Battle of Thymbra - The Motives

The Motives

Cyrus's plan was to catch the Lydian king unprepared for battle, but at Thymbra Croesus had more than twice as many men as Cyrus. The Lydians marched out to meet Cyrus and quickly armed all the reserves there, before their allies were to arrive, which they never did. According to Xenophon, Cyrus had 196,000 men in total, which was composed of 31,000 to ~70,000 Persians. This consisted of 20,000 infantry which may have included archers and slingers, 10,000 elite infantry/ cavalry, which may have been the Persian Immortals, plus 20,000 peltasts, finally there was the 20,000 pikemen, which were just the spear men. All are known to have carried small to large shields, except the archers and slingers. The others were, 42,000 Arabians, Armenians, and finally Medians, which amounted to 126,000 infantry. There were also 300 camel cavalry, 300 chariots, and 5-6 siege towers, which were known to hold 20 men each. It all amounted to 1,000+ men, partly because there was one citizen, and one soldier on each chariot.

The same historian says Croesus had 420,000 men in total, which was composed of 60,000 Babylonians, Lydians, and Phrygians, also Cappadocians, plus nations of the Hellespont, which amounted to 300,000 men which also had 60,000 cavalry in them. There were also 120,000 Egyptians, plus 300 chariots, which may have been 500+ men. The numbers of the battle given by Xenophon, even if untrue, are considered within the realm of possibility, but in most cases less than half may have engaged in the actual battle.