Lydia

"Maeonia" and "Maionia" redirect here. For the town of that name, see Maionia in Lydia.

For other uses, see Lydia (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with Lycia.

Kingdom of Lydia
1200–546 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
• 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	1200 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
Today part of	Turkey

Lydia (Ancient Greek: Λυδία, romanized: Ludía; Latin: Lȳdia) was an Indo-European Iron Age kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis.

At some point before 800 BC, the Lydian people achieved a certain level 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 Achaemenid Empire, known as Sparda in Old Persian. In 133 BC, it became part of the Roman province of Asia.

Lydian coins, made of electrum, are among the oldest in existence, dated to around the 7th century BC.