Persian Times

Human Interest Piece: Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great, a political genius who had ruled the Persian Empire from 580-529 B.C.E., he was an undisputed leader of Persia. (died in battle in 529 B.C.E) Cyrus was a brilliant general that had numerous military advantages and was a tolerant leader to those whom he conquered. When Cyrus conquered Babylonia, he did an extraordinary act he had freed the Jews. Cyrus is the only Gentile in The Bible who is referred to as the Messiah.

Cyrus the Great extended his empire by using his immortal army of 10,000 soldiers who were well trained. When conquering the other countries, his men would wear boots to protect their feet from the terrain and were good for walking. His army had a mobile cavalry, which rode on mountain ponies and shot arrows from their backs. Cyrus had conquered many countries. When he did so, he refused to enslave the people and respected their religions. He was very different from any of the other kings and leaders of his time, because he had respect and tolerance for the people of the countries that he was going to conquer. Cyrus the Great was different. He did not use force or fear on the conquered countries. He had different tactics that allowed him to expand his army, subjects and empire. Cyrus viewed himself as a liberator not a conqueror. He viewed himself as rescuing these people from their despotic rulers. Using his unique tactics he was able to incorporate these new countries and their peoples into his empire and did not have to spend the resources on enslaving the people.