But the great work of Alyattes’ reign, and the one which seems to have had the most important consequences for Lydia, was the war which he undertook for the purpose of expelling the Cimmerians from Asia Minor.  The hordes had been greatly weakened by time, by their losses in war, and, probably by their excesses; they had long ceased to be formidable; but they were still strong enough to be an annoyance.  Alyattes is said to have “driven them out of Asia,” by which we can scarcely understand less than that he expelled them from his own dominions and those of his neighbors—­or, in other words, from the countries which had been the scenes of their chief ravages—­Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Lydia, Phrygia, and Cilicia.  But, to do this, he must have entered into a league with his neighbors, who must have consented to act under him for the purposes of war, if they did not even admit the permanent hegemony of his country.  Alyattes’ success appears to have been complete, or nearly so; he cleared Asia Minor of the Cimmerians; and having thus conferred a benefit on all the nations of the region and exhibited before their eyes his great military capacity, if he had not actually constructed an empire, he had at any rate done much to pave the way for one.

Such was the political position in the regions west and south of the Halys, when Cyaxares completed his absorption of Cappadocia, and looking across the river that divided the Cappadocians from the Phrygians, saw stretched before him a region of great fertile plains, which seemed to invite an invader.  A pretext for an attack was all that he wanted, and this was soon forthcoming.  A body of the nomad Scyths—­probably belonging to the great invasion, though Herodotus thought otherwise—­had taken service under Cyaxares, and for some time served him faithfully, being employed chiefly as hunters.  A cause of quarrel, however, arose after a while; and the Scyths, disliking their position or distrusting the intentions of their lords towards them, quitted the Median territory, and, marching through a great part of Asia Minor, sought and found a refuge with Alyattes, the Lydian king.  Cyaxares, upon learning their flight, sent an embassy to the court of Sardis to demand the surrender of the fugitives; but the Lydian monarch met the demand with a refusal, and, fully understanding the probable consequences, immediately prepared for war.

Though Lydia, compared to Media, was but a small state, yet her resources were by no means inconsiderable.  In fertility she surpassed almost every other country of Asia Minor, which is altogether one of the richest regions in the world.  At this time she was producing large quantities of gold, which was found in great abundance in the Pactolus, and probably in the other small streams that flowed down on all sides from the Tmolus mountain-chain.  Her people were at once warlike and ingenious.  They had invented the art of coining money, and showed considerable taste