Croesus (KREE-səs; Ancient Greek: Κροῖσος, romanized: Kroîsos) was the last king of Lydia from 585 or 561 BC to 547 BC. He was renowned for his great wealth, as well as his ultimate defeat by the Persian king Cyrus the Great following the siege of Sardis. A son of the Lydian king Alyattes, Croesus ascended to the throne following a succession struggle with his step-brother. He continued his father's expansionist policies and launched a series of military campaigns that eventually brought much of western Asia Minor under Lydian control.

Key figuresCroesus