The Fortune Of Croesus
The land of the Hellenes, or Greeks, was not confined to the small
peninsula now known as Greece. Hellenic colonies spread far to the east
and the west, to Italy and Sicily on the one hand, to Asia Minor and the
shores of the Black Sea on the other. The story of the Argonauts
probably arose from colonizing expeditions to the Black Sea. That of
Croesus has to do with the colonies in Asia Minor.
These colon
es clung to the coast. Inland lay other nations, to some
extent of Hellenic origin. One of these was the kingdom of Lydia, whose
history is of the highest importance to us, since the conflicts between
Lydia and the coast colonies were the first steps towards the invasion
of Greece by the Persians, that most important event in early Grecian
history.
These conflicts began in the reign of Croesus, an ambitious king of
Lydia in the sixth century before Christ. What gave rise to the war
between Lydia and the Greek settlements of Ionia and AEolia we do not
very well know. An ambitious despot does not need much pretext for war.
He wills the war, and the pretext follows. It will suffice to say that,
on one excuse or another, Croesus made war on every Ionian and AEolian
state, and conquered them one after the other.
First the great and prosperous city of Ephesus fell. Then, one by one,
others followed, till, by the year 550 B.C., Croesus had become lord
and master of every one of those formerly free and wealthy cities and
states. Then, having placed all the colonies on the mainland under
tribute, he designed to conquer the islands as well, and proposed to
build ships for that purpose. He was checked in this plan by the shrewd
answer of one of the seven wise men of Greece, either Bias or Pittacus,
who had visited Sardis, the capital of Lydia.
"What news bring you from Greece?" asked King Croesus of his wise
visitor.
"I am told that the islanders are gathering ten thousand horse, with the
purpose of attacking you and your capital," was the answer.
"What!" cried Croesus. "Have the gods given these shipmen such an idea
as to fight the Lydians with cavalry?"
"I fancy, O king," answered the Greek, "that nothing would please you
better than to catch these islanders here on horseback. But do you not
think that they would like nothing better than to catch you at sea on
shipboard? Would they not avenge on you the misfortunes of their
conquered brethren?"
This shrewd suggestion taught Croesus a lesson. Instead of fighting
the islanders, he made a treaty of peace and friendship with them. But
he continued his conquests on the mainland till in the end all Asia
Minor was under his sway, and Lydia had become one of the great
kingdoms of the earth. Such wealth came to Croesus as a result of his
conquests and unchanging good fortune that he became accounted the
richest monarch upon the earth, while Sardis grew marvellous for its
splendor and prosperity. At an earlier date there had come thither
another of the seven wise men of Greece, Solon, the law-giver of Athens.
What passed between this far-seeing visitor and the proud monarch of
Lydia we have already told.
The misfortunes which Solon told the king were liable to come upon any
man befell Croesus during the remainder of his life. Herodotus, the
historian, tells us the romantic story of how the gods sent misery to
him who had boasted overmuch of his happiness. We give briefly this
interesting account.
Croeus had two sons, one of whom was deaf and dumb, the other, Atys by
name, gifted with the highest qualities which nature has to bestow. The
king loved his bright and handsome son as dearly as he loved his wealth,
and when a dream came to him that Atys would die by the blow of an iron
weapon, he was deeply disturbed in his mind.
How should he prevent such a misfortune? In alarm, he forbade his son to
take part in military forays, to which he had before encouraged him;
and, to solace him for this deprivation, bade him to take a wife. Then,
lest any of the warlike weapons which hung upon the walls of his
apartments might fall and wound him, the king had them all removed, and
stored away in the part of the palace devoted to the women.
But fate had decreed that all such precautions should be in vain. At
Mount Olympus, in Mysia, had appeared a monster boar, that ravaged the
fields of the lowlands and defied pursuit into his mountain retreat.
Hunting parties were sent against him, but the great boar came off
unscathed, while the hunters always suffered from his frightful tusks.
At length ambassadors were sent to Croesus, begging him to send his
son, with other daring youths and with hunting hounds, to aid them rid
their country of this destructive brute.
"That cannot be," answered Croesus, still in terror from his dream.
"My son is just married, and cannot so soon leave his bride. But I will
send you a picked band of hunters, and bid them use all zeal to kill
this foe of your harvests."
With this promise the Mysians were quite content, but Atys, who
overheard it, was not.
"Why, my father," he demanded, "do you now keep me from the wars and the
chase, when you formerly encouraged me to take part in them, and win
glory for myself and you? Have I ever shown cowardice or lack of manly
spirit? What must the citizens or my young bride think of me? With what
face can I show myself in the forum? Either you must let me go to the
chase of this boar, or give a reason why you keep me at home."
In reply Croesus told the indignant youth of his vision, and the alarm
with which it had inspired him.
"Ah!" cried Atys, "then I cannot blame you for keeping this tender watch
over me. But, father, do you not wrongly interpret the dream? It said I
was to die stricken by an iron weapon. A boar wields no such weapon.
Had the dream said I was to die pierced by a tusk, then you might well
be alarmed; but it said a weapon. We do not propose now to fight men,
but to hunt a wild beast I pray you, therefore, let me go with the
party."
"You have the best of me there," said Croesus. "Your interpretation of
the dream is better than mine. You may go, my son."
At that time there was at the king's court a Phrygian named Adrastus,
who had unwittingly slain his own brother and had fled to Sardis, where
he was purified according to the customs of the country, and courteously
received by the king. Croesus sent for this stranger and asked him to
go with the hunting party, and keep especial watch over his son, in case
of an attack by some daring band of robbers.
Adrastus consented, though against his will, his misfortune having taken
from him all desire for scenes of bloodshed. However, he would do his
utmost to guard the king's son against harm.
The party set out accordingly, reached Olympus without adventure, and
scattered in pursuit of the animal, which the dogs soon roused from its
lair. Closing in a circle around the brute, the hunters drew near and
hurled their weapons at it. Not the least eager among the hunters was
Adrastus, who likewise hurled his spear; but, through a frightful
chance, the hurtling weapon went astray, and struck and killed Atys, his
youthful charge. Thus was the dream fulfilled: an iron weapon had slain
the king's favorite son.
The news of this misfortune plunged Croesus into the deepest misery
of grief. As for Adrastus, he begged to be sacrificed at the grave of
his unfortunate victim. This Croesus, despite his grief, refused,
saying,--
"Some god is the author of my misfortune, not you. I was forewarned of
it long ago."
But Adrastus was not to be thus prevented. Deeming himself the most
unfortunate of men, he slew himself on the tomb of the hapless youth.
And for two years Croesus abandoned himself to grief.
And now we must go on to tell how Croesus met with a greater
misfortune still, and brought the Persians to the gates of Greece.
Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of Persia, had conquered the neighboring
kingdom of Media, and, inspired by ambition, had set out on a career of
wide-spread conquest and dominion. He had grown steadily more powerful,
and now threatened the great kingdom which Croesus had gained.
The Lydian king, seeing this danger approaching, sought advice from the
oracles. But wishing first to know which of them could best be trusted,
he sent to six of them demanding a statement of what he was doing at a
certain moment. The oracle of Delphi alone gave a correct answer.
Thereupon Croesus offered up a vast sacrifice to the Delphian deity.
Three thousand oxen were slain, and a great sacrificial pile was built,
on which were placed splendid robes and tunics of purple, with couches
and censers of gold and silver, all to be committed to the flames. To
Delphi he sent presents befitting the wealthiest of kings,--ingots,
statues, bowls, jugs, etc., of gold and silver, of great weight. These
Herodotus himself saw with astonishment a century afterwards at Delphi.
The envoys who bore these gifts asked the oracle whether Croesus
should undertake an expedition against the Persians, and should solicit
allies.
He was bidden, in reply, to seek alliance with the most powerful nations
of Greece. He was also told that if he fought with the Persians he would
overturn a "mighty empire." Croesus accepted this as a promise of
success, not thinking to ask whose empire was to be overturned. He sent
again to the oracle, which now replied, "When a mule shall become king
of the Medes, then thou must run away,--be not ashamed." Here was
another enigma of the oracle. Cyrus--son of a royal Median mother and a
Persian father of different race and lower position--was the mule
indicated, though Croesus did not know this. In truth, the oracles of
Greece seem usually to have borne a double meaning, so that whatever
happened the priestess could claim that her word was true, the fault was
in the interpretation.
Croesus, accepting the oracles as favorable, made an alliance with
Sparta, and marched his army into Media, where he inflicted much damage.
Cyrus met him with a larger army, and a battle ensued. Neither party
could claim a victory, but Croesus returned to Sardis, to collect more
men and obtain aid from his allies. He might have been successful had
Cyrus waited till his preparations were complete. But the Persian king
followed him to his capital, defeated him in a battle near Sardis, and
besieged him in that city.
Sardis was considered impregnable, and Croesus could easily have held
out till his allies arrived had it not been for one of those unfortunate
incidents of which war has so many to tell. Sardis was strongly
fortified on every side but one. Here the rocky height on which it was
built was so steep as to be deemed inaccessible, and walls were thought
unnecessary. Yet a soldier of the garrison made his way down this
precipice to pick up his helmet, which had fallen. A Persian soldier saw
him, tried to climb up, and found it possible. Others followed him, and
the garrison, to their consternation, found the enemy within their
walls. The gates were opened to the army without, and the whole city was
speedily taken by storm.
Croesus would have been killed but for a miracle. His deaf and dumb
son, seeing a Persian about to strike him down, burst into speech
through the agony of terror, crying out, "Man, do not kill Croesus!"
The story goes that he ever afterwards retained the power of speech.
Cyrus had given orders that the life of Croesus should be spared, and
the unhappy captive was brought before him. But the cruel Persian had a
different death in view. He proposed to burn the captive king, together
with fourteen Lydian youths, on a great pile of wood which he had
constructed. We give what followed as told by Herodotus, though its
truth cannot be vouched for at this late day.
As Croesus lay in fetters on the already kindled pile and thought of
this terrible ending to his boasted happiness, he groaned bitterly, and
cried in tones of anguish, "Solon! Solon! Solon!"
"What does he mean?" asked Cyrus of the interpreters. They questioned
Croesus, and learned from him what Solon had said. Cyrus heard this
story not without alarm. His own life was yet to end; might not a like
fate come to him? He ordered that the fire should be extinguished, but
would have been too late had not a timely downpour of rain just then
come to the aid of the captive king,--sent by Apollo, in gratitude for
the gifts to his temple, suggests Herodotus. Croesus was afterwards
made the confidential friend and adviser of the Persian king, whose
dominions, through this victory, had been extended over the whole Lydian
empire, and now reached to the ocean outposts of Greece.