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{{about|the Lydian king|the opera|Croesus (opera)|the Roman political leader also famed for his wealth|Crassus}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession   = [[List of kings of Lydia|King of Lydia]]
| image        = Croesus portrait.jpg
| caption      = Depiction of Croesus, Attic red-figure amphora, painted {{Circa|500}}–490 BC
| reign        = {{circa|585|546 BC}}
| coronation   = 
| predecessor  = [[Alyattes of Lydia]]
| successor    = [[Cyrus II of Persia]]
| spouse       = 
| issue        = 2, including [[Atys (son of Croesus)|Atys]]
| dynasty      = 
| father       = [[Alyattes of Lydia]]
| mother       = 
| birth_date   = 7th/6th century BCE
| birth_place  = [[Lydia]]
| death_date   = 6th century BCE
| death_place  = [[Sardis|Sardis, Lydia]]
| date of burial = 
| place of burial = 
| native_lang1 = [[Lydian language|Lydian]]
| native_lang1_name1 =
}}
'''Croesus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|r|iː|s|ə|s}} {{respell|KREE|səs}}; {{langx|grc|[[:wikt:Κροῖσος|Κροῖσος]]|Kroîsos}}; [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|Croesus}}; reigned: {{Circa|585|546 BC}}<ref name="Dale">
  {{
    cite journal
      | last=Dale
      | first=Alexander
      | date=2015
      | title=WALWET and KUKALIM: Lydian coin legends, dynastic succession, and the chronology of Mermnad kings
      | url=https://www.academia.edu/29719834
      | journal=Kadmos
      | volume=54
      | issue=
      | pages=151–166
      | doi=10.1515/kadmos-2015-0008
      | s2cid=165043567
      | access-date=10 November 2021
    }}
</ref>)
was the [[Monarch|king]] of [[Lydia]], who reigned from 585 BC until his [[Siege of Sardis (547 BC)|defeat]] by the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great]] in 546 or 547 BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wallace |first=Robert W. |title=Redating Croesus: Herodotean Chronologies, and the Dates of the Earliest Coinages |date=2016 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44157500 |journal=The Journal of Hellenic Studies |volume=136 |issue= |pages=168–181 |doi= 10.1017/S0075426916000124|jstor=44157500 |s2cid=164546627 |access-date=14 November 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Dale"/> According to [[Herodotus]], he reigned 14 years. Croesus was renowned for his wealth; Herodotus and [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] noted that his gifts were preserved at [[Delphi]].<ref>Among them a lion of gold, which had tumbled from its perch upon a stack of ingots when the [[temple]] at [[Delphi]] burned but was preserved and displayed in the Treasury of the Corinthians, where Pausanias saw it (Pausanias 10.5.13). The temple burned in the archonship of Erxicleides, 548–47 BC.</ref>

The fall of Croesus had a profound effect on the Greeks, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least", [[James Allan Stewart Evans|J. A. S. Evans]] has remarked, "Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chronology."<ref name="Evans">{{cite journal |last=Evans |first=J. A. S. |author-link=James Allan Stewart Evans |date=1978 |title=What Happened to Croesus? |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3296933 |journal=The Classical Journal |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=34–40 |doi= |jstor=3296933 |access-date=11 May 2022}}</ref>

==Name==
The name of Croesus was not attested in contemporary inscriptions in the [[Lydian language]]. In 2019, D. Sasseville and K. Euler published a research of Lydian coins apparently minted during his rule, where the name of the ruler was rendered as ''Qλdãns''.<ref name="kadmos-2019-0007">{{cite journal |last1=Sasseville |first1=David |last2=Euler |first2=Katrin |title=Die Identität des lydischen Qλdãns und seine kulturgeschichtlichen Folgen |language=de |trans-title=The identity of the Lydian Qλdan and its cultural-historical consequences |journal=Kadmos |date=2019 |volume=58 |issue=1/2 |pages=125–156 |doi=10.1515/kadmos-2019-0007 |s2cid=220368367 |url=https://www.academia.edu/43513813 |access-date=2021-03-14}}</ref>

The name {{lang|la|Croesus}} comes from the [[Latin language|Latin]] [[transliteration]] of the [[Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Κροισος}} {{Transliteration|grc|Kroisos}}, which was thought by J.M. Kearns to be the ancient Hellenic adaptation of the reconstructed [[Lydian language|Lydian]] name {{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤨𐤭𐤬𐤥𐤦𐤮𐤠𐤮}}}} {{Transliteration|xld|Krowisas}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Kearns |first1=J.M. |chapter=A Lydian Etymology for the Name of Croesus |title=Studies in Honor of Jaan Puhvel-Part One: Ancient Languages and Philology |editor-last1=Disterheft |editor-first1=Dorothy |editor-last2=Huld |editor-first2=Martin E. |editor-last3=Greppin |editor-first3=John A.C. |editor-last4=Polomé |editor-first4=Edgar C. |publisher=Institute for the Study of Man |location=Washington D.C. |date=1997 |pages=23–28 |isbn=978-0-941-69454-4}}</ref> This putative name was analyzed as a [[Compound (linguistics)|compound term]] consisting of the proper name {{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤨𐤠𐤭𐤬𐤮}}}} {{Transliteration|xld|Karoś}}, of a [[Semivowel|glide]] {{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤥}}}} ({{Transliteration|xld|-w-}}) and of the Lydian term {{lang|xld|{{script|Lydi|𐤦𐤮𐤠𐤮}}}} {{Transliteration|xld|iśaś}}, perhaps meaning "master, lord, noble". According to J. M. Kearns, Croesus's real personal name would have been {{Transliteration|xld|Karoś}}, while {{Transliteration|xld|Krowisas}} would have been a honorific name meaning "The noble Karoś".

==Life and reign==
[[File:Map of Lydia ancient times.jpg|thumb|Lydia's borders under King Croesus]]

Croesus was born in 620 BC to the king [[Alyattes]] of Lydia and one of his queens, a [[Carians|Carian]] noblewoman whose name is unknown. Croesus had at least one full sister, [[Aryenis]], as well as a half-brother named Pantaleon, born from an [[Ionians|Ionian]] wife of Alyattes.<ref name="Leloux-1">{{cite thesis |last=Leloux |first=Kevin |date=2018 |title=La Lydie d'Alyatte et Crésus: Un royaume à la croisée des cités grecques et des monarchies orientales. Recherches sur son organisation interne et sa politique extérieure |type=PhD |volume=1 |publisher=[[University of Liège]] |docket= |oclc= |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/1/The%CC%80se%20entie%CC%80re%20vol%20I.pdf |access-date=5 December 2021 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/1/The%CC%80se%20entie%CC%80re%20vol%20I.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Accepting Dale's dating of Croesus's reign starting in 585 BC and Leloux's assumption of Croesus being 35 years old at the beginning of his reign provides a birth date of 620 BC</ref>

Under his father's reign, Croesus had been a governor of [[Adramyttium]], which Alyattes had rebuilt as a centre of operations for military actions against the [[Cimmerians]], a nomadic people from the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe|Pontic steppe]] who had invaded [[Western Asia]], and attacked Lydia over the course of several invasions during which they killed Alyattes's great-grandfather [[Gyges of Lydia|Gyges]], and possibly his grandfather [[Ardys of Lydia|Ardys]] and his father [[Sadyattes]]. As governor of Adramyttium, Croesus had to provide his father with Ionian Greek mercenaries for a military campaign in Caria.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|p=94–55}}<ref name="Spalinger">{{cite journal |last=Spalinger |first=Anthony J. |date=1978 |title=The Date of the Death of Gyges and Its Historical Implications |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/599752 |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |volume=98 |issue=4 |pages=400–409 |doi=10.2307/599752 |jstor=599752 |access-date=25 October 2021 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Leloux-1"/>

During Croesus's tenure as governor of Adramyttium itself, a rivalry had developed between him and his step-brother Pantaleon, who might have been intended by Alyattes to be his successor. Following Alyattes's death in 585 BC, this rivalry became an open succession struggle out of which Croesus emerged victorious.<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

===Conquests===
Once Croesus's position as king was secure, he immediately launched a military campaign against the Ionian city of [[Ephesus]]. The ruling dynasty of Ephesus had engaged in friendly relations with Lydia consolidated by diplomatic marriages from the reign of Gyges until that of Alyattes: the Ephesian tyrant Pindar, who had previously supported Pantaleon in the Lydian succession struggle, was the son of a daughter of Alyattes, and was thus a nephew of Croesus. After Pindar rejected an envoy by Croesus demanding Ephesus to submit to Lydia, the Lydian king started to pressure the city and demanded that Pindar leave it and go into exile. After Pindar accepted these terms, Croesus annexed Ephesus into the Lydian Empire. Once Ephesus was under Lydian rule, Croesus provided patronage for the reconstruction of the [[Temple of Artemis]], to which he offered a large number of marble columns as dedication to the goddess.<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

Meanwhile the Ionian city of Miletus had been willingly sending tribute to Mena in exchange for being spared from Lydian attacks because the overthrow of the city's last tyrants, Thoas and Damasenor, and the replacement of the tyranny by a system of magistrates had annulated the relations of friendship initiated by Alyattes and the former Milesian tyrant [[Thrasybulus of Miletus|Thrasybulus]].<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

Croesus continued his attacks against the other Greek cities of the western coast of Asia Minor until he had subjugated all of mainland [[Ionia]], [[Aeolis]], and [[Doric Hexapolis|Doris]], but he abandoned his plans of annexing the Greek city-states on the islands and he instead concluded treaties of friendship with them, which might have helped him participate in the lucrative trade the Aegean Greeks carried out with Egypt at [[Naucratis]].<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

===Other domains of the Lydian Empire under Croesus===
The Lydians had already conquered Phrygia under the rule of Alyattes, who took advantage of the weakening of the various polities all across Anatolia by the Cimmerian raids and used the lack of a centralised Phrygian state and the traditionally friendly relations between the Lydian and Phrygian elites to extend Lydian rule eastwards to Phrygia. Lydian presence in Phrygia is archaeologically attested by the existence of a Lydian citadel in the Phrygian capital of [[Gordion]], as well as Lydian architectural remains in northwest Phrygia, such as in [[Dascylium]], and in the Phrygian Highlands at [[Yazılıkaya, Eskişehir|Midas City]]. Lydian troops might have been stationed in the aforementioned locations as well as in [[Hacıtuğrul, Polatlı|Hacıtuğrul]], [[Afyonkarahisar]], and [[Konya]], which would have provided to the Lydian kingdom access to the produce and roads of Phrygia. The presence of a Lydian ivory plaque at [[Kerkenes|Kerkenes Daǧ]] suggests that Alyattes's control of Phrygia might have extended to the east of the [[Kızılırmak River|Halys River]] to include the city of [[Pteria (Cappadocia)|Pteria]], with the possibility that he may have rebuilt this city and placed a Phrygian ruler there: Pteria's strategic location would have been useful in protecting the Lydian Empire from attacks from the east, and its proximity to the Royal Road would have made of the city an important centre from which caravans could be protected.<ref name="Leloux-2">{{cite thesis |last=Leloux |first=Kevin |date=2018 |title=La Lydie d'Alyatte et Crésus: Un royaume à la croisée des cités grecques et des monarchies orientales. Recherches sur son organisation interne et sa politique extérieure |type=PhD |volume=2 |publisher=[[University of Liège]] |docket= |oclc= |url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/2/The%cc%80se%20entie%cc%80re%20vol%20II.pdf |access-date=1 May 2022 |archive-date=9 October 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/220928/2/The%cc%80se%20entie%cc%80re%20vol%20II.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfn|Mellink|1991|p=643–655}} Phrygia under Lydian rule would continue to be administered by its local elites, such as the ruler of Midas City who held Phrygian royal titles such as {{Transliteration|xpg|lawagetai}} (king) and {{Transliteration|xpg|wanaktei}} (commander of the armies), but were under the authority of the Lydian kings of Sardis and had a Lydian diplomatic presence at their court, following the framework of the traditional vassalage treaties used since the period of the [[Hittites|Hittite]] and [[Middle Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] empires, and according to which the Lydian king imposed on the vassal rulers a "treaty of vassalage" which allowed the local Phrygian rulers to remain in power, in exchange of which the Phrygian vassals had the duty to provide military support and sometimes offer rich tribute to the Lydian kingdom.<ref name="Leloux-2" />

This situation continued under the rule of Croesus, with one inscription attesting of the presence of Croesus's son [[Atys (son of Croesus)|Atys]] at the court of one local ruler of Midas City himself named Midas. At Midas City, Atys held the position of priest of the sacred fire of the mother goddess Aryastin, and through him Croesus provided patronage to the building of the religious monument in the city now known as the Midas Monument.<ref name="Leloux-2" />

The presence of Atys at the court of this Midas might have inspired the legend recounted by Herodotus, according to which Croesus had a dream in which Atys was killed by an iron spear, after which he prevented his son from leading military activities, but Atys nevertheless found death while hunting a wild boar which was ravaging Lydia, during which he was accidentally hit by the spear thrown by the Phrygian prince [[Adrastus, son of Gordias|Adrastus]], who had previously exiled himself to Lydia after accidentally killing his own brother.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Strassler|first=Robert B.|title=The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories|publisher=Anchor Books|year=2009|isbn=978-1400031146|location=New York|pages=23–26}}</ref>

Croesus also brought [[Caria]], whose various city-states had since Gyges been allied to the Mermnad dynasty, and from where Croesus's own mother originated, under the direct control of the Lydian Empire.<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

Thus, according to Herodotus, Croesus ruled over all the peoples to the west of the Halys River - the [[Lydians]], [[Phrygians]], [[Mysians]], [[Mariandyni]], [[Chalybes]], [[Paphlagonia]]ns, [[Thyni]] and [[Bithyni]] [[Thracians]], [[Carians]], [[Ionians]], [[Doric Hexapolis|Dorians]], [[Aeolis|Aeolians]], and [[Pamphylia]]ns. However information only about the relations between the Lydians and the Phrygians is attested in both literary and archaeological sources, and there is no available data concerning relations between the other mentioned peoples and the Lydian kings; moreover, given this was the situation detailed by Herodotus under the reign of Croesus, it is very likely that a number of these populations had already been conquered under Alyattes. The only populations Herodotus claimed were independent of the Lydian Empire were the [[Lycians]], who lived in a mountainous country which would not have been accessible to the Lydian armies, and the [[Cilicia]]ns, who had already been conquered by [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. Modern estimates nevertheless suggest that it is not impossible that the Lydians might have subjected Lycia, given that the Lycian coast would have been important for the Lydians because it was close to a trade route connecting the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] region, the [[Levant]], and [[Cyprus]].<ref name="Leloux-2"/> Modern studies also consider doubtful the Greek historian's traditional account of the [[Kızılırmak River|Halys River]] as having been set as the border between the Lydian and the Median kingdom, which appears to have been a retroactive narrative construction based on symbolic role assigned by Greeks to the Halys as the separation between Lower Asia and Upper Asia as well as on the Halys being a later provincial border within the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. The eastern border of the kingdom of Croesus would thus have instead been further to the east of the Halys, at an undetermined point in eastern Anatolia.{{sfn|Diakonoff|1985|page=125–126}}<ref name="The Battle of the Eclipse">{{cite journal|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/207259|title=The Battle of the Eclipse|last1=Leloux|first1=Kevin|journal=Polemos: Journal of Interdisciplinary Research on War and Peace|date=December 2016|volume=19|issue=2|publisher=Polemos|hdl=2268/207259|access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref><ref name="Leloux-2"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Rollinger |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Rollinger |editor-last1=Lanfranchi |editor-first1=Giovanni B. |editor-last2=Roaf |editor-first2=Michael |editor-link2=Michael Roaf |editor-last3=Rollinger |editor-first3=Robert |editor-link3=Robert Rollinger |date=2003 |title=Continuity of Empire (?) Assyria, Media, Persia |chapter=The Western Expansion of the Median ‘Empire’: A Re-Examination |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/13842356 |location=[[Padua]] |publisher=S.a.r.g.o.n. Editrice e Libreria |pages=1–12 |isbn=978-9-990-93968-2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/alyattes/ |title=Alyattes of Lydia |last=Lendering |first=Jona |author-link=Jona Lendering |date=2003 |website=Livius |publisher= |access-date=7 May 2022 }}</ref>

===International relations===
Croesus continued the friendly relations with the [[Medes]] concluded by his father Alyattes and the Median king [[Cyaxares]] after five years of war in 585 BC, shortly before both their respective deaths that same year. As part of the peace treaty ending the war between Media and Lydia, Croesus's sister [[Aryenis]] had married Cyaxares's son and successor [[Astyages]], who thus became Croesus's brother-in-law, while a daughter of Cyaxares might have been married to Croesus. Croesus continued these good relations with the Medes after he succeeded Alyattes and Astyages succeeded Cyaxares.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

Under Croesus's rule, Lydia continued its good relations started by Gyges with the [[Sais, Egypt|Saite]] Egyptian kingdom, then ruled by the [[pharaoh]] [[Amasis II]]. Both Croesus and Amasis had common interests in fostering trade relations at [[Naucratis]] with the Greeks, including with the Milesians who were under Lydian authority. These trade relations also functioned as an access point for Greek mercenaries serving the Saite pharaohs.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

Croesus also established trade and diplomatic relations with the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] of [[Nabonidus]], which ensured the transition of Lydian products towards Babylonian markets.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

===Votive offerings to Delphi===
Croesus also continued the good relations between Lydia and the sanctuary of the god [[Apollo]] in Delphi on continental Greece first established by his great-great-grandfather Gyges and maintained by his father Alyattes, and just like his ancestors, Croesus offered the sanctuary rich presents in dedication, including a lion made of gold and weighing ten talents. In exchange for the offerings of Croesus to the sanctuary of Apollo, the Lydians obtained precedence in consulting its oracle, were exempt from taxes, were allowed to sit at the first rank, and were granted the permission to become Delphian priests. These exchanges of gifts for privileges in turn meant that strong relations of hospitality existed between Lydia and Delphi due to which the Delphians had the duty to welcome, protect, and ensure the well-being of Lydian ambassadors.<ref name="Evans"/><ref name="Leloux-1"/>

Croesus further increased his contacts with the Greeks on the European continent by establishing relations with the city-state of [[Sparta]], to whom he provided the gold they needed to gild a statue of the god Apollo after the oracle of Delphi told them they would obtain this gold from Croesus.<ref name="Leloux-1"/>

===Coinage===
[[File:Kroisos. Circa 564-53-550-39 BC. AV Stater (16mm, 10.76 g). Heavy series. Sardes mint.jpg|thumb|Gold coin of Croesus, Lydian, around 550 BC, found in what is now modern Turkey]]

Croesus is credited with issuing the first true [[gold coin]]s with a standardised purity for general circulation, the [[Croeseid]] (following on from his father [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]] who [[History of Coins|invented minting]] with [[electrum]] coins). Indeed, the invention of coinage had passed into Greek society through [[Hermodike II]].<ref>Herodotus, I, p. 80</ref><ref>''An Encyclopedia of World History'', (Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 1952), chap. II. "Ancient History", p. 37</ref> Hermodike II, the daughter of an [[Cyme (Aeolis)|Agamemnon of Cyme]], claimed descent from the original [[Agamemnon]] who conquered [[Troy]]. She was likely one of Alyattes’ wives, so may have been Croesus’ mother, because the bull imagery on the croeseid symbolises the Hellenic [[Zeus]]—see [[Europa (consort of Zeus)]].<ref>Grimal, Pierre (1991). ''The Penguin dictionary of classical mythology''. Kershaw, Stephen. (Abridged) ed. London: Penguin Books. {{ISBN|0140512357}}. {{OCLC|25246340}}.</ref> Zeus, through Hercules, was the divine forefather of his family line.

{{blockquote|While the pyre was burning, it is said that a cloud passed under Hercules and with a peal of thunder wafted him up to heaven. Thereafter, he obtained immortality... by Omphale he had Agelaus, from whom the family of Croesus was descended...<ref>[http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.7 Perseus 1:2.7]– According to Hdt. 1.7 the dynasty which preceded that of Croesus on the throne of Sardes traced their descent from Alcaeus, the son of Herakles by a slave girl. It is a curious coincidence that Croesus, like his predecessor or ancestor Herakles, is said to have attempted to burn himself on a pyre when the Persians captured Sardes. See Bacch. 3.24–62, ed. Jebb. The tradition is supported by the representation of the scene on a red-figured vase, which may have been painted about forty years after the capture of Sardis and the death or captivity of Croesus. See Baumeister, Denkmäler des klassischen Altertums, ii.796, fig. 860. Compare Adonis, Attis, Osiris, 3rd ed. i.174ff. The Herakles whom Greek tradition associated with Omphale was probably an Oriental deity identical with the Sandan of Tarsus. See Adonis, Attis, Osiris, i.124ff.</ref>}}

Moreover, the first coins were quite crude and made of [[electrum]], a naturally occurring pale yellow alloy of [[gold]] and [[silver]]. The composition of these first coins was similar to [[Alluvium|alluvial deposits]] found in the [[silt]] of the [[Pactolus]] river (made famous by [[Midas]]), which ran through the [[Lydia]]n capital, [[Sardis]]. Later coins, including some in the [[British Museum]], were made from gold purified by heating with [[sodium chloride|common salt]] to remove the silver.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/transcripts/episode25/|title=A History of the World-Episode 25 – Gold coin of Croesus|publisher=BBC British Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227235939/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/transcripts/episode25/|archive-date=2010-02-27|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Greek and Persian cultures the name of Croesus became a synonym for a wealthy man. He inherited great wealth from his father Alyattes, who had become associated with the [[Midas]] myth because Lydian precious metals came from the river [[Pactolus]], in which King Midas supposedly washed away his ability to turn all he touched into gold.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/7cEz771FSeOLptGIElaquA|title=BBC - A History of the World - Object: Gold coin of Croesus|website=BBC History}}</ref> In reality, Alyattes' tax revenues may have been the real 'Midas touch' financing his and Croesus' conquests. Croesus' wealth remained proverbial beyond classical antiquity: in English, expressions such as "rich as Croesus" or "richer than Croesus" are used to indicate great wealth to this day.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/commentisfree/2022/dec/04/longtermism-rich-effective-altruism-tech-dangerous | title=Longtermism: How good intentions and the rich created a dangerous creed | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=4 December 2022 }}</ref> The earliest known such usage in English was [[John Gower]]'s in ''[[Confessio amantis]]'' (1390):

{{col-begin}}
{{col-2}}
Original text:
{{poemquote|
That if the tresor of Cresus
And al the gold Octovien,
Forth with the richesse Yndien
Of Perles and of riche stones,
Were al togedre myn at ones,
I sette it at nomore acompte
Than wolde a bare straw amonte.<ref>''Confessio amantis'', v. 4730. {{OED|Croesus}}</ref>
}}
{{col-2}}
Modern spelling:
{{poemquote|
That if the treasure of Croesus
And all the gold Octavian,
Forth with the riches Indian
Of pearls and of rich stones,
Were altogether mine at once,
I set it at no more account
Than would a bare straw amount.
}}
{{col-end}}

=== Interview with Solon ===
[[File:Banville - Ésope, 1893.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Aesop]] in front of Croesus]]
According to [[Herodotus]], Croesus encountered the Greek sage [[Solon]] and showed him his enormous wealth.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hdt.+1.29.1&redirect=true|title=Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1, chapter 29, section 1|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu|accessdate=Feb 19, 2023}}</ref> Croesus, secure in his own wealth and happiness, asked Solon who the happiest man in the world was, and was disappointed by Solon's response that three had been happier than Croesus: [[Tellus (Ancient Athens)|Tellus]], who died fighting for his country, and the brothers [[Kleobis and Biton]] who died peacefully in their sleep after their mother prayed for their perfect happiness because they had demonstrated [[filial piety]] by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves.

[[File:Francken Croesus showing his treasures.jpg|thumb|Croesus showing his treasures to Solon. [[Frans Francken the Younger]], 17th century]]
Solon goes on to explain that Croesus cannot be the happiest man because the fickleness of fortune means that the happiness of a man's life cannot be judged until after his death. Sure enough, Croesus' [[hubris]]tic happiness was reversed by the tragic deaths of his accidentally killed son and, according to [[Ctesias]], his wife's suicide at the fall of Sardis, not to mention his defeat at the hands of the Persians.

The interview is in the nature of a philosophical disquisition on the subject "Which man is happy?" It is legendary rather than historical. Thus, the "happiness" of Croesus is presented as a moralistic ''[[exemplum]]'' of the fickleness of [[Tyche]], a theme that gathered strength from the fourth century, revealing its late date. The story was later retold and elaborated by [[Ausonius]] in ''The Masque of the Seven Sages'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/deciausonius01ausouoft|title=Ausonius, with an English translation|first1=Decimus Magnus|last1=Ausonius|first2=Hugh G. (Hugh Gerard)|last2=Evelyn-White|date=Feb 21, 1919|publisher=London W. Heinemann|accessdate=Feb 19, 2023|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> in the ''[[Suda]]'' (entry "Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ," which adds [[Aesop]] and the [[Seven Sages of Greece]]),<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/26727807|title=Μᾶλλον ὁ Φρύξ. Creso e la sapienza greca|first1=Francesca|last1=Gazzano|first2=Luisa Moscati|last2=Castelnuovo|via=www.academia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Solone e Creso : variazioni letterarie, filosofiche e inconografiche su un tema erodoteo : atti della giornata di studi - Macerata 10 marzo 2015 |date=June 2016 |location=Macerata |isbn=978-88-6056-460-3 |edition=Primaizione |last1=Castelnuovo |first1=Luisa Moscati }}</ref> and by [[Tolstoy]] in his short story "[[Croesus and Fate]]".

[[File:Silver croeseid protomes CdM.jpg|thumb|Silver croeseid issued by King Croesus of Lydia (561–545 BC), obverse: lion and bull protomes]]

===War against Persia and defeat===
[[File:Defeat of Croesus 546 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Defeat of Croesus at the [[Battle of Thymbra]], 546 BC.]]
In 550 BC, Croesus's brother-in-law, the Median king Astyages, was overthrown by his own grandson, the Persian king [[Cyrus the Great]].<ref name="Leloux-2"/> In a likely legendary event recounted by Herodotus, Croesus responded by consulting the oracle of Delphi, who told him that he would "destroy a great empire" should he attack Cyrus. This answer of the Delphian oracle remains one of the [[famous oracular statements from Delphi]].<ref name="Leloux-2"/> 

Likely also legendary were the responses of the oracles of Delphi and [[Amphiaraus]] telling Croesus to ally with the strongest of all Greeks. Croesus found this to be the state of Sparta to which he had previously offered the gold used for gilding a statue of [[Apollo]], shortly after Sparta's victory over the Greek city-state of Argos in 547 BC. The claim of [[Herodotus]] that Croesus, Amasis, and Nabonidus formed a defensive alliance against Cyrus of Persia appears to have been a retroactive exaggeration of the existing diplomatic and trade relations between Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

Croesus first attacked [[Pteria (Cappadocia)|Pteria]], the capital of a Phrygian state vassal to the Lydians which might have attempted to rebel against Lydian suzerainty and instead declare its allegiance to the new Persian Empire of Cyrus. Cyrus retaliated by intervening in Cappadocia and attacking the Lydians at Pteria in a [[Battle of Pteria|battle]] in which Croesus was defeated. After this first battle, Croesus burnt down Pteria to prevent Cyrus from using its strategic location and returned to Sardis. However, Cyrus followed Croesus and defeated the Lydian army again [[Battle of Thymbra|at Thymbra]] before [[Siege of Sardis (547 BC)|besieging]] and capturing the Lydian capital of [[Sardis]], thus bringing an end to the rule of the Mermnad dynasty and to the Lydian Empire. Lydia would never regain its independence and would remain a part of various successive empires.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

Although the dates for the battles of Pteria and Thymbra and of end of the Lydian empire have been traditionally fixed to 547 BC,<ref name="Evans"/> more recent estimates suggest that Herodotus's account being unreliable chronologically concerning the fall of Lydia means that there are currently no ways of dating the fall of [[Sardis]]; theoretically, it may even have taken place after the fall of [[Babylon]] in 539 BC.<ref name="Evans"/><ref name="Rollinger"/>

[[File:Croesus and Cyrus.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Croesus vanquished, standing in front of Cyrus]]

===Later life and death===
Croesus's fate after the Persian conquest of Lydia is uncertain: [[Herodotus]], the poet [[Bacchylides]] and [[Nicolaus of Damascus]] claimed that Croesus either tried to commit suicide on a pyre or was condemned by the Persians to be burnt at the stake until a thunderstorm's rain water extinguished the fire after either his or his son's prayers to the god Apollo (or after Cyrus heard Croesus calling the name of Solon). In most versions of the story, Cyrus kept Croesus as his advisor, although Bacchylides claimed that the god Zeus carried Croesus away to [[Hyperborea]]. [[Xenophon]] similarly claimed that Cyrus kept Croesus as his advisor, while [[Ctesias]] claimed that Cyrus appointed Croesus as the governor of the city of Barene in Media.<ref name="Leloux-2"/><ref name="Evans"/>

A passage from the [[Nabonidus Chronicle]] was long held to have referred to a military campaign of Cyrus against a country whose name has been largely erased except for the first [[cuneiform]] character which had been interpreted as [[Lu (cuneiform)|''Lu'']], extrapolated to be the first syllable of an Akkadian name for Lydia. This passage in the Nabonidus Chronicle would thus have referred to a campaign by Cyrus against Lydia around 547 BC during which he "marched against the country, killed its king, took his possessions, and put there a [[garrison]] of his own". However, the verb used in the [[Nabonidus Chronicle]] could be used both in the sense "to kill" and "to destroy as a military power", making any precise deduction of the fate of Croesus from it impossible.<ref name="Evans"/><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cornelius |first=F. |date=1957 |title=Kroisos |url= |journal=Gymnasium |volume=64 |issue= |pages=364–366 |doi= }}</ref> More recent studies have moreover concluded that the non-erased cuneiform sign was not ''Lu'', but rather [[Ú (cuneiform)|Ú]], making untenable the interpretation of the text as talking of a campaign against Lydia, and instead suggesting that the campaign was against [[Urartu]].<ref name="Rollinger">{{cite journal |last=Rollinger |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Rollinger |date=2008 |title=The Median 'Empire', the End of Urartu and Cyrus the Great's Campaign in 547 BC |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250139462 |journal=Ancient West & East |volume=7 |issue= |pages=51–66 |doi=10.2143/AWE.7.0.2033252 |access-date=12 May 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Cargill |first=J. |date=1977 |title=The Nabonidus Chronicle and the fall of Lydia. Consensus with feet of clay |url=https://zenon.dainst.org/Record/000484207/Details |journal=[[American Journal of Ancient History]] |volume=2 |issue= |pages=97–116 |doi= |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Oelsner |first=Joachim |date=1999–2000 |title=Reviewed Work: ''Herodots babylonischer Logos. (= Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft, Sonderheft 84)'' by Robert Rollinger |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41668490 |journal=Archiv für Orientforschung/Institut für Orientalistik |volume=46/47 |issue= |pages=373–380 |doi= |jstor=41668490 |access-date=12 May 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Kroisos stake Louvre G197.jpg|thumb|right|Croesus on the pyre, [[Attica|Attic]] red-figure [[amphora]], [[Louvre]] (G 197)]]

The scholar [[Max Mallowan]] argued that there is no evidence that Cyrus the Great killed Croesus, in particular rejected the account of burning on a pyre, and interpreted Bacchylides' narration as Croesus attempting suicide and then being saved by Cyrus.<ref name="Mallowan">{{cite book |last=Mallowan |first=Max |author-link=Max Mallowan |editor-last=Gershevitch |editor-first=Ilya |editor-link=Ilya Gershevitch |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |date=1968 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-20091-2 |pages=392–419|url= |language=en}}</ref>

The historian Kevin Leloux instead maintained the reading of the Nabonidus Chronicle as referring to a campaign of Cyrus against Lydia to argue that Croesus was indeed executed by Cyrus. According to him, the story of Croesus and the pyre would have been imagined by the Greeks based on the fires started during the Persian capture of Sardis throughout the lower city, where the buildings were made largely of wood.<ref name="Leloux-2"/>

==Legacy==
After defeating Croesus, Cyrus adopted the use of [[gold]] coinage as the main currency of his kingdom. The use of croesid coins under the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] would continue under Cyrus, and would end only after Darius the Great replaced them by the [[Persian daric]]. These late croesid coins bearing "bull and lion" images used under Cyrus differed from previous Mermnad croesids in that they were lighter and their weight was closer to those of the early golden darics and silver sigloi.<ref name="Mallowan"/>

===In popular culture===
According to the Armenian historian [[Movses Khorenatsi]] (c. 410–490s AD), who wrote a monumental ''[[History of Armenia (book)|History of Armenia]]'', the Armenian king [[Artaxias I]] accomplished many military deeds, which include the capture of Croesus and the conquest of the Lydian kingdom (2.12–13).<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/28124151/Croesus_Story_in_the_History_of_Armenia_of_Movs%C4%93s_Xorenaci_in_F_Gazzano_L_Pagani_G_Traina_eds_Greek_Texts_and_Armenian_Traditions_An_Interdisciplinary_Approach_Trends_in_Classics_Supplementary_Volumes_39_De_Gruyter_Berlin_Boston_2016] F. Gazzano, ''Croesus' Story in the History of Armenia of Movsēs Xorenac'i'', in F. Gazzano, L. Pagani, G. Traina (eds.), ''Greek Texts and Armenian Traditions: An Interdisciplinary Approach'' (TiC Suppl, Vol. 39), Berlin-Boston 2016, 83–113.</ref> References to Croesus' legendary power and wealth, often as a symbol of human vanity, are numerous in literature.

The following, by [[Isaac Watts]], is from the poem "False Greatness":

{{poemquote|
Thus mingled still with wealth and state,
Croesus himself can never know;
His true dimensions and his weight
Are far inferior to their show.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/horaelyricm00wa|title=Horae lyricae: poems, chiefly of the lyric kind ... /|last=Watts|first=Isaac|date=1762|publisher=New York : Printed and sold by [[Hugh Gaine]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www2.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Horae_Lyricae_(Isaac_Watts)|title=Horae Lyricae (Isaac Watts) – ChoralWiki|website=www2.cpdl.org|access-date=2016-12-20}}</ref>}}

Another literary example is "[[Croesus and Fate]]", a short story by [[Leo Tolstoy]] that is a retelling of the account of Croesus as told by Herodotus and Plutarch.

''Crœsus, King of Lydia'', is a tragedy in five parts by [[Alfred Bate Richards]], first published in 1845.

To be "''riche comme Crésus''" is a popular French saying to describe the wealthiest of the wealthy, and gave its name to a [[TF1]] game show ''Crésus'', where the king is reimagined as a CGI skeleton, who has returned from the dead to give some of his money away to lucky contestants.

On ''[[The Simpsons]]'', the wealthy [[Montgomery Burns]] lives at the corner of Croesus and [[Mammon]] Streets.

In ''[[The Sopranos]]'' season 4 episode 6, [[Ralph Cifaretto]] tells [[Artie Bucco]] “With what you take out of that bar, you must be sitting on money like King Croesus.”

In ''[[Squidbillies]]'' season 6 episode 8, Dan Halen remarks that he paid Early Cuyler, who he said "left with cash in hand, rich as Croesus".

In ''[[Ghosts (2019 TV series)]]'' season 1 episode 5, Julian Fawcett (played by [[Simon Farnaby]]) compares Barclays Beg-Chetwynde (played by [[Geoffrey McGivern]]) to Croesus, "Oh I remember this berk... rich as Croesus, loves the sound of his own voice."

In ''[[East of Eden (novel)|East of Eden]]'' Chapter 34, [[John Steinbeck]] refers to Croesus to explain living a righteous life. Wealth will vanish as did with Croesus. So, the question one should ask to determine whether one lived a good life or not is “Was he loved or was he hated? Is his death felt as a loss or does a kind of joy come of it?”

In 1968, English psychedelic pop band, [[World of Oz]], released its single titled "King Croesus."

In ''[[The Gilded Age (TV series)|The Gilded Age (TV Series)]]'' season 3, episode 6, Mrs. Van Rhijin, played by ''[[Christine Baranski]]'', describes her recently wealthy servant as “our Croesus-like footman.”

==See also==
* [[Croesus (opera)|''Croesus'' (opera)]]
* [[Karun Treasure]] ("Croesus treasure")

== References==
{{reflist|2}}

===Works cited===
{{refbegin|2}}
* {{cite book |last=Diakonoff |first=I. M. |author-link=Igor M. Diakonoff |editor-last=Gershevitch |editor-first=Ilya |editor-link=Ilya Gershevitch |date=1985 |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |volume=2 |chapter=Media |url= |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=36–148 |isbn=978-0-521-20091-2 }}
*{{cite book |last=Mellink |first=M. |author-link=Machteld Mellink |chapter=The Native Kingdoms of Anatolia |editor1-last=Boardman |editor1-first=John |editor1-link=John Boardman (art historian) |editor2-last=Edwards |editor2-first=I. E. S. |editor2-link=I. E. S. Edwards |editor3-last=Hammond |editor3-first=N. G. L. |editor3-link=N. G. L. Hammond |editor4-last=Sollberger |editor4-first=E. |editor4-link=Edmond Sollberger |editor5-last=Walker |editor5-first=C. B. F. |date=1991 |title=The Cambridge Ancient History |volume=3 |issue=2 |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=619–665 |isbn=978-1-139-05429-4}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.academia.edu/106306473/Cr%C3%A9sus_Le_plus_riche_des_rois_de_Lydie_Paris_Editions_Perrin_2023 Crésus. Le plus riche des rois de Lydie, Perrin, Paris, 2023] by Kevin Leloux
* [https://www.academia.edu/10635667/Lalliance_lydo-spartiate_Kt%C3%A8ma_39_2014_p._271-288 "L'alliance lydo-spartiate", in Ktèma, 39, 2014, pp. 271–288] by Kevin Leloux
* [https://www.academia.edu/61853262/Les_alliances_lydo_%C3%A9gyptienne_et_lydo_babylonienne_Gephyra_22_2021_p_181_207 "Les alliances lydo-égyptienne et lydo-babylonienne", in Gephyra, 22, 2021, pp. 181–207] by Kevin Leloux
* [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Hdt.+1.6.1 Herodotus' account of Croesus; 1.6–94] ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/ from the Perseus Project], containing links to both English and Greek versions). Croesus was the son of [[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]] and continued the conquest of [[Ionia]]n cities of [[Asia Minor]] that his father had begun.
* [https://archive.today/20120629033228/http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Croesus.html An in-depth account of Croesus' life], by Carlos Parada
* [http://www.livius.org Livius], [https://www.livius.org/men-mh/mermnads/croesus.htm Croesus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730202829/https://www.livius.org/men-mh/mermnads/croesus.htm |date=2013-07-30 }} by Jona Lendering
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101119122504/http://ancientopedia.com/croesus/ Croesus] on [[Ancient History Encyclopedia]]
* [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qm8zg Gold Coin of Croesus] a [[BBC]] [[podcast]] from the series: "A History of the World in 100 Objects"
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Croesus}}

{{S-start}}
{{S-hou|Mermnad dynasty||||625 BC|name={{Transliteration|xld|Krowisas|italics=no}}}}
{{s-reg}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Alyattes of Lydia|Alyattes]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=King of [[Lydia]]|years={{c.|585}}–{{c.|547 BC}}}}
{{S-aft|after=Position abolished<br/><small>([[Lydia (satrapy)|Persian conquest]] of Lydia)</small>}}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:540s BC deaths]]
[[Category:6th-century BC monarchs in Asia]]
[[Category:Archaic Greece]]
[[Category:Kings of Lydia]]
[[Category:Mermnad dynasty]]
[[Category:Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime]]
[[Category:Temple of Artemis]]