monarch faced
the Medes, who had advanced their empire to the river Halys, the eastern
boundary of Lydia, which flows northwardly into the Euxine. For five
years Alyattes fought the Medes under Cyaxares with varying success, and
the war ended by the marriage of the daughter of the Lydian king with
Astyages. After this, Alyattes reigned forty-three years, and was buried
in a tomb whose magnificence was little short of the grandest of the
Egyptian monuments.

Croesus, his son, entered upon a career which reminds us of Solomon, the
inheritor of the conquests of David. Like the Jewish monarch, Croesus
was rich, luxurious, and intellectual. His wealth, obtained chiefly from
the mines of his kingdom, was a marvel to the Greeks. His capital Sardis
became the largest in western Asia, and one of the most luxurious cities
known to antiquity, whither resorted travellers from all parts of the
world, attracted by the magnificence of the court, among whom was Solon
himself, the great Athenian law-giver. Croesus continued the warfare on
the Greek cities of Asia, and forced them to become his tributaries. He
brought under his sway most of the nations to the west of the Halys, and
though never so great a warrior as his father, he became very powerful.
He was as generous in his gifts as he was magnificent in his tastes. His
offerings to the oracle at Delphi were unprecedented in their value,
when he sought advice as to the wisdom of engaging in war with Cyrus. Of
the three great Asian empires, Croesus now saw his father's ally,
Babylon, under a weak and dissolute ruler; Media, absorbed into Persia
under the power of a valiant and successful conqueror; and his own
empire, Lydia, threatened with attack by the growing ambition of Persia.
Herodotus says he "was led to consider whether it were possible to check
the growing power of that people."

It was the misfortune of Croesus to overrate his strength,--an error
often seen in the career of fortunate men, especially those who enter
upon a great inheritance. It does not appear that Croesus desired war
with Persia, but he did not dread it, and felt confident that he could
overcome a man whose chief conquests had been made over barbarians.
Perhaps he felt the necessity of contending with Cyrus before that
warrior's victories and prestige should become overwhelming, for the
Persian monarch obviously aimed at absorbing all Asia in his empire; at
any rate, when informed by the oracle at Delphi th