King Mita of Phrygia (fl. 725 b. c.) may have been the basis for the Greek legend of Midas. Supposedly Midas pleased the god Dionysus (die-oh-NY-sus) so much that Dionysus offered him an extraordinary gift: everything he touched would turn to gold.
At first this seemed like a good thing, and his wealth grew rapidly: Midas had only to touch an ordinary object such as a twig or a rock, and suddenly it became priceless. But as soon as he became hungry, Midas discovered that this gift was not as wonderful as it had seemed. He tried to eat a piece of bread, but it turned to gold and became hard as a rock. Worse, when he tried to drink a glass of wine, it became melted gold in his throat.
Midas begged Dionysus to take back his "gift," which now seemed like a curse. Dionysus had mercy on him, and told him to go bathe in the River Pactolus (PAK-tuh-lus). When he did, washing away his power, the sands of the river turned to gold.
In modern times, people say that someone with a great ability for earning money has "the Midas touch."
His great wealth later became famous as King Midas (MIE-dus) in the Greek legends. Mita established his capital at Gordian, about sixty miles west of modern-day Ankara. Gordian had a great palace and a huge entrance gate, designed to impress visitors and subjects with the power of King Mita.
Outside the city were a number of burial mounds called tumuli (TOOM-you-lie; the singular form is tumulus.) These were similar in concept to the Egyptian pyramids, except that they were made of heaped earth instead of stone. One of these, called “The Great Tumulus," stands 174 feet high, making it taller than the Statue of Liberty, which is 151 feet tall without its base. The Great Tumulus, the second-tallest tumulus yet discovered by archaeologists, holds the remains of a man who may have been the great Mita himself.
Phrygia suffered an invasion by the Cimmerians (si-MARE-ee-unz) from the Caucasus in 695 b. c., but the conquerors did not maintain their control. Eventually Gordian and other cities regained their independence, but they remained subject to the next great power in the region, Lydia.
Croesus, King of Lydia, illustration. Archive Photos. Reproduced by permission.
This early dynasty ruled for many centuries, but Lydia truly emerged as a civilization only under the Mermnad (MAIRM-nad) dynasty, established in about 685 b. c. Its founder was named Gyges (GY-jeez), a palace guard who, according to the Greek historian Herodotus (hur-AHD-uh-tus), murdered the king, Kandaules (KAN-duh-les), married his wife, and usurped (yoo-SURP'D) the throne. Gyges made Lydia a great power. His successor, Ardys (ARR-dis; r. 651-625 b. c.) managed to drive the Cimmerians out for good.
Later kings tried to conquer the Ionian (ie-OH-nee-un) colonies, Greek city-states along the Aegean coast.
Only under Croesus (KREE-sus), who ruled from about 560 to 546 b. c., was the conquest complete. Like Mita,
Croesus was known for his exceptional wealth, which gave rise to the expression “rich as Croesus,” which has survived into modern times.
It was fitting, then, that Lydia under Croesus became the first nation in history to coin money, producing gold and silver coins. Before this time, businesspeople had bartered, or simply traded goods; now coins gave them an easy method of exchange. Instead of having to trade cattle for cloth, for instance, a farmer could sell his cattle and pay a cloth merchant in coins.
The Lydians' capital was Sardis (SAR-dis), a great city that would long outlast their empire. It, too, had its tumuli, including the world's tallest, which stands 210 feet (64 meters) high. For a time, Lydian wealth and power seemed secure. Its stability as an empire was reinforced by the fact that Croesus's brother-in-law was king over the powerful Medes (MEEDZ) to the east. But when the Persians overthrew the Median king, it spelled the end for Croesus. In 546 b. c., the Persian armies defeated the Lydians, and Sardis became an important western city in the Persian Empire.
World History
