Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Lydia was an ancient kingdom of Asia Minor, also known as Mæonia. Its principal city was Sardis. The boundaries of Lydia varied across the centuries. It was first bounded by Mysia Major, Caria, Phrygia and Ionia. Later on, it grew to contain all the land between the Halys river and the Aegean sea. The empire's name became synonymous with wealth and Sardis was renowned as a beautiful city. It was also one of the first countries to make coins. The name Lydia is derived from Lydus, a king of Mæonia. The last Lydian king, Croesus was beaten by Cyrus in 548 BC and the kingdom became a province of the Persian empire. Selected Monarchs of Lydia with date of accession. 797 BC Ardysus I 761 BC Alyattes I 747 BC Meles 735 BC Candaules 718 BC Gyges 680 BC Ardysus II 631 BC Sadyattes 619 BC Alyattes II 560 BC Croesus This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.