Drawn by Boudier, from the heliogravure of Rayet and Thomas.

Kymê and Ephesus put the region of the Messogis and the Tmolus into communication with the sea, but the lower valleys of the Hermos and the Masander were closed by the existence of Greek colonies at Smyrna, Clazomenas, Colophon, Priênê, and Miletus—all hostile to the Mermnadæ—which it would be necessary to overcome if these countries were to enjoy the prosperity shared by other parts of the kingdom; hence the principal effort made by the Lydians was either directly to annex these towns, or to impose such treaties on them as would make them their dependencies. Ardys seized Priênê towards 620, and after having thus established himself on the northern shore of the Latrnio Gulf,* he proceeded to besiege Miletus in 616, at the very close of his career. Hostilities were wearily prolonged all through the reign of Sadyattes (615-610), and down to the sixth year of Alyattes.**

* The well-known story that Priênê was saved under Alyattes
by a stratagem of the philosopher Bias is merely a fable, of
which several other examples are found. It would not be
possible to conclude from it, as Grote did, that Ardys’ rule
over the town was but ephemeral.
** The periods of duration assigned here to the reigns of
these princes are those of Euschius—that is to say, 15
years for Crosus, 37 for Alyattes, 5 for Sadyattes, 37 for
Ardys; Julius Africanus gives 15 for Sadyattes and 38 for
Ardys, while Herodotus suggests 14 for Crosus, 57 for
Alyattes, 12 for Sadyattes, and 59 for Ardys.

The position of Miletus was too strong to permit of its being carried by a coup de main; besides which, the Lydians were unwilling to destroy at one blow a town whose colonies, skilfully planted at the seaports from the coasts of the Black Sea to those of Egypt, would one day furnish them with so many outlets for their industrial products. Their method of attacking it resolved itself into a series of exhausting raids. “Every year, as soon as the fruit crops and the harvests began to ripen, Alyattes set out at the head of his troops, whom he caused to march and encamp to the sound of instruments. Having arrived in the Milesian territory, he completely destroyed the crops and the orchards, and then again withdrew.” In these expeditions he was careful to avoid any excesses which would have made the injury inflicted appear irretrievable; his troops were forbidden to destroy dwelling-houses or buildings dedicated to the gods; indeed, on one occasion, when the conflagration which consumed the lands accidentally spread to the temple of Athena near Assêsos, he rebuilt two temples for the goddess at his own expense. The Milesians sustained the struggle courageously, until two reverses at Limeneion and in the plain of the Maeander at length induced them to make terms. Their tyrant, Thrasybulus, acting on the advice of the Delphic Apollo and by the mediation of Periander of Corinth, concluded a treaty with Alyattes in which the two princes, declaring themselves the guest and the ally one of the other, very probably conceded extensive commercial privileges to one another both by land and sea (604).*

* Thrasybulus’ stratagem is said to have taken place at
Priênê by Diogenes Laertes and by Polysenus. The war begins
under Ardys, lasts for five years under Sadyattes, instead
of the six years which Herodotus attributes to it, and five
years under Alyattes.

Alyattes rewarded the oracle by the gift of a magnificent bowl, the work of Glaucus of Chios, which continued to be shown to travellers of the Roman period as one of the most remarkable curiosities of Delphi. Alyattes continued his expeditions against the other Greek colonies, but directed them prudently and leisurely, so as not to alarm his European friends, and provoke the formation against himself of a coalition of the Hellenic communities shattered over the isles or along the littoral of the Ægean. We know that towards the end of his reign he recovered Colophon, which had been previously acquired by Gyges, but had regained its independence during the Cimmerian crisis;* he razed Smyrna to the ground, and forced its inhabitants to occupy unfortified towns, where his suzerainty could not be disputed;** he half devastated Clazomense, whose citizens saved it by a despairing effort, and he renewed the ancient alliances with Ephesus, Kymê, and the cities of the region of the Caicus and the Hellespont,*** though it is impossible to attribute an accurate date to each of these particular events.

* Polysenus tells the story of the trick by which Alyattes,
after he had treated with the people of Colophon, destroyed
their cavalry and seized on their town. The fact that a
treaty was made seems to be confirmed by a fragment of
Phylarchus, and the surrender of the town to the Lydians by
a fragment of Xenophanes, quoted in Athenseus. Schubert does
not seem to believe that the town was taken by Alyattes; I
have adopted the opinion of Ladet on this point.
** Herodotus and Nicolas of Damascus confine themselves to
relating the capture of the city; adds that the Lydians
compelled the inhabitants to dwell in unfortified towns.
Schubert thinks that the passage in Strabo refers, not to
the time of Alyattes, but to a subsequent event in the fifth
century; he relies for this opinion on a fragment of Pindar,
which represents Smyrna as still flourishing in his time.
But, as Busolt has pointed out, the intention of the text of
Pindar is to represent the state of the city at about the
time of Homer’s birth, and not in the fifth century.
*** The peace between Ephesus and Lydia must have been
troubled for a little while in the reign of Sadyattes, but
it was confirmed under Alyattes by the marriage of Melas II.
with one of the king’s daughters.

Most of them had already taken place or were still proceeding when the irruption of the Medes across the Halys obliged him to concentrate all his energies on the eastern portion of his kingdom.

The current tradition in Lydia of a century later attributed the conflict of the two peoples to a romantic cause. It related that Cyaxares had bestowed his favour on the bands of Scythians who had become his mercenaries on the death of Madyes, and that he had entrusted to them the children of some of the noblest Medic families, that they might train them to hunt and also teach them the use of the bow. One day, on their returning from the chase without any game, Cyaxares reproached them for their want of skill in such angry and insulting terms, that they resolved on immediate revenge. They cut one of the children in pieces, which they dressed after the same manner as that in which they were accustomed to prepare the game they had killed, and served up the dish to the king; then, while he was feasting upon it with his courtiers, they lied in haste and took refuge with Alyattes. The latter welcomed them, and refused to send them back to Cyaxares; hence the outbreak of hostilities. It is, of course, possible that the emigration of a nomad horde may have been the cause of the war,* but graver reasons than this had set the two nations at variance.

* Grote has collected a certain number of examples in later
times to show that the journeying of a nomad horde from one
state to another may provoke wars, and he concludes
therefrom that at least the basis of Herodotus’ account may
be considered as true.