Lydia
in ancient geography, a country of Asia Minor, bounded on the W. by Ionia, on the S. by Caria, on the E. by Phrygia, and on the N. by Mysia.
It was celebrated for its fruitful soil and for its mineral wealth, particularly for the gold of the river Pactolus and of the neighboring mines, but was infamous for the corruption of morals which prevailed among its inhabitants, and especially in Sardis, its capital. Lydia attained its highest prosperity under the dynasty of the Mermnadæ (about 700- 546 в. c.). The first of this dynasty was the half mythical Gyges; the last was the famous Cresus, celebrated for his prodigious wealth.