In the middle of the sixth century BCE, King Croesus of Lydia became ambitious and greedy for lands beyond the Halys River, known today as the Kızılırmak. This river marked the traditional eastern border of the Lydian kingdom. Croesus believed that by crossing it he could expand his power and wealth. However, this decision brought him into direct conflict with a rising force in the east: Persia, ruled by Cyrus the Great.
A major battle took place in 546 BCE near the Halys River between the armies of Croesus and Cyrus. The result was a decisive victory for Cyrus. After defeating the Lydian army, Cyrus continued his campaign westward into Asia Minor The Faithful Christians of Sardis.
The Fall of Sardis and Persian Rule
Soon after the battle, Sardis, the wealthy capital of Lydia, was captured by the Persians. With the fall of Sardis, the independent Lydian kingdom came to an end. Cyrus made Sardis the capital of a new Persian province, turning it into the main administrative center of western Asia Minor.
Under Persian rule, Sardis became a key city in the empire. One of the most important developments of this period was the use of the Royal Road, which connected the western parts of the empire to Mesopotamia and Iran. This road allowed fast communication, trade, and military movement between the East and the West, and Sardis stood at its western end.
Sardis as a Persian Military Base
Sardis continued to play an important role in Persian history. In the autumn of 481 BCE, King Xerxes I arrived in Sardis with a massive army. He spent the winter there while preparing for his great campaign against Greece. In the following spring, his forces marched from Sardis toward the Hellespont, beginning one of the most famous invasions of the ancient world.
Later, in 401 BCE, Cyrus the Younger gathered his troops in Sardis. From here, he launched a long and dangerous expedition into Persia in an attempt to take the throne from his elder brother, Artaxerxes II Mnemon. This campaign later became famous through the account of the Greek writer Xenophon Daily Sofia Tours.
From Alexander to Roman Rule
Persian control of Sardis lasted until 334 BCE, when Alexander the Great entered Asia Minor and captured the city. After Alexander’s death, the region was ruled first by Lysimachus and later by the Seleucid kings.
In 190 BCE, the Seleucids were defeated by Rome at the Battle of Magnesia. As a reward for his bravery, Eumenes II of Pergamum received Sardis and its surrounding lands. When the last king of Pergamum, Attalos III, left his kingdom to Rome in 133 BCE, Sardis became part of a new Roman province.
Roman Prosperity and Decline
During the Roman period, Sardis suffered severe earthquakes in 17 and 26 CE and had to be rebuilt several times. Despite these disasters, the city recovered quickly. By the end of the first century CE, its population may have reached around one hundred thousand inhabitants.
The remains visible today show that Sardis was one of the richest and most impressive cities in the region during Roman rule. This prosperity continued until the Sassanian invasion of 616 CE. After that, Sardis became a frontier fortress of the Eastern Roman Empire and slowly lost its former importance, eventually fading into obscurity.
