Croesus on Fire

We cannot certify that the following is history; there are doubts about it. But legends also have truth in them.
In the country of Lydia, near Greece in Asia Minor, there lived a king by the name of Croesus, (pronounced Cree-sus). He reigned from 560 to 546 B.C. (Do you understand how the numbers can go like that? "B.C." means before Christ, so that as we move forward in time we subtract numbers.) Croesus had all the "good things" of life: a fine palace, armies, lots of servants and plenty of money. Naturally people came from all over to visit him, to sample his fancy food, his art treasures and so on.
Once a wise man named Solon came to the palace from Greece. Croesus boasted of his wealth and bounty and was nearly ecstatic, so great was his happiness. He showed the visitor many of his treasures. And he asked him if he had ever heard of anyone so fortunate and happy as he. Solon mentioned a few names which hardly anyone knew, and Croesus felt insulted. "What! Do you think so little of my happiness and success?" he asked the Greek.
"Never call anyone happy until his life is over," was Solon's reply. A grim frown appeared on Croesus' face.

Not long after, this Lydian king's domain was envied and threatened by Cyrus, king of Persia, who was expanding his empire. Croesus decided to do something you must have heard about: to wage "pre-emptive war," that is, attack the other fellow before he comes after you! King Croesus was fond of consulting oracles (you can look that up in the dictionary) and he had had good fortune taking the opinion of the famous "oracle of Delphi" in Greece. Before preparing for war, he sent a message there, asking for advice.
The oracle told him that if he made war on the Persian king Cyrus, a great nation would be destroyed. Of course the happy, proud and optimistic Croesus thought it meant the Persian. But we shall see how mistaken he was.

After the first battle, which was a draw, Croesus was forced by Cyrus to meet him on the great plain in front of his own capital. Cyrus saw that the enemy's cavalry, that is, men on horseback, had been placed at the front of his forces, and Cyrus switched his own horsemen onto camels, of which he had many (Did you know that horses dislike and are mostly afraid of camels?) The result was that Croesus' cavalry scattered in disarray and retreated. Before long his army was totally defeated. Truly, a great nation had been destroyed, but it was the Lydian, not the Persian.

Now comes the best part of the story.
Cyrus commanded that Croesus be burned on a great pile of wood (called a "pyre"), by way of celebrating his own victory. The flames began to lick up the sides of the pyre, and Croesus suddenly remembered Solon and his words. He groaned and cried aloud, "Solon, Solon!" The Persian king asked his interpreters to find out what this meant. Croesus just had time to relate the story of the words of Solon: "Never call a man happy until his life is over." Now these words sank into the mind of Cyrus, and he began to realize that he, a human being, was burning up another. He suddenly ordered his men to put out the fire.

But it was too late. As Croesus began to tremble in prayer, a cloudburst arrived and drenched everything, saving the day. This, of course, greatly upheld the faith these people had in the gods.