Battle of Thymbra

The Battle of Thymbra was the decisive battle between Croesus and Cyrus the Great 541 BC After the defeat of the Lydian King Croesus Cyrus at Pteria pursued and finally was able to provide him with Thymbra. The only sources of the battle are Herodotus and the semi- historical account of Xenophon. After the defeat of Croesus at Thymbra and the subsequent successful siege of Sardis, the Persian Great King quite Lydia could incorporate into his kingdom.

Starting position

Cyrus ' plan was to hit the Lydian king with a surprise attack. This, however, had at Thymbra can almost twice as many men pull together in anticipation of the Persian attack, as Cyrus. According to Xenophon, Cyrus had nearly 200,000 men, which consisted of about 31000-70000 Persians and 126,000 Arab, Armenian and the Median auxiliary troops. The Persians under Cyrus ' command consisted of about 20,000 archers and stone throwers, peltasts 20,000, 20,000 spearmen and 10,000 man elite infantry / cavalry, which probably included the immortals. In addition, Cyrus led zoom in even 300 chariots, 5-6 siege towers and 300 men camel cavalry supply units.

The troops of Croesus covered by Xenophon 420,000 man. These are said to have consisted of 60,000 Babylonians, Lydians, Phrygians, Cappadocians and relatives of the cities of the Hellespont. In addition to these a total of 300,000 soldiers to have led into battle Croesus another 120,000 Egyptians and 300 chariots.

The Battle

Cyrus formed his troops into a square and placed the cavalry and his best units behind the square at the flanks on. As expected, he grabbed the Lydian king with his cavalry on the flanks the center of this square on. Here the Lydian cavalry was however already waiting for the siege towers and archers and put to flight. Now Cyrus attacked the already battered cavalry of Croesus and his army finally hit on the run.

Follow

With the defeat at Thymbra Cyrus could conquer large parts of Lydia, including the Greek cities in Ionia and Aeolis of what should lead to uprisings of the Greeks against the repressive policy of the Persians later. After the subsequent successful Persian siege of Sardis and captured Croesus the Lydian kingdom ceased to exist.

Swell

• Paul K. Davis (1999 ): 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present. Santa Barbara, California. ISBN 1-57607-075-1.
• Alexander Campbell ( 1830): The Millennial Harbinger, Vol I, No. IX.
• Dorling Kindersley (2005): Grant, RG Battle, a Visual Journey Through 5000 Years of Combat pg 19 London, England.