246 HISTORY OF ART IN ANTIQUITY. nezzar, 1 and the Sait rulers of Egypt. 2 On the other hand, the conquest of Ionia, in opening the ,/Egean to Lydia, awoke in her sovereigns a new train of thought : that of fitting out a fleet for the conquest of the Cyclades. 3 The wildest ambition seemed to be within the grasp of these fortunate conquerors, when their power suddenly collapsed ; in- duced not by internal turmoils and rebellion, but because of a revolution in the south of Iran, which caused supremacy to pass from the Medes to the Persians. In an evil hour Croesus con- ducted an expedition across the Halys against the new masters of Anterior Asia ; an indecisive battle was fought in Cappadocia, in which Cyrus would seem to have had the advantage, for he soon reappeared in Lydia, and completely routed an army hastily collected together, which was sent to impede his pro- gress and prevent his advance on Sardes. All in vain. At the end of a fortnight's siege the Persians took by surprise a citadel deemed impregnable, in which, together with his family and his treasures, Croesus had shut himself up. 4 Sardes became the seat of a Persian satrap, and the Lydians from that day disappear as an independent nation. Though brief, the part they played as a political force was not without its effect on the unfolding of antique civilization. Not the least curious feature of this history, covering the period between the enthronement of Gyges and the taking of Sardes, is the nature and character of the relations the Lydians entertained with the Greeks ; since it would seem that hostilities and mutual acts of kindness went hand in hand together. Each day served to bring the two people nearer and unite them more intimately. Thus in the time of the Heraclidse, Ardys, expelled from Lydia by a usurper, finds refuge in the ^Eolian city of Cymae. 6 Somewhat later, with the reign of the following dynasty, Lydian princes espouse Greek women, and give their daughters in marriage to Ionian nobles. 6 A merchant of Ephesus supplies the sinews ot war, and enables Croesus to undertake a warlike expedition. 7 Finally, when Cyrus, ready to march against Sardes, invited the lonians to raise the standard of rebellion against masters they 1 Herodotus, i. 74, 77. 2 Ibid., 77. 8 Ibid., 27. 4 Herodotus, i. 75-84. 5 Nicholas of Damascus, Frag. 47.
- Herodotus, i. 92 ; Nicholas of Damascus, Frag. 63 ; ^LIAN, Hist. Var. iii. 26.
7 Nicholas of Damascus, Frag. 65.
