» This article refers to the historical King of Lydia. For the opera by Reinhard Keiser, see Croesus (opera). Croesus (CREE-sus; ) (595 BC – c. 547? BC) was the king of Lydia from 560/561 BC until his defeat by the Persians in about 547 BC. The fall of Croesus made a profound impact on the Hellenes, providing a fixed point in their calendar. "By the fifth century at least," J.A.S. Evans remarked, "Croesus had become a figure of myth, who stood outside the conventional restraints of chrono… (More on Croesus)