Tom Holland

And to the Greeks, the Persians and the Medes are indistinguishable.

They're likely to refer to the Persians as Medes.

So if you hear Medes in this, it's kind of Medes and Persians.

So Cyrus, he's now got the Medes on board.

Then he marches eastwards into what is now Turkey, so Anatolia.

And he attacks a city we've already heard of, Sardis.

And this is the capital of the Lydians.

And the Lydians are a very prosperous, wealthy power.

They have subjected the Ionian Greeks on the Aegean shore to their rule.

And the source of their power is their ability to monetize their power.

And they've literally monetized it because they've invented money.

And this is why the last king, Croesus, who gets defeated by Cyrus.

overthrown by him.

You know, he's still a byword.

You're rich as Croesus.

You know, you're fabulously, fabulously rich.

So now the Lydians have been toppled.

And with the defeat of the Lydians, the Ionians also come under the rule of the Persians.

That's Anatolia is now subject to the Persians as well as media.

And this leaves perhaps the greatest power of all to be conquered.