Dreams of the Battle of Thymbra, Lydian Persian War
Dreams of The Battle of Thymbra, Lydian-Persian War
In the midst of a battle I awoke thrown
walking over the crimson red dead.
Found and drew the shaft from solid stone
standing on soil blood soaked in red!
My heart afraid but never was it alone
in cold silence stood there dreaming.
My physical body was then so long gone
among the dead, dying and screaming!
Behind lay vultures squawking in feeding
ripping meat from living white bones.
Eating fallen men still alive and bleeding
yelps of pain and muffled crying moans!
Fog of war demanded the fight be engaged
crossing a river of deep flowing red.
With my sword slashing my spirit enraged
no time for sorrow for the new dead!
With each parry my time was just to borrow
a few more cuts just to stay alive.
Hell with pity, I had no time for sorrow
my soul wanted to live and to thrive!
Battle won my heart sang out still beating
giving great thanks for still walking.
Glanced back at vultures ravenously eating
silence ate the dead, no more talking!
Dawn's light, my sleeping battle long over
still I remembered the red soaked soil.
How soon the fallen to be covered in clover
with no more love, singing or life to toil!
Robert J. Lindley, 10-20-2015
Note- Battle of Thymbra Lydian–Persian War Approximately 100,000 Dead[1]
The Battle of Thymbra was the decisive battle in the war between Croesus of the
Lydian Kingdom and Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus, having pursued
Croesus into Lydia following the drawn Battle of Pteria, met the remains of Croesus'
partly disbanded army in battle on the plain north of Sardis on December, 547 BC.
Even though Croesus' army was reinforced with many new men, Cyrus utterly defeated
it, despite being outnumbered more or less 2:1. This proved decisive, and after the
14 day Siege of Sardis,
the city and possibly its king fell, and Lydia was conquered by the Persians.
Cyrus's plan was to catch the Lydian king unprepared for battle, but at
Thymbra Croesus had more than twice as many men as Cyrus. The Lydians marched out
to meet Cyrus and quickly armed all the reserves there, before their allies were to
arrive, which they never did. According to Xenophon, Cyrus had 196,000 men in total,
[1][page needed] [2] which was composed of 31,000 to ~70,000 Persians. This consisted
of 20,000 infantry which may have included archers and slingers, 10,000 elite
infantry/ cavalry, which may have been the Persian Immortals, plus 20,000 peltasts
and 20,000 pikemen. All except the archers and slingers are known to have carried
small to large shields. The others were: 42,000 Arabians; Armenians; and Medians,
which amounted to 126,000 infantry. There were also 300 camel cavalry, 300 chariots,
and 5-6 siege towers, which were known to hold 20 men each. It all amounted to
1,000+ men, partly because there was one citizen, and one soldier on each chariot.
Xenophon tells us that Croesus had an army of 420,000 men,[3][page needed] which was
composed of 60,000 Babylonians, Lydians, and Phrygians, also Cappadocians, plus
nations of the Hellespont. This amounted to 300,000 men which included 60,000 cavalry.
There were also 120,000 Egyptians, plus 300 chariots, which may have been at least
500 men. The numbers of the battle given by Xenophon, even if untrue, are considered
within the realm of possibility, but less than half may have engaged in the actual
battle.
Copyright © Robert Lindley | Year Posted 2015
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