page_title: Siege of Sardis (547 BC)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Siege of Sardis (547 BC) / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Defeat of Croesus 546 BCE
context_page_description: In the Siege of Sardis, the last decisive conflict after the Battle of Thymbra, which was fought between the forces of Croesus of Lydia and Cyrus the Great, Cyrus followed Croesus to his city. He laid siege to it for 14 days, and then captured it.
context_section_description: In the previous year king Croesus of Lydia, impelled by various considerations, invaded the kingdom of Cyrus the Great; he hoped to quell the growing power of Achaemenid Persia; to expand his own dominions; and revenge the deposition of his brother-in-law Astyages; also, he thought himself certain of success, deluded by the ambiguous assurances of the apparently reliable oracle of Apollo at Delphi.
  Croesus crossed the Halys and met Cyrus at Pteria in Cappadocia, but after a drawn-out battle against superior forces in which neither side obtained the victory Croesus resolved to fall back for the winter, summon new allies, and renew the war reinforced in the next spring. In the interim, he disbanded his army and returned to Sardis, expecting Cyrus to hang back after the sanguinary battle in Cappadocia. But the energetic Cyrus, as soon as he heard that Croesus' forces were dispersed, crossed the Halys and advanced with such speed that he had arrived at the Lydian capital, Sardis, before Croesus had any word of his approach. 
  Undaunted, Croesus mustered his available troops and met Cyrus in the battle of Thymbra outside the walls. Cyrus was victorious, having contrived to deprive the Lydians of their last resource, their cavalry (in which the Lydians allegedly surpassed all other nations at the time), by frightening off their horses with the sight of his camels. The remnants of the Lydian army were driven within the city and promptly besieged.
caption: Defeat of Croesus at the Battle of Thymbra, 546 BCE.
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