MERMNAD DYNASTY
680 BC - 546 BC

The Mermnad Dynasty is also called the Mermnadae Dynasty.

The Mermnad kings ruled Lydia. They started out as a kingdom but managed to turn their realm into an empire.

The kings of the Mermnad Dynasty were:

Gyges, who ruled 680 BC - 652 BC

Sadyattes, who ruled until 610 BC
Alyattes, who ruled 610 BC - 560 BC
Croesus, who ruled 560 BC - 546 BC

Money wasn't the problem, but Persian King Cyrus the Great was. Cyrus made the Lydian Empire part of his Persian Empire.