Lydia · 650-546 BC

Lydia and the first coins

In the kingdom of Lydia, in western Anatolia, the first coins were struck around 600 BC. Students meet King Croesus, "rich as Croesus", follow gold down the river Pactolus, and watch the kingdom fall to Persia in 546 BC.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
45 minutes
Ages
10–13
On the map
3 steps, 650 BC to 500 BC
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In the kingdom of Lydia, in western Anatolia, the first coins were struck around 600 BC. Students meet King Croesus, "rich as Croesus", follow gold down the river Pactolus, and watch the kingdom fall to Persia in 546 BC.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Sardis and the kingdom of Lydia in western Anatolia.
  • Explain what a coin is and why it was more useful than lumps of metal.
  • Tell what happened when Croesus attacked Persia in 547-546 BC and what the oracle at Delphi had told him.
2

Explore the map

12 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

650 BC

The gold river

Open the map in 650 BC on western Anatolia. The map's borders for this century are rough and still label the region "Phrygians", but Lydia, with its capital Sardis, ruled here. Gold dust washed down the river Pactolus through Sardis. Zoom in and find the mountains south of the city.

Open this view on the map
b

600 BC

Between Greeks and Persians

Zoom out in 600 BC. West of Lydia lay the Greek cities of Ionia (Ephesus, Miletus); to the east, beyond the Halys river, the Medes and later the Persians. Which neighbor would you trade with, and which would you fear?

Open this view on the map
c

500 BC

Swallowed by Persia

Jump to 500 BC. Lydia is now a province of the Persian Empire: Cyrus took Sardis in 546 BC. Turn on Trade Routes and find the Persian Royal Road, which starts at Sardis. Why would the Persians keep the old capital as the road's western end?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

14 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Before coins, people weighed out silver or traded goods directly. What problems did coins solve for a merchant, a soldier and a king?
  2. The first coins were of electrum, a natural mix of gold and silver, stamped with a lion. Why did the stamp matter more than the metal?
  3. The Greek cities of Ionia copied coins within a generation. Why did the idea spread so fast along the coast?
  4. Herodotus says Delphi told Croesus that if he attacked Persia he would destroy a great empire. He did: his own. Why do oracles, horoscopes and forecasts so often sound true either way?
  5. Croesus was famous for his wealth, yet he lost his kingdom in one campaign. Is money the same thing as power?
4

Game round

9 min

Play one round as Cyrus the Great and discuss afterwards what Cyrus did with Lydia after 546 BC: he kept Sardis as a provincial capital and, according to Herodotus, spared Croesus. Was that wise, generous or both?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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