Lydia
Kingdom of Lydia | |||||||||||||||||
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| ?–546 BC | |||||||||||||||||
Map of the Lydian Kingdom in its final period of sovereignty under Croesus, c. 547 BC. | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Sardis | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Lydian | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Lydian religion | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Kings | |||||||||||||||||
• 680–644 BC | Gyges | ||||||||||||||||
• 644–637 BC | Ardys | ||||||||||||||||
• 637–635 BC | Sadyattes | ||||||||||||||||
• 635–585 BC | Alyattes | ||||||||||||||||
• 585–546 BC | Croesus | ||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Iron Age | ||||||||||||||||
| Before 800 BC | |||||||||||||||||
| 670–630s BC | |||||||||||||||||
| 612–600 BC | |||||||||||||||||
| 590–585 BC | |||||||||||||||||
| 546 BC | |||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Croeseid | ||||||||||||||||
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Lydia (Ancient Greek: Λυδία, romanized: Ludía; Latin: Lȳdia) was an Iron Age kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.
At some point before 800 BC, the Lydian people achieved some sort of political cohesion, and existed as an independent kingdom by the 600s BC. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BC, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BC, it became a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, known as Sparda in Old Persian. In 133 BC, it became part of the Roman province of Asia.
Lydian coins, made of electrum, are among the oldest in existence, dated to around the 7th century BC.