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[[File: Hoecke_Croesus_showing_his_treasures.jpg|300px360px|thumbnail|left|Early Seventeenth Century Painting by Frans Francken the Younger of the Lydian King Croesus Showing His Wealth]]According the fifth century BC Greek historian Herodotus, who has often been called the “father of history,” the Lydian King Croesus (ruled ca. 560-540s BC) was the world’s wealthiest king who ruled the world’s wealthiest kingdom. When Salon, the legendary Athenian law giver, came to Lydia see the king’s wealth personally, Croesus immediately had his servants “take him on a tour of the royal treasuries” in order to “point out the richness and magnificence of everything.”<ref> Herodotus. <i> The Histories.</i> Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. (London: Penguin Books, 2003), p. 13-14</ref> Because of Herodotus’ writings, Croesus became known as one of the wealthiest men of his time, which an examination of the historiographical and archaeological sources certainly confirms. Croesus was the fortunate recipient of a wealthy kingdom that his ancestors had established years before he came to the throne. The kingdom of Lydia boasted of a river that was filled with the precious mineral electrum and on its banks was one of the world’s first gold refineries. The Lydians were also known for being some of the best merchants in the ancient world and are credited with being the inventors of money as it is known today. When Croesus came to power, though, he did not rest on his laurels and instead took that wealth to make his kingdom even richer through conquest and by inviting some of the greatest thinkers of the Hellenic world to teach his people, which ultimately made the king the richest man in the ancient world in more ways than one.
===The Kingdom of Lydia===
===Croesus and the Wealth of Lydia===
[[File: Jug_from_Lydian_Treasure_Usak.jpg|300px390px|thumbnail|right|Ornate Lydian Vase]]
Herodotus and other Greek writers had a complicated view of the Lydians. They were impressed by the industrious nature of the Lydians and marveled at the monuments they used to build with their wealth, but the perceived ostentatious nature of the Lydians, especially Croesus, was viewed with derision. Greeks who visited Lydia usually spent most of their time in the capital city of Sardis, which provided many sights to see. American archaeological expeditions have revealed that Sardis became an “impressive” city in the early seventh century BC. Sardis boasted of a large acropolis where the main palace was located and below was a walled city on the plain. The remains of the houses show that even the average Lydian enjoyed a reasonable amount of material wealth – the homes were spacious with roofed tiles and decorated with terracotta friezes. <ref>Kuhrt, pgs. 567-70</ref>
===Croesus on the Throne===
[[File: SiverCoinofCroesus.jpg|300px390px|thumbnail|left|Silver Lydian Coin from the Reign of Croesus]]
When Croesus came to the throne at the age of thirty-five, he set about to make his already powerful and wealthy kingdom even more so through a combination of conquest and diplomacy. The king used his wealth to field an army that was able to overcome most of his neighbors, including the Phrygians and Ionian Greeks. Once established as the ruler of Anatolia, Croesus then decided to invite some of the most learned men of the world to visit Sardis. Herodotus noted that during this time “all the great Greek teachers of that epoch . . . paid visits to the capital.” <ref>Herodotus, p. 29</ref> Croesus may have invited these men to his kingdom at least partially to show off his wealth, but the end result was the Sardis’ intellectual and cultural wealth was increased. Artists as well as philosophers traveled to Lydia to hone their skills and help make the kingdom a financial and cultural center. As Greek, Egyptian, and Babylonian scholars, artists, and statesmen visited Lydia to admire its wealth and culture, Croesus became a victim of hubris.
===References===
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