Battle of the Eclipse (585 BC): Medes and Lydians Make Peace

The Battle of the Eclipse was fought between the kingdoms of Lydia and Media in central Anatolia, most likely on 28 May 585 BC, when a total eclipse of the sun turned day into night in the middle of the fighting. Alarmed by the sign, both armies stopped fighting and their kings made peace. It is one of the earliest events in history that can be dated to the day by astronomy, and it is linked with Thales of Miletus, often called the first Greek philosopher.

Background: two rising kingdoms

In the early sixth century BC two powers faced each other across Anatolia. In the west was Lydia, a wealthy kingdom with its capital at Sardis, ruled by Alyattes (reigned c. 610–560 BC). Lydia is famous as one of the first states to strike coins, described in Lydian Coins.

In the east was Media, a kingdom of western Iran ruled by Cyaxares, who had helped Babylon destroy the Assyrian Empire in 612 BC. After Assyria’s fall, the Medes pushed west into eastern Anatolia; their rise is told in Cyaxares and the Median Kingdom.

Causes of the war

Herodotus, writing more than a century later, gives the only detailed account. He says a band of Scythian nomads who had served Cyaxares as hunters quarrelled with him, killed one of his young pupils and fled to Alyattes. When Alyattes refused to hand them over, war broke out.

Modern historians see the Scythian story as a likely legend. The real cause was probably competition for the lands of central and eastern Anatolia left open by the collapse of Assyria.

The battle and the eclipse

According to Herodotus, the war lasted five years, with victories on both sides. In the sixth year, during a battle, the day suddenly became night. Both armies saw the darkness as a sign and stopped fighting at once.

Herodotus adds that Thales of Miletus had foretold to the Ionian Greeks that this change would happen, naming the year in which it actually took place. The story is told more fully in Eclipse of Thales.

Modern astronomers calculate that a total solar eclipse crossed Anatolia on 28 May 585 BC in the Julian calendar, in the late afternoon. This date agrees with Pliny the Elder, who placed Thales’ eclipse in the fourth year of the 48th Olympiad, that is 585 BC. Some scholars have suggested other eclipses, such as that of 30 September 610 BC, but 585 BC is the most widely accepted.

The peace treaty

Two mediators negotiated the peace: Syennesis, king of Cilicia in southern Anatolia, and a Babylonian named by Herodotus as Labynetus. Labynetus is usually identified with Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon at the time, though Herodotus may have confused the name with the later king Nabonidus.

The agreement was sealed with a royal marriage. Alyattes’ daughter Aryenis married Astyages, son of Cyaxares, who soon succeeded his father as king of Media. Herodotus says the kings swore their oath in the way of their peoples, by cutting their arms and tasting each other’s blood.

The Halys River, today’s Kızılırmak, became the boundary between Lydia and Media. The battle is therefore also known as the Battle of Halys, although Herodotus does not name the battlefield.

Consequences

The peace lasted for about a generation. In 550 BC Cyrus II of Persia overthrew Astyages and took over Media. Croesus, son of Alyattes and brother-in-law of Astyages, then crossed the Halys to attack Persia, and was defeated and lost his kingdom in the Fall of Sardis around 547 BC.

Myths and facts

• Myth: Thales predicted the exact day and place. Herodotus says only that Thales foretold the year. Predicting where a total eclipse would be visible required knowledge no one had in the sixth century BC; at most, Thales may have known of Babylonian eclipse cycles that showed when an eclipse was possible.
• Myth: the armies fled in panic. Herodotus says both sides stopped fighting and became eager for peace, not that they ran. The treaty took negotiation through foreign mediators.
• Fact: the date is astronomical, not documentary. No Lydian or Median record of the battle survives. The date of 28 May 585 BC comes from matching Herodotus’ story with calculated eclipse paths, which is why a minority of scholars still prefer other dates.

Timeline

• 612 BC: Cyaxares of Media and Nabopolassar of Babylon destroy Nineveh.
• c. 610 BC: Alyattes becomes king of Lydia.
• c. 590 BC: War breaks out between Lydia and Media, according to Herodotus’ five-year account.
• 28 May 585 BC: A total solar eclipse halts a battle between the two armies.
• 585 BC: Peace is agreed; Aryenis marries Astyages; the Halys becomes the border.
• 550 BC: Cyrus of Persia overthrows Astyages, ending the Median kingdom.

Why it matters

The Battle of the Eclipse is a rare case where an ancient event can be fixed to a single day using astronomy, giving historians an anchor for the chronology of the sixth century BC. It also set the borders of Anatolia for a generation and became a famous early example of Greek scientific reputation.