(Temple of Artemis at Sardis)
There was a city in Asia, modern day Turkey, called Sardis. The actual city of Sardis had about 100,000 people and sat below a ridge. In times of conflict, the people of the city fled to that ridge where there was a citadel. A citadel is another name for a fortress that protects the city, but this wasn’t just any fortress. It was thought to be almost impossible to capture because it was located on steep cliffs. So when king Cyrus of Persia came to capture Sardis in 549 BC, the people thought they were safe. The Persian troops saw the citadel and did not know how to get up the cliff or capture the city. But one evening, as the story goes, one of the soldiers dropped his helmet off the side. And instead of leaving it there, he exited the citadel and walked down a nearly invisible path. He grabbed his helmet and returned to the citadel, thus showing the Persians how to capture it.
