Battle of the Eclipse

Battle of the Eclipse
Part of the Median-Lydian war [ru]

Halys River in the border regions of the Lydian and Median kingdoms in the early 6th century BCE
DateMay 28, 585 BCE (supposedly)
Location
Halys River (modern Kızılırmak River, Turkey) (supposedly)
Result
  • Draw as the battle is interrupted by eclipse
  • Peace agreement
Belligerents
Lydia Media
Commanders and leaders
Alyattes Cyaxares[1]

The Battle of the Eclipse[2] (or Battle of Halys)[3] was fought in the early 6th century BCE in Anatolia (present-day Turkey) between the Medes and the Lydians. According to ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the battle was interrupted by "day turning into night" – presumably a solar eclipse – and the result was a draw which led to both parties negotiating a peace treaty and ending a six-year war.

  1. ^ Edward Farr, p. 154; Hamma F. Mirvaisi, Return Of the Medes p. 42 Charles Rollin, p. 83.
  2. ^ Kevin Leloux: The Battle of the Eclipse (May 28, 585 BC): A Discussion of the Lydo-Median Treaty and the Halys Border. In: Polemos. Volume 19, no. 2, 2016, ISSN 1331-5595, pp. 31–54, in particular 37–39, 49 (online)
  3. ^ Tony Jacques: Dictionary of Battles And Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity Through the Twenty-first Century. F–O Greenwood Publishing Group 2007, ISBN 0-313-33536-2, p. 428 (Auszug, p. 428, at Google Books)