Cyrus II the Great (Old Persian: Khorvash) was the founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Cyrus rose from the status of a vassal of the Medes to the Emperor of the largest empire on Earth, up until that time. Cyrus was largely regarded as the ideal king thanks to Xenophon, and he is even today regarded highly by modern nations for his legendary “Charter of the Rights of Nations”.
Cyrus the Great was probably born in Persis (modern Fars). The exact date of birth for Cyrus is in dispute due to the many legends that circulate about him and the loss of records. It is believed to be anywhere between 590-576 BC, as that period is the most likely years. The details of Cyrus’ life between his birth and his ascension to the thrones of Persia and Media is covered in legends and folk stories and the like, Herodotus’ version of the events is largely accepted by the modern community. According to Herodotus, Cyrus was the result of a marriage between Princess Mandane, daughter of King Astyages of Media and Cambyses I (later called ‘the Elder’), one of Astyages’ vassals. When Cyrus was born Astyages ordered the child killed, for fear that he would overthrow him. But Astyages’ chief advisor, who was sent to do the job, did not do it and instead hid Cyrus, for this the chief advisor lost his son. Astyages did eventually discover Cyrus anyway, but he let him live upon his chief advisor’s counsel. When Cyrus came of age in 559 B.C. he succeeded his father as King of Anshan and his uncle Arsames (who was still alive at this point, it is believed he abdicated in favor of his nephew) as King of Persia (this part here is factual). When the people of the lands he ruled told Cyrus that they were tired of Median overlordship, he revolted in 554 B.C. (the revolt is also factual). Astyages mobilized his army and put it under his chief advisor, who upon meeting Cyrus defected with his entire army (this defection’s reality is debated). From this point on we have good historical records of the events of Cyrus’ life. In 546 B.C. Cyrus had conquered the Median capital of Ectbana, but when asked what he would do with the Medes, he declared that he would treat them as equals, Cyrus also summarily declared himself the King of Medes and Persians.
After 546 Cyrus would begin his campaigns of conquest, for which he is famous. Cyrus found out soon after settling into his new throne that Astyages had formed an alliance with the three greatest kings of the area: Croesus of Lydia, Amasis II of Egypt, and Nabonidus of Babylon. These three kings planned to unite their armies to crush Cyrus, but he was faster then they were and he led a lightning campaign against Croesus, defeating his army at Pterium and after a short siege occupied the capital of Sardis, all before 546 ended. It was after the fall of Lydia that the Greeks first encountered the Persians, and many Greeks very much liked Cyrus, going as far as proclaiming him the ideal king .Cyrus would spend the next few years in the east before turning to deal with Nabonidus in 539 B.C. Cyrus had a easy time against Babylon, primarily because the whole country, even the priests hated Nabonidus. Cyrus easily defeated Nabonidus at Opis, and then he marched towards Babylon itself, to the surprise of Cyrus and the whole Persian army Babylon surrendered without a fight. Cyrus did much while in Babylon, among those things he declared himself “King of Babylon and King of the Land”, he also declared that all of the slave peoples, in particular the Jewish people held captive in Babylon were to be set free and were to be allowed to return to there own country. Lastly it is believed that it was in Babylon that Cyrus the Great issued his famous “Charter of the Rights of Nations”, this charter believed to be the first declaration of human rights in history outlined Cyrus’ belief system on how to deal with conquered people. Cyrus believed that everyone in his empire was to be allowed to have all of their rights, all of their customs intact, they only had to offer the occisonal tribute to the Great King, as Cyrus began calling himself. This system was one of Cyrus’ most lasting legacies in that it ensured his empire’s stability by not trying to force all of the people in his empire into a single mold. After these events Cyrus went on establish a new capital, Pasargadae in Persis, he named Babylon his winter capital.
Among the most lasting legacies of Cyrus the Great was the government that he built. As mentioned above Cyrus did not try to force everyone in his empire into a single mold, instead he celebrated the diversity. Because the Persian people had no real traditions of rulership of an empire Cyrus took and borrowed the ideas of rulership and government from his subject people. He drew heavily on the Median traditions regarding kingship, Cyrus’ chief advisor was probably a Mede, this shown by the reliefs on the walls of Persepolis, built by Darius the Great, Cyrus’ distant cousin. The Elamites, the native inhabitants of Cyrus’ home province of Persis were another people with an important impact, as seen by the fact that many in the Royal court dressed like the Elamites and even carried Elamite objects in many reliefs on the walls of Persepolis. Cyrus also instituted the system of dividing the Persian Empire into dozens of provinces called Satrapies, each overseen by a governor, called a Satrap. The Greek historian Xenophon, who wrote a biography of Cyrus called the Cyropedia, believed that he invented and instituted the first postal system, many historians are divided on whether or not Cyrus really did institute the first postal system, or if it was Darius. It was these achievements and more that have insured the place of Cyrus the Great on the list of great statesmen, the government system of Cyrus never went under any changes during the time his dynasty ruled Persia.
After the momentous events at Babylon and the founding of Pasargadae Cyrus turned east, where more land lay waiting for him to conquer, and according to some accounts, death. The old Median Empire had during its heyday extended far to the east, Cyrus was determined to conquer those lands and more, it is believed that Cyrus probably conquered as far as the Indus River, though it would not be until the time of Cambyses II that this became the definite eastern border of Persia. After leaving the west behind him following the capture of Babylon, Cyrus went to the eastern frontier to deal with horse nomads that gave him much trouble. According to some it would be there that set up the stage for his death
There are many conflicting accounts of Cyrus’ death. Herodotus and Josephus hold that the Queen of one of the horse nomad tribes, called the Massagetai was what killed Cyrus the Great. This Queen, named Tomryis was angry at Cyrus for he had taken her son, Spargapises, captive and he died while in captivity so she waited for Cyrus to return to try to conquer the steppes her people lived on to get her revenge. In 529 B.C. Cyrus led an expedition to deal the Massagetai and Queen Tomryis confronted and killed him on the battlefield. Tomryis was herself killed shortly thereafter by a vengeful Cambyses II, for the most part this account of Cyrus dying while fighting eastern horse nomads is largely doubted by modern historians, however there is proof that Cyrus really did venture as far as beyond the Caspian Sea in the form of the town of Cyreschata (Greek: Cyropolis).
Regardless of the tale of Cyrus dying by the hand of a vengeful mother he really did die in 529 B.C. According to Xenophon Cyrus died peacefully in his sleep, while others such as Ctesias say he died a much more violent death, in battle, like in Herodotus’ and Josephus’ accounts. In any case after Cyrus died his eldest son (Cyrus had two sons: Cambyses the Younger and Bardiya, also known as Smerdis) Cambyses II the Younger followed his father’s orders to bury him in a simple tomb, though he thought that Cyrus deserved a much better tomb ,it is located near Pasargadae. Later on Darius the Great had another tomb for Cyrus built this one near the new capital of Persepolis. Cyrus had ordered before his death that a few words be inscribed on his tomb, people today can still read it, and it reads “Passer-by, I am Cyrus the Great, I have given the Persians an empire and I have ruled over Asia. So do not envy me this tomb”.
In closing Cyrus the Great truly deserved the title he has been given by later generations. The Persian peoples have always viewed Cyrus the Great kindly for his many good acts, they still call him their father to this day. The later Great Kings of Achaemenid Persia never forgot it was to Cyrus that they owed their empire too. It is interesting to note that even Alexander the Great on his conquests stopped while at Pasargadae to offer homage to the man he considered the role model of empire founding. |
I've always been frustrated at how little info there is on the Massagetae.