Sardis (near modern-day Sart, Turkey) was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Lydia founded (according to Herodotus) by the Heracleidae, the Heraclid Dynasty descended from the hero Heracles (Hercules). The city was famous in antiquity for its wealth, culture, and favorable position on the central trade route from the Aegean Sea to the interior of Asia Minor.
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Definition
Timeline
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687 BCE - 652 BCEKing Gyges rules Lydia and expands its borders. Sardis becomes Lydian capital.
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c. 685 BCE - 546 BCEMermnad Dynasty rules Lydia.
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c. 635 BCE - 585 BCEReign of Alyattes of Lydia. Minting of first coins made from electrum.
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560 BCE - 546 BCEReign of Croesus of Lydia.
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499 BCE - 493 BCEIonian cities rebel against Persian rule.
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c. 498 BCEIonians and Greek allies invade and burn Sardis (capital of Lydia).
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334 BCESardis surrenders to Alexander the Great.
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May 334 BCEAlexander the Great invades the Persian Achaemenid Empire.
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280 BCELydia becomes a part of the Seleucid Empire.
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215 BCE - 213 BCESiege of Sardis by Antiochus III of the Seleucid Empire; Sardis falls.
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133 BCELydia and its captial Sardis comes under Roman rule.
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17 BCEAn earthquake destroys 12 cities in Lydia, including Sardis.
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615 CESardis is sacked by Sassanian Persians; damage is never repaired
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c. 1402 CESardis is abandoned as a ruin.
