General Notes

Lydia, ancient country, W Asia Minor, N of Caria and S of Mysia (now NW Turkey). The tyrant Gyges was the founder of the Mermnadae dynasty, which lasted from c.700 B.C. to 550 B.C. The little kingdom grew to an empire in the chaos that had been left after the fall of the Neo-Hittite kingdom. Lydia was proverbially golden with wealth, and the capital, Sardis, was magnificent. To Lydian rulers is ascribed the first use of coined money in the 7th cent. B.C. Lydia had close ties with the Greek cities of Asia, which were for a time within the Lydian empire.

Gyges (Her. i.vi-i.xv) (685-644)
the ruse of Candaules

VERSIONS OF HIS NAME: - Gyges [Wagner1975] [Jones1967] [Pedley1972] [CAH/III/1960] [wBritannica] - [wMG/Howery] [wWebGenealogie] - Gyges Lydia [wMG/Stave] - Gyges Mermnad [Herodotus] [EB1986] [WNBD1983] - TITLES: - king of Lydia ; abt 0690B - - HIS LIFE: - Raised in: (Pontus) - Returned to Sardis at about 18 years of age - Killed king Candaules - Reigned 38 years - Cooperated with king Ashurbanipal of Assyria in a struggle against the Cimmerians - Invaded Ionia, capturing the city of Colophon, and attacking Miletus - Travelled to Greece to make offerings at Delphi - Allied with Psammetichus, king of Egypt - Defeated and slain by Cimmerians