A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

896 CROESUS.
ratus was not with him. Cleomenes, being obliged to withdraw, consoled himself by a play on
the words KpLos and Kpios (a ram), advising the
refractory Aeginetan to arm his horns with brass,
as he would soon need all the defence he could get.
(Herod. vi. 50; comp. v. 75.) It was supposed
that the resistance had been privately encouraged
by Demaratus (vi. 61, 64), and on the deposition
of the latter, and the appointment of Leotychides
to the throne (vi. 65, 66), Cleomenes again went
to Aegina with his new colleague, and, having
seized Crius and others, delivered them into the
custody of the Athenians. (vi. 73; comp. 85, &c.)
Polycritus, the son of Crius, distinguished himself
at the battle of Salamis, B. c. 480, and wiped off
the reproach of Medism. (viii. 92.) [E. E.]
CRIXUS (Kpiýos), a Gaul, was one of the two
principal generals in the army of Spartacus, B. c.
73. Two Roman armies had already been defeated by the revolted gladiators and slaves, when
Crixus was defeated in a battle near mount Garganus by the consul L. Gellius, in B. c. 72.
Crixus himself was slain, and two-thirds of his
army, which consisted of 30,000 men, were destroyed on the field of battle. Spartacus soon
after sacrificed 300 Roman captives to the manes
of Crixus. (Appian, B. C. i. 116, &c.; Liv. Epit.
95, 96; Sall. Fragm. Hist. lib. iii.) [L. S.]
CRO'BYLUS (KpWdsvos), an Athenian comic
poet, who is reckoned among the poets of the new
comedy, but it is uncertain whether he really belonged to the middle or the new. About his age we
only know for certain, that he lived about or after
B. c. 324, but not how long after. Some writers have
confounded him with Hegesippus. [HEGESIPPUS.]
The following titles of his plays, and a few lines,
are extant: 'ATratyX'seEYos, 'ArroMXroUo'a, 'evSav7roeoXipuatos (Athen. iii. p. 109,d., 107,e., vi. p. 248,
b., 258, b. c., viii. p. 364, f., ix. p. 384, c., x. p.
429, d., 443, f.; Meineke, Frag. Comm. Graec. i.
pp. 490, 491,iv. pp. 565-569.) [P. S.]
CROCE'ATAS (Kpoicecras), a surname of Zeus,
derived from a place, Croceae, near Gythium in
Laconia. (Paus. iii. 21. ~ 4.) [L. S.]
CROCON (Kpde'ov), the husband of Saesara
and father of Meganeira. (Apollod. iii. 9. ~ 1;
Paus. i. 58. ~ 2; comp. ARCAS.) [L. S.]
CROCUS, the beloved friend of Smilax, was
changed by the gods into a saffron plant, because
he loved without being loved again. According to
another tradition, he was metamorphosed by his
friend Hermes, who had killed him in a game of
discus. (Ov. MIet. iv. 283; Serv. ad Virg. Georg.
iv. 182.) [L. S.]
CROESUS (Kpoo'os), the last king of Lydia,
of the family of the Mermnadae, was the son of
Alyattes; his mother was a Carian. At the age
of thirty-five, he succeeded his father in the kingdom of Lydia. (B. c. 560.) Difficulties have been
raised about this date, and there are very strong
reasons for believing that Croesus was associated in
the kingdom during his father's life, and that the
earlier events of his reign, as recorded by Herodotus, belong to this period of joint government.
(Clinton F. H. ii. pp. 297, 298.) We are expressly told that he was made satrap of Adramyttium and the plain of Thebe about B. c. 574 or
572. (Nicol. Damasc. p. 243, ed. Cor., supposed
io be taken from the Lydian history of Xanthus;
Fischer, Griecltische Zeittafeln, s. a. 572 B. c.)
Hie made war first on the Ephesians, and after

CROESUS.
wards on the other Ionian and Aeolian cities of
Asia Minor, all of which he reduced to the payment of tribute. He was meditating an attempt
to subdue the insular Greeks also, when either
Bias or Pittacus turned him from his purpose
by a clever fable (Herod. i. 27); and instead of
attacking the islanders he made an alliance with
them. Croesus next turned his arms against the
peoples of Asia Minor west of the river Halys,
all of whom he subdued except the Lycians and
Cilicians. His dominions now extended from the
northern and western coasts of Asia Minor, to the
Halys on the east and the Taurus on the south,
and included the Lydians, Phrygians, Mysians,
Mariandynians, Chalybes, Paphlagonians, the Thynian and Bithynian Thracians, the Carians, lonians, Dorians, Aeolians, and Pamphylians. The
fame of his power and wealth drew to his court
at Sardis all the wise men (oeoiprorai) of Greece,
and among them Solon. To him the king exhibited all his treasures, and then asked him who
was the happiest man he had ever seen. The
reply of Solon, teaching that no man should be
deemed happy till he had finished his life in a
happy way, may be read in the beautiful narrative of Herodotus. After the departure of Solon,
Croesus was visited with a divine retribution for
his pride. He had two sons, of whom one was
dumb, but the other excelled all his comrades in
manly accomplishments. His name was Atys.
Croesus had a dream that Atys should perish by
an iron-pointed weapon, and in spite of all his
precautions, an accident fulfilled the dream. His
other son lived to save his father's life by suddenly
regaining the power of speech when he saw Croesus in danger at the taking of Sardis. Adrastus,
the unfortunate slayer of Atys, killed himself on
his tomb, and Croesus gave himself up to grief for
two years. At the end of that time the growing
power of Cyrus, who had recently subdued the Median kingdom, excited the apprehension of Croesus,
and he conceived the idea of putting down the
Persians before their empire became firm. Before,
however, venturing to attack Cyrus, he looked to
the Greeks for aid, and to their oracles for counsel; and in both points he was deceived. In
addition to the oracles among the Greeks, he consulted that of Ammon in Lybia; but first he put
their truth to the test by sending messengers to
inquire of them at a certain time what he was
then doing. The replies of the oracle of Amphiarails and that of the Delphi at Pytho were correct; that of the latter is preserved by Herodotus.
To these oracles, and especially to that at Pytho,
Croesus sent rich presents, and charged the bearers
of them to inquire whether he should march
against the Persians, and whether there was any
people whom he ought to make his allies. The
reply of both oracles was, that, if he marched
against the Persians, he would overthrow a great
empire, and both advised him to make allies of the
most powerful among the Greeks. He of course
understood the response to refer to the Persian
'empire, and not, as the priests explained it after
the event, to his own; and he sent presents to
each of the Delphians, who in return granted to
him and his people the privileges of priority in
consulting the oracle, exemption from charges, and
the chief seat at festivals (Trpo/Lav'T"rl'ry al acieAiiPv ical rpoeapio'), and that any one of them
might at any time obtain certain rights of citizen