nesses, and inhabited by a brave and warlike
population. Into this district Cyrus pushed forward his army with all
speed, taking, as it would seem, not the short route through Diarbekr,
Malatiyah, and Gurun, along which the "Royal Road" afterwards ran,
but the more circuitous one by Erzerum, which brought him into Northern
Cappadocia, or Pontus, as it was called by the Romans. Here, in a
district named Pteria, which cannot have been very far from the coast,
he found his adversary, who had crossed the Halys, and taken several
Cappadocian towns, among which was the chief city of the Pterians.
Perceiving that his troops considerably outnumbered those of Crcesus, he
lost no time in giving him battle. The action was fought in the Pterian
country, and was stoutly contested, terminating at nightfall without any
decisive advantage to either party. The next day neither side made any
movement; and Crcesus, concluding from his enemy's inaction that, though
he had not been able to conquer him, he had nothing to fear from
his desire of vengeance or his spirit of enterprise, determined on
a retreat. He laid the blame of his failure, we are told, on the
insufficient number of his troops, and purposed to call for the
contingents of his allies, and renew the war with largely augmented
forces in the ensuing spring.

Cyrus, on his part, allowed the Lydians to retire unmolested, thus
confirming his adversary in the mistaken estimate which he had formed of
Persian courage and daring. Anticipating the course which Croesus would
adopt under the circumstances, he kept his army well in hand, and, as
soon as the Lydians were clean gone, he crossed the Halys, and marched
straight upon Sardis. Croesus, deeming himself safe from molestation,
had no sooner reached his capital than he had dismissed the bulk of
his troops to their homes for the winter, merely giving them orders to
return in the spring, when he hoped to have received auxiliaries
from Sparta, Babylon, and Egypt. Left thus almost without defence, he
suddenly heard that his audacious foe had followed on his steps, had
ventured into the heart of his dominions, and was but a short distance
from the capital. In this crisis he showed a spirit well worthy of
admiration. Putting himself at the head of such an army of native
Lydians as he could collect at a few hours' notice, he met the advancing
foe in the rich plain a little to the east of Sardis, and gave him
battle immediately. It is possibl