Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great (sī`rəs), d. 529 B.C., king of Persia, founder of the greatness of the Achaemenids and of the Persian Empire. According to Herodotus, he was the son of an Iranian noble, the elder Cambyses, and a Median princess, daughter of Astyages. Many historians, following other ancient writers (such as Ctesias), deny this genealogy, and the whole of Cyrus' life is encrusted with legend. Cyrus overthrew Astyages, king of the Medes, sometime between 559 B.C. and 549 B.C. He entered Ecbatana and, taking over the Median kingdom, began to build a great empire after the Assyrian model. Cyrus' objectives were to gain power over the Mediterranean coast, secure Asia Minor, and civilize the east. Croesus of Lydia, Nabonidus of Babylonia, and Amasis II of Egypt, joined by Sparta, tried to build a strong alliance against him, but to no avail. He defeated and captured Croesus (546 B.C.), and Lydia became a satrapy under the Persian government. The Chaldaean empire of Babylonia fell to Cyrus in 538 B.C. He did not conquer Egypt, but he prepared the way for later Persian victories there. Cyrus demanded the surrender of the Greek cities that had been under Lydia, and they also became satrapies of Persia. Cyrus was much admired by the Jews, whom he favored, placing them in power in Palestine. His motive was probably to create a buffer state between Persia and Egypt, but the result was a rehabilitation of Israel. Cyrus was admired as a liberator rather than a conqueror, because he respected the customs and religions of each part of his vast empire. The exact limits of Cyrus' eastern conquests are not known, but it is possible that they reached as far as the Peshawar region. He used Susa, Ecbatana, and Babylon as his capitals but was buried at Pasargadae, where he had built a splendid palace. At his death his son Cambyses succeeded him, despite the ambitions of another son, Smerdis.

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Cyrus II

 known as Cyrus the Great

(born c. 585, Media or Persis—died c. 529, Asia) Conqueror who founded the Achaemenian Empire (see Achaemenian dynasty). The grandson of Cyrus I (fl. late 7th century BC), he came to power by overthrowing his maternal grandfather, the king of the Medes. The empire he developed was thenceforth centered on Persia and included Media, Ionia, Lydia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. Cyrus conquered by diplomacy as well as by force. The subject of a rich legend in Persia and Greece (recorded by Xenophon and others), he was called the father of his people. He appears in the Bible as the liberator of the Jews held captive in Babylon. He died battling nomads in Central Asia. His legacy is the founding not only of an empire but of a culture and civilization that continued to expand after his death and lasted for two centuries. He exerted a strong influence on the Greeks and Alexander the Great. Awarded heroic qualities in legend, he has long been revered by Persians almost as a religious figure. In 1971 Iran celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of his founding of the monarchy.

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Cyrus (II) the Great 

(Greek “Kyros,” ancient Persian “Kurush”). Year of birth unknown; died 530 B.C. King of ancient Persia from 558 to 530; came from the Achaemenid dynasty.

In 558, Cyrus became head of an alliance of Persian tribes that rose in revolt against Median rule in 553. He conquered Media in 550–549, Lydia and the Greek cities of Asia Minor in 546, a significant part of Central Asia between 545 and 539, and Babylonia in 539. Babylon became the site of one of the royal residences. In 530 he began a campaign against the Massagetae tribes in Central Asia but was defeated and killed. Cyrus II was depicted in many ancient Eastern and classical works of literature (the Cyropaedia of Xenophon, for example).

REFERENCE

Prásek, J. V. “Kyros der Grosse.” Der alte Orient, vol. 13, fasc. 3. Leipzig, 1912.