Lydia lay in western Turkey, bordering the Aegean Sea. According to archaeological discoveries, the site of Troy stood along its coastline.
It not only had fertile land but also lay between the Mediterranean and the inland regions, making it a natural commercial crossroads. In addition, the Hebrus River and its tributaries flowing through Lydia carried large amounts of placer gold, giving Lydia abundant gold reserves.
Around the eighth century BC, a small group of Cimmerians who had once lived north of the Greater Caucasus and the Black Sea discovered this prosperous land. Lydia traded with neighboring countries year-round, and because of its developed economy, Lydian currency became hard currency in that region. It was said to be a coinage of 60 percent gold and 30 percent silver, but archaeological discoveries showed a gold-to-silver ratio of five to five. In other words, they were the earliest country to manipulate currency values for profit.
Faced with Cimmerian attacks, Lydia had no power to resist and even lost its capital for a time.
After finally driving away the Cimmerians, they contended with the Medes for supremacy over Assyria. Only after both powers had exhausted themselves in their refusal to yield did they make peace in 585 BC, prompted by a solar eclipse.
At first, the Medes had not known that such a country as Lydia was hidden in the Asian interior. When the Greeks expanded their trade into the Black Sea, there were many Median cities along its shores.
Besides the eclipse, a Greek mathematician named Thales had also helped. Thales was one of the Seven Sages of Greece before Socrates, born into a wealthy merchant family in Miletus. He had also engaged in trade in his youth and visited many Eastern countries, where he learned Babylonian methods for observing solar and lunar