Croesus was a king of fabulous wealth who ruled over a country called Lydia several thousand years ago. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified September 02, 2009. In Asia Minor, Lydia is considered the first kingdom to have coins and King Croesus minted the … rich as Croesus Very wealthy, as in They're rich as Croesus, with their penthouse, yacht, and horses. Start This article has been rated as Start-Class on the project's quality scale. It's in Plutarch's Lives, as a classic diss from Cato. As Rich as Croesus. to toe He filled all the pockets of his coat with coins and nuggets. Ancient History Encyclopedia. It is not super easy to know exactly what Caesar was worth. Some may find it interesting; It is believed that Crassus expanded his personal fortune to 170 million sesterces, while Pliny the Elder surmised his fortune to be valued even higher, at 200 million sesterces. Croesus sent Solon away, thinking his reputation for wisdom overrated, but would soon learn the truth of what Solon had said through the events narrated by Herodotus' second story. We still use the expression "as rich as Croesus". After the fall of Sardis, Croesus’ wife committed suicide and Croesus was dragged before Cyrus in chains. Web. Dost thou count my happiness as nothing?" The man return a few weeks I guess the ex-mayor of my hometown, NYC, qualifies for that expression. Mark, published on 02 September 2009 under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike. Posted by Ed This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people.All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion.For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation. Pleased by this answer, Croesus made his necessary alliances and preparations and went out to meet the Persian army at the Halys River (which Thales of Miletus, an engineer in his corps, helped him to cross by diverting the waters). 03 Dec 2020. Mark, J. J. Stansell on September 13, 2002. The simile was first recorded in English in 1577. One fellow asked Croesus if he could take his gold at a later date, to which Croesus assented. Re: 'rich as creases' for 'rich as Croesus' This looks like a spelling created by people who’ve heard the word spoken but have never seen it written. I Was Carjacked!!!! Posted by Ed Stansell on September 13, 2002. Croesus was a king of Lydia, whose reign lasted for fourteen years. Simile: as rich as Croesus - Affluent, Bloated, Comfortable, Easy, Fat still a very rich King. He was the creator of the first true gold coins that had a specific purity of the metal. Sardes was blessed with a wealth of electrum that flowed down from Mount Tmolus in the River Pactolus. The battle at the Halys was a draw and Croesus marched his force back to Sardis where the army was disbanded for the winter. It comes from the legend of the excessively wealthy king Croesus who is said to have so much gold that he had every guest take as much gold as he could carry, upon leaving. The people whom he could hire would easily fill Pasadena’s Rose Bowl, and even quite a few would have remained outside the gates. Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and politician who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Not only this, Croesus where he disrobed and rolled in gold dust so that he was gilded from head The first has to do with the great Athenian lawgiver Solon the Wise. Rich as Croesus Detail of image of Croesus found on Greek Amphora, early 5th Century B.C. That surprises me a bit—I’ve seen it written many times over the years, but I don’t ever recall having heard someone say it. I would imagine Roman references were deliberately conflating the two as a bit of a pun. Lydian Gold Staterby Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA) A member of the Mermnad dynasty, Croesus succeeded to the throne of his father, Alyattes, Although Croesus is mentioned by Xenophon and Ctesias, among others, two of the most famous stories regarding him come from the Histories of Herodotus (1.29-45 and 1.85-89). Mark, Joshua J. Salam all, "A nickel will get you on the subway, but garlic will get you a seat." The Crassus family liked to trace their fortune to the activities of Publius 'Lucre' Crassus 'the dirty diver', an uppity plebian who had managed to wrangle a good deal on the re-sale of Corinth's population when the city was sacked in 147 BC. 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