Editing Lycia (section)

====Acquisition by Cyrus the Great (circa 540 BC)====
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| caption1 = Charioteers on a tomb at Kizilbel near [[Elmali]], Lycia, c. 525 BC
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| caption2 = Detail of the frescoe: Lycian warrior painted in [[Archaic Greek]] style.
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Herodotus writes more credibly of contemporaneous events, especially where they concerned his native land. Asia Minor had been partly conquered by [[Iranian peoples]], first the [[Scythians]], later the [[Medes]]. The latter were defeated by the [[Persians]], who incorporated them and their lands into the new [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]]. [[Cyrus the Great]], founder of the [[Achaemenid]] dynasty, resolved to complete the conquest of Anatolia as a prelude to operations further west, to be carried out by his successors. He assigned the task to [[Harpagus]], a Median general, who proceeded to subdue the various states of Anatolia, one by one, some by convincing them to submit, others through military action.

Arriving at the southern coast of Anatolia in 546&nbsp;BC, the army of Harpagus encountered no problem with the Carians and their immediate Greek neighbors and alien populations, who submitted peacefully. In the [[Xanthos]] Valley an army of Xanthian Greeks sallied out to meet them, fighting determinedly, although vastly outnumbered. Driven into the citadel, they collected all their property, dependents and slaves into a central building, and burned them up. Then, after taking an oath not to surrender, they died to a man fighting the Persians, foreshadowing and perhaps setting an example for Spartan conduct at the [[Battle of Thermopylae]] a few generations later.

[[File:Kybernis north BM B287.jpg|thumb|Probable depiction of the Lycian ruler [[Kybernis]] (520–480 BC), [[Harpy Tomb]]. [[Archaic Greek]] style.]]
Archaeological evidence indicates there was a major fire on the acropolis of Xanthos in the mid-6th century BC but, as Antony Keen points out, there is no way to connect that fire with the event presented by Herodotus. It might have been another fire.<ref>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=73}}.</ref> The Caunians, says Herodotus, followed a similar example immediately after.<ref>''Histories'', Book I, Section 176.</ref> If there was an attempt by any of the states of Lycia to join forces, as happened in Greece 50&nbsp;years later, there is no record of it, suggesting that no central government existed. Each country awaited its own fate alone.

Herodotus also says or implies that 80 Xanthian families were away at the time, perhaps with the herd animals in alpine summer pastures (pure speculation), but helped repopulate the place. However, he reports, the Xanthians of his time were mainly descended from non-Xanthians. Looking for any nuance that might shed light on the repopulation of Xanthos, Keen interprets Herodotus' "those Lycians who now say that they are Xanthians" to mean that Xanthos was repopulated by other Lycians (and not by Iranians or other foreigners).<ref name=Keen76>{{harvnb|Keen|1998|p=76}}.</ref> Herodotus said nothing of the remainder of Lycia; presumably, that is true because they submitted without further incident. Lycia was well populated and flourished as a Persian satrapy; moreover, they spoke mainly Lycian.