Battle of Pteria
Encyclopedia
At the Battle of Pteria in 547 BC, the Persian
forces of Cyrus the Great
fought a drawn battle with the invading Lydia
n forces of Croesus
, forcing Croesus to withdraw back west into his own kingdom.
had arranged that the natural boundary between the two empires would be the Halys River. Croesus learned of the sudden Persian uprising and defeat of his longtime rivals, the Medes. He attempted to opportunistically use these set of events to expand his borders upon the eastern frontier of Lydia. He made an alliance with Chaldea, Egypt and Sparta.
refers to how the Lydians fell short in defeating the Persians, it seems clear that partly because of the battle, and having fewer troops than the Persians, it was enough for Croesus to retreat. The Persians reclaimed the land of the Medes
in their name. In this respect, the battle might be regarded as a strategic victory for the Persians
, in that it helped to secure Cappadocia as part of the newly formed Achaemenid Empire.
, which ended in a decisive victory for Cyrus the Great.
Achaemenid Empire
The Achaemenid Empire , sometimes known as First Persian Empire and/or Persian Empire, was founded in the 6th century BCE by Cyrus the Great who overthrew the Median confederation...
forces of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great
Cyrus II of Persia , commonly known as Cyrus the Great, also known as Cyrus the Elder, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Under his rule, the empire embraced all the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanded vastly and eventually conquered most of Southwest Asia and much...
fought a drawn battle with the invading Lydia
Lydia
Lydia was an Iron Age kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir. Its population spoke an Anatolian language known as Lydian....
n forces of Croesus
Croesus
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC until his defeat by the Persians. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S...
, forcing Croesus to withdraw back west into his own kingdom.
Background
Formerly, the Lydians and MedesMedes
The MedesThe Medes...
had arranged that the natural boundary between the two empires would be the Halys River. Croesus learned of the sudden Persian uprising and defeat of his longtime rivals, the Medes. He attempted to opportunistically use these set of events to expand his borders upon the eastern frontier of Lydia. He made an alliance with Chaldea, Egypt and Sparta.
Motives
Croesus may have intended re-instating his brother-in-law, Astages on the Median throne. It is also possible that he was trying to pre-empt a Persian invasion of Lydia.Battle
Cyrus advanced to halt the Lydian invasion. The winter battle appears to have been fierce, but indecisive. Croesus withdrew across the Halys. As HerodotusHerodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
refers to how the Lydians fell short in defeating the Persians, it seems clear that partly because of the battle, and having fewer troops than the Persians, it was enough for Croesus to retreat. The Persians reclaimed the land of the Medes
Medes
The MedesThe Medes...
in their name. In this respect, the battle might be regarded as a strategic victory for the Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
, in that it helped to secure Cappadocia as part of the newly formed Achaemenid Empire.
Aftermath
Among historians, the outcome of the battle remains debatable and unclear. Before all of this, and prior to his invasion, Croesus asked the Oracle of Delphi for advice. The Oracle suggested vaguely that, "if King Croesus crosses the Halys River, a great empire will be destroyed." Croesus received these words with delight, instigating a war that would ironically and eventually end not the Persian Empire but his own. This battle was shortly followed by the Battle of ThymbraBattle of Thymbra
The Battle of Thymbra was the decisive battle in the war between Croesus of the Lydian Empire against Cyrus the Great in the first months of 547 BC. Cyrus, having pursued Croesus into Lydia following the drawn Battle of Pteria, met the remains of Croesus' partly disbanded army in battle on the...
, which ended in a decisive victory for Cyrus the Great.
Sources
- Herodotus. The Histories. Suffolk, England: Penguin Books, 1975.
- Dupuy, R. Ernest, and Trevor N. Dupuy. The Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 B.C. to the present. New York: Harper and Row, 1977.
- Fuller, J.F.C. A Military History of the Western World, Volume One. N.P.: Minerva Press, 1954.