After reading the first 94 chapters of Histories, written by Herodotus, I have identified six reasons that contributed to the downfall of the Lydia Kingdom. These six reasons are immorality, fate, pride, racism, political turmoil, and war. All of these reasons, when viewed as a whole, can be seen as the downfall of the Lydian Kingdom. Morality helped in the downfall this kingdom by bringing on a curse. From the very opening of Histories, Candaules and Gyges morality come into question. Candaules, the king, brags to Gyges about his wife’s beauty, and Candaules wants for Gyges to see his wife naked to prove this beauty to him. Gyges shows good moral character by insisting not to see Candaules wife naked, but agrees to view her after Candaules …show more content…
When Solon, an Athenian traveler and guest in Lydia, is asked who is the happiest ruler that he has ever encountered, Croesus believes that the answer will be him. When Solon does not give the answer that Croesus was expecting, and Croesus’s pride gets the best of him. Solon then explains that he can not judge and call someone happy until that person has died, because he need to know the end of someone’s life before he can make a judgment. In a strange incident, the pride that Croesus shows with Solon, and the information Solon shares will eventually save his life when Cyrus wants to put him to death. The pride of Croesus also is what caused him not to listen to an adviser who ask him what he would gain in conquering Persia? And this adviser also questioned him about what he could loose? Croesus chose not to listen to him but rather listen to his pride and misinterpret the prophecies about going to war with Persia. His pride made Croesus believe that he was destined to win in battle against the Persians which nearly led to his death. Herodotus says “Then Cyrus, having perceived that Croesus was a lover of the gods and a good man, caused him to be brought down from the pyre and asked him as follows: “Croesus, tell me who of all men was it who persuaded thee to march upon my land and so to become an enemy to me instead of a friend?” and he said: “O king, I did this to thy felicity and to my …show more content…
The Spartans, who were part of the Lacedaemon region, had lost much of their men and money from fighting a war with the people of Tegea just before the alliance. The Spartans were fond of the alliance because they were able to obtain expensive gifts and land from Croesus that could help stabilize their economy after a war with the Tegeans. The Spartans were also engaged in battle with the Argives when Croesus was being besieged at Sardis and sent for their help. They had lost their best warriors in the battle at Thyrea, which has come to be known as The Battle of 300 Champions. When the two sides decided to have a battle of three hundred warriors, from each side, and whoever won the small battle would control the land. This battle made the Lacedemonians chose their best warriors, which gave a less equipped force to the Lydians. While war stopped the Spartans from coming to Croesus help, political turmoil stopped Athens from sending their Hoplites. Peisistratos, a ruler of ancient Athens, was trying to retake his seat of power during this period. Herodotus tell the history of how he came back into power with the backing of the lower class, and use of propaganda in the form of a tall woman who some thought to be the goddess Athena. This political turmoil in Athens created an instance where Athens was much more concerned with its own politics than with the politics involved