cyrus, he sent
again to Pytho, and presented to the men of Delphi, having ascertained
the number of them, two staters of gold for each man : and in return
for this the Delphians gave to Croesus and to the Lydians precedence in
consulting the Oracle and freedom from all payments, and the right to
front seats at the games, with this privilege also for all time, that
any one of them who wished should be allowed to become a citizen of
Delphi."

So Croesus made a defensive alliance both
with the Lacedemonians and the Egyptians. And Herodotus continues,
"while Croesus was preparing to march against the Persians, one of the
Lydians, who even before this time was thought to be a wise man, but in
consequence of this opinion got a very great name for wisdom among the
Lydians, advised Croesus as follows: 'O king, thou art preparing to
march against men who wear breeches of leather, and the rest of their
clothing is of leather also; and they eat food not such as they desire,
but such as they can obtain, dwelling in a land which is rugged; and,
moreover, they make no use of wine but drink water ; and no figs have
they for dessert, nor any other good thing. On the one hand, if thou
shalt overcome them; what wilt thou take away from them, seeing they
have nothing? and, on the other hand, if thou shalt be overcome,
consider how many good things thou wilt lose; for once having tasted
our good things, they will cling to them fast, and it will not be
possible to drive them away. I, for my own part, feel gratitude to the
gods that they do not put it into the minds of the Persians to march
against the Lydians.' Thus he spoke not persuading Croesus; for it is
true indeed that the Persians before they subdued the Lydians had no
luxury nor any good thing."

Croesus and Cyrus fought an indecisive
battle at Pteria, from which Croesus retreated. Cyrus followed him up,
and he gave battle outside his capital town of Sardis. The chief
strength of the Lydians lay in their cavalry; they were excellent, if
undisciplined, horsemen, and fought with long spears.

"Cyrus, when he saw the Lydians being
arrayed for battle, fearing their horsemen, did on the suggestion of
Harpagos, a Mede, as follows: All the camels which were in the train of
his army carrying provisions and baggage he gathered together, and he
took off their burdens and set men upon them provided with the
equipment of cavalry; and, having thus furnished them, forth he
appointed them to go in front of the rest of the army towards the
horsemen of Croesus and after the camel troop he ordered the infantry
to follow; and behind the infantry he placed his whole force of
cavalry. Then, when all his men had been placed in their several
positions, he charged them to spare none of the other Lydians, slaying
all who might come in their way, but Croesus himself they were not to
slay, not even if he should make resistance when. be was being
captured. Such was his charge : and he set the camels opposite the
horsemen for this reason because the horse has a fear of the camel and
cannot endure either to see his form or scent his smell for this reason
then the trick had been devised, in order that the cavalry of Croesus
might be useless, that very force where-with the Lydian king was
expecting most to shine. And as they were coming together to the
battle, so soon as the horses scented the camels and saw them, they
turned away back, and the hopes of Croesus were at once brought to
nought."

In fourteen days Sardis was stormed and Croesus taken prisoner.

"So the Persians having taken him brought
him into the presence of Cyrus; and he piled up a great pyre and caused
Croesus to go up upon it bound in fetters, and along with him twice
seven sous of Lydians, whether it was that he meant to dedicate this
offering as first fruits of his victory to some god, or whether he
desired to fulfil a vow, or else had heard that Croesus was a god
fearing man, and so caused him to go up on the pyre because he wished
to know if any one of the divine powers would save him, so that he
should not be burnt alive. He, they say, did this ; but to Croesus as
he stood upon the pyre there came, although he was in such evil ease, a
memory of the saying of Solon, how he had said with divine inspiration
that no one of the living might be called happy. And when this thought
came into his mind, they say that he sighed deeply and groaned aloud,
having been for long silent, and three times he uttered the name of
Solon. Hearing this, Cyrus bade the interpreters ask Croesus who was
this person on whom he called; and
they came near and asked. And Croesus for a time, it is said, kept
silence when he was asked this, but afterwards, being pressed, he said:
'One whom more than much wealth I should have desired to have speech
with all monarchs.' Then, since his words were of doubtful import, they
asked again of that which he said, and as they were urgent with him and
gave him no peace, he told how once Solon, an Athenian, had come and
having inspected all his wealth had made light of ìt, with such and
such words; and how all had turned out for him according as Solon had
said, not speaking at all especially with a view to Croesus himself,
but with a view to the whole human race, and especially those who seem
to themselves to be happy men. And while Croesus related these things,
already the pyre was lighted and the edges of it round about were
burning. Then they say that Cyrus, hearing from the interpreters what
Croesus had said, changed his purpose and considered that he himself
also was but a man, and that he was delivering another man, who had
been not inferior to himself in felicity, alive to the fire; and,
moreover, he feared the requital, and reflected that there was nothing
of that which men possessed which was secure; there fore, they say, he
ordered them to extinguish as quickly as possible the fire that was
burning, and to bring down Croesus and those who were with him from the
pyre; and they, using endeavours, were not able now to get the mastery
of the flames. Then it is related by the Lydians that Croesus, having
learned how Cyrus had changed his mind, and seeing that every one was
trying to put out the fire, but that they were no longer able to check
it, cried aloud, entreating Apollo that if any gift had ever been given
by him which was acceptable to the god, he would come to his aid and
rescue him from the evil which was now upon him. So he with tears
entreated the god, and suddenly, they say, after clear sky and calm
weather clouds gathered and a storm burst, and it rained with a very
violent shower, and the pyre was extinguished.

"Then Cyrus, having perceived that Croesus
was a lover of the gods and a good man, caused him to
be brought down from the pyre and asked him as follows : ‘Croesus, tell
me who of all men was it who persuaded thee to march upon my land and
so to become an enemy to me instead of a friend?' And he said: 'O king,
I did this to thy felicity and to my own misfortune, and the causer of
this was the god of the Hellenes, who incited me to march with my army.
For no one is so senseless as to choose of his own will war rather than
peace, since in peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the
fathers bury their sons. But it was pleasing, I suppose, to the divine
powers that these things should come to pass thus.' "

But Herodotus is too alluring a companion
for one who would write an Outline of History; and the rest of the life
of Croesus, and how he gave wise counsels to Cyrus, must be read in his
ampler page.

When Lydia was subdued, Cyrus turned his
attention to Nabonidus in Babylon. He defeated the Babylonian army,
under Belshazzar, outside Babylon, and then laid siege to the town. He
entered the town (538 B. c.), probably as we have already suggested,
with the connivance of the priests of Bel.