Lydia

Kingdom of Lydia
?–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[a]
• 680–644 BC	Gyges
• 644–637 BC	Ardys
• 637–635 BC	Sadyattes
• 635–585 BC	Alyattes
• 585–546 BC	Croesus
Historical era	Iron Age
• Bronze Age Collapse	Before 800 BC
• Lydian-Cimmerian Wars	670–630s BC
• Lydian–Milesian War	612–600 BC
• Lydian-Median War	590–585 BC
• Fall to Persia	546 BC
Currency	Croeseid
Preceded by Succeeded by Hittites Phrygia Cimmerians Treri Ionian League Achaemenid Empire

Lydia (Ancient Greek: Λυδία, romanized: Lūdiā; Latin: Lȳdia) was an Iron Age historical region in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Before 546 BC, it was an independent kingdom which at one point ruled much of Anatolia. Later, it served as an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.

During the Late Bronze Age, the territory that later became Lydia was part of Arzawa. 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 , known as Sparda in Old Persian. In 133 BC, it became part of the Roman province of Asia.

The main language of Lydia was an Anatolian language called Lydian. Though many of its neighbors were from the Luwic subgroup, Lydian's classification within the Anatolian remains a mystery.

Lydian coins, made of silver, are among the oldest in existence, dated to around the 7th century BC.^[1][2]

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