Claudia Negrete

History 50H

Dr. Candace Gregory-Abbott

December 11, 2021

The Conquered Achaemenid Persian Empire by Cyrus the Great

Looking at all of the monarchs, rulers, and kings who have been categorized as ‘the

greats’, it is easy for it to become overused. Only one of the few ‘greats’ throughout our history

has truly deserved and earned this noble and lofty title. This magnificent person was Cyrus II -

otherwise known as Cyrus the Great. He was the founder and the first ‘King of Kings’ of the

mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire. He ascended to power through his dedication to conquest

and tactful diplomacy. He demonstrated skills as a warrior, displayed the image of an

experienced statesman, and made important actions happen that shaped the world in which we

live today.

In myth, the Median prince, Astyages had many predictive dreams for the future of the

empire. The first was that his pregnant daughter, Mandana of Media would release a high

abundance of water that would soon flood all of Asia. Because of this, he decided to arrange a

marriage between her and one of these kings of Anshan, knowing that no son of a mere Persian

would ever rule the great Median Empire. However, he then had another dream soon after in

which vines would grow from Mandana’s womb. These vines would overtake and submerge the

entire world. The Median prince Astyages was paranoid and terrified of what was to come. With

the persuasive words of his advisors, Astyages decides to kill her child as soon as it was

immediately born. No longer a part of a predictive dream or myth, this boy came into the world

at the royal palace of Ecbatana around 600BC. By Old Persian pronunciation, he was declared as

Kourosh, but to us his name was Cyrus, more specifically, Cyrus II. Astyages immediately

ordered one of his most trusted senior men, Harpagus to take the baby, kill him, and dispose of

the body far away, enough to never be found. Harpagus of course agreed and said that he would

do as ordered, and took the boy home. After some time to think, Harpagus was unwilling to kill

an innocent child, but feared Astyages’ wrath too much that he instead ordered a shepherd,

Mithridates to complete the difficult task for him. Again, the mere thought and deed of killing a

pure young boy was impossible. Rather than ending Cyrus’ life, Mithridates and his wife kept

him alive and secretly raised him as their own. Harpagus had no idea and neither did Astyages.

They believed what they ordered to be true. In order to keep his existence and identity a secret,

Cyrus had to change his name to Agradates. With that, one-day Agradates was playing a game

called ‘king and court’ with a few other boys, one of whom was the son of a Median magnate. As

a part of the game, Agradates ended up winning against the noble Median boy. He subsequently

complained to his father about the incident and Agradates was summoned to answer before

Astyages. One look at the boy, and Astyages quickly revealed that he was the boy Harpagus had

been ordered to kill. The boy referred to as Agradates, was Cyrus. Astyages remained calm and

explained to Harpagus that he had often felt remorse for the order he gave to him. He proceeded

to take the action of celebrating the return of Cyrus with a feast. At Astyages’ order, Harpagus

first sent his thirteen-year-old son to the palace for the feast. Later, Harpagus would then arrive

himself as a guest. Little did Harpagus know that he would be eating his own thirteen-year-old

son during the feast. Astyages made this statement to Harpagus because he decided to betray him

and not follow orders. Harpagus would forever hold a grudge and remember the horrendous
 outcome that came to be. Meanwhile, Cyrus was spared and even went on to become a royal

cupbearer, a position of considerable prestige in the kingdom. The young Persian also served as a

royal envoy and advisor becoming indispensable to Astyages. Cyrus also met and married the

love of his life, Cassandana - a fellow Achaemenid. They would later happily have their five

children - Artystone, Atossa, Bardiya, Cambyses II, and Roxane.

After what Astyages had done to Harpagus, he had been gathering the anti-Astyages

nobles and befriending Cyrus. In 552BC, they formed their plans together and decided to take

the action of overthrowing Astyages. Cyrus, who was now in his forties, made his way back to

his homeland and raised it in revolt. After winning an initial battle there and another on the

border between Persia and Media, Cyrus and his newly won allies crushed Astyages’ army

outside Pasargadae after Harpagus betrayed Astyages, taking Ecbatana soon thereafter. Almost

immediately, Median governors in Hyrcania, Parthia, and Bactria heard the news of the change

and submitted to it as well, saving themselves from the unnecessary fight. Following the

destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 612BC, four powers dominated the region: Egypt,

Lydia, Babylon, and the Median Empire. These territories stretched from eastern Iran to

Cappadocia. The Achaemenid Empire, which began with the collaboration between Persia and

Media, was born, and the rest were too soon to join. In the aftermath, Cyrus dutifully

administered this newly won domain. His territories were divided into semi-autonomous

provinces known as satrapies and were governed by satraps, drawn initially and chosen equally

from Persians and Medes alike. Overseers were sent to supervise these lesser rulers and make

sure they were continuously doing as they were told. Over 10,000 of Cyrus’ greatest warriors

were instituted as the notorious, spear-wielding immortals, whose ranks never went below that

number. These warriors would assist Cyrus in his pursuit of conquers. The ‘King of Kings’ did

all of this under the cover of friendship treaties enacted with his powerful neighbors Babylon and

Lydia. However, filled with confidence and courage by a famously deceptive answer from the

oracle at Delphi, the Lydian king, Croesus began mobilizing forces to assault the uprising Persian

troops. He asked the great Oracle at Delphi whether he should go to war against the Persian

Empire and the oracle replied with an: “If Croesus goes to war he will destroy a great empire”

(Croesus 4). By 548BC, Cyrus sent envoys to the Ionian Greeks, asking them to stay out of the

upcoming war. The cities loyal to Lydia however, refused outright, with the exception of Miletus.

This decision among the Aegean Greeks would eventually, over half a century later, trigger the

legendary Greco-Persian Wars of Salamis and Thermopylae. Crossing the Halys river, and

therefore the Achaemenid frontier by bridge in 547BC, Croesus and his large army approached

Pteria and put it under siege. Hearing of the invasion at his capital of Ecbatana, Cyrus marched

west to confront the Lydians. He was joined along the way by his loyal armies from the satrapies.

The core of his force consisted of Persians and Medes, but there were also Hyrcanians, Sakae,

and many others that followed Cyrus effortlessly. When the Achaemenid army arrived, Pteria had

already fallen and its people were sent to Lydia as slaves. The Achaemenid army was probably

lesser in size than the Lydian one, but this didn’t stop Cyrus and his army. The Lydian king drew

for battle in his ability to defeat Cyrus, but after the clash that lasted the full day, the mighty

army smashed straight through his forces and badly bloodied his army. This led Croesus to

withdraw to Sardis and recollect himself and his troops. With the winter weather, the Lydian king

expected to delay and stop the fight for now. He sent emissaries to his allies in Babylon, Egypt,

and Sparta. He called on them for help by asking for armies to be sent in five months to assist
 him. With time running out, it was crucial for him to also send all his mercenaries away with

similar orders. Cyrus, with no time to waste, pushed into Lydia and encamped in sight of Sardis

making him closer to victory by the days. Croesus sent a formidable cavalry army out to face the

Persians. Harpagus advised that their cavalry army be mounted on camels and form a wall-like

structure in order to frighten the Lydian horses and surprise the Lydian troops. When the battle

immersed, Harpagus’ plan succeeded and Croesus witnessed many losses, yet somehow he was

still able to retreat into the deep fortress of Sardis. Before the Persians encircled the city, trapping

Croesus and whatever was left of his army, he managed to send out a call for help and immediate

assistance. However, after just a fourteen-day siege, one of the greatest near-eastern capitals fell.

Sardis and all of Asia Minor were now Achaemenid territories. Croesus was spared and brought

to advise Cyrus in his mission to conquer. The oracle Croesus was told ended up being correct,

however, he had destroyed his own mighty empire, rather than the Persian empire he had hoped

to destroy instead. Expansion through conquest seemed to have become a priority for the Persian

king after the Lydian invasion of his territory. It was certain that he would now set out to

dominate the region. Following the destruction of Croesus’ kingdom, Cyrus and his generals set

about creating a great new capital at Pasargadae, in addition to subduing resistance in peripheral

territories such as Bactria and Urartu.

By 542BC, Cyrus’ attention was focused on another great power ripe for conquest. This

conquest was the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The former ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire,

Nebuchadnezzar II, was no more. The current Babylonian king was now known as Nabonidus,

and he wasn’t a good ruler whatsoever. He diverted praise and funding away from Babylonian

priests, neglected the common people, stopped renovation works on the city, and even canceled

the new years festival of the great god Marduk. Discontent was prominent in the city, and loyalty

to the king, and his son Belshazzar, was low and close to none. Cyrus was fully aware of this

state of affairs and planned to take advantage of it. Persian infiltrators began spreading word

throughout Nabonidus’ Empire that Cyrus intended to restore Marduk’s supremacy in Babylon.

Sensing that the time was right, Cyrus dispatched his army to seize Babylon, with the help of a

native revolt in 540BC. Although weakened, Nabonidus took control of the army and ensured

obedience. The next year, Cyrus and his increasingly powerful army tried once more. Altogether,

they marched south to invade the Babylonian Empire, but this time he would do it as a liberator.

Their progress was blocked for weeks because of a huge tributary of the Tigris River just north

of Opis. The Persian troops began digging many channels around the river to divert its course,

overcoming the obstacle. However, the delay caused by the time spent digging, allowed

Nabonidus to assemble a large army and advance north. The king's trustworthy general, Gubara

conducted and led the war. The battle took place in the last days of September near Opis and

because of Cyrus’ fighting forces, he won yet another crushing victory. Opis was plundered and

the general, Gubara surrendered, earning a place in the Persian hierarchy alongside Cyrus. With

the help of the general, Gubara, Cyrus, and his army continued to find Nabonidus. Inside the

massive city of Babylon was Nabonidus’ armies barricaded inside, braced and ready for the fight

that was about to come. Cyrus was truly daunted and somewhat intimidated by the sight. The

city's defenses included multiple layers of moat, the great Euphrates River, and two colossal

walls - inner and outer. They were eighty feet high or even more, and stretched for fifteen miles

around the city’s near-triangular shape. Not only this, but grand-scale residences, temples, and

palaces were placed in grid crisscrossed patterns throughout the streets. To top it off, the very
sturdy great citadel of the royal guard was placed next to Ishtar Gate. After viewing the fortress,

Cyrus immediately called together his advisors for a council of war and debated on how the city

was going to be gained. The first proposal was to have a full-scale assault. This way would result

in a fight with massive casualties, and so they decided to keep brainstorming. A more complex

strategy was chosen. This way would rely on subtlety, intelligence, and timing. First, the

Achaemenid king split his army in two. One was stationed on the eastern bank of the Euphrates

where the river entered Babylon in the north, and the other was stationed downstream, where the

river left Babylon. Cyrus himself took every noncombatant north to a basin that was excavated

years earlier to temporarily redirect the Euphrates river. Cyrus put the servants, slaves,

attendants, and any other noncombatants to work by having them dig a wide channel from the

disused basin to the river. Along with that, he had them chop giant palm trees down to act as

levees to redirect the water from the river. This work they did directed a great portion of the

Euphrates’ flow into the basin rather than flowing towards Babylon. The water level before this

work was over two men deep, and afterward, the Euphrates river was only waist deep. The

‘impassable’ Euphrates was now a viable entry route into the city. That very night Cyrus

carefully timed his seize into the city. He had Gubara infiltrate the city through the now low-

level river, which the citizens and guards of Nabonidus’ didn’t even seem to notice. Because of

the subtle and well-timed plan, Nabonidus and his armed forces were unable to resist the Persian

infiltration. By daybreak, prince Belshazzar, Nabonidus’ son, was dead. The gates were opened

and the city was under Achaemenid control. Nabonidus surrendered to the Persian monarch and

allowed himself to take an exile in Carmania. He had lost his son, his city, and his pride. There

wasn’t much left for him than to live through his last years of life alone. Two weeks after Cyrus
captured the city and dealt with all the necessary formalities, he was happily welcomed by the

city of Babylon. Restoring the cities purpose and values, and tending to the needs of the people,

is what Babylon wanted and needed. To further show his benevolence, the new ruler kept taxes

to a minimum, completed several public works, and returned idols and important sculptures

seized by Nabonidus. With Nabonidus, the people of Babylon were treated like prisoners. With

Cyrus, liberty is restored to those who were surrounded by oppression and everything was great.

Cyrus the Great was admired as the true king. Following the great acts of Cyrus, he returned

thousands of Jews to Jerusalem who had previously been deported as part of Nebuchadnezzar’s

so-called Babylonian Exile. Not only did he restore the Jews to their homeland, but he also

ordered the construction and funding of what eventually became Jerusalem’s Second Temple. For

this amazing generosity Cyrus showed the Jews, he was the only foreigner ever to be named a

Messiah in the Jewish religion. Without Cyrus, it could have been possible that Judaism

would’ve died out and with that, Christianity and Islam might never have existed at all.

The four powers that once dominated the region: Egypt, Lydia, Babylon, and the Median Empire

were no longer four, but one. The only possible rival remaining to Cyrus and the Achaemenid

empire was Egypt. This particular issue of expansion would have to wait. Cyrus had conquered

so much already that he needed to administer his provinces, stabilize the empire, and lay down

rules and helpful building blocks that would provide a strong foundation for centuries to come.

When Cyrus wasn’t out on campaign with the army, he would reside for seven months of the

year in Babylon, where there was a warm and sunny climate. When spring came and weather

patterns changed, Cyrus moved to Susa for three months and in summer he climbed to Ecbatana

 in the Median highlands, where the cooler climate was more tolerable. After his rest, it would

soon be time for Cyrus and his reign to come to an end.

There had been debates on the matter of Cyrus the Great’s death. Soldier-historian

Xenophon, writing over a century later, believed that the first Persian king died in his bed, while

the Greek physician Ctesias claimed Cyrus’ death was due to wounds received in battle.

However, the Greek writer-historian, Herodotus, believed Cyrus came to an end in a more epic

way. In the late Autumn of 530BC, with his new empire organized and set in stone, Cyrus took

his army to confront a deadly new enemy. The Persian force-marched across Iran to the

northeastern steppe frontier of the empire, in what is today Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The new

enemy was a ferocious Scythian tribe known as the Massagetae. Cyrus heard that they were

gathering a massive army to defend and conquer. The Massagetae were located in the vicinity of

the Oxus River at the time. Cyrus was somewhat arrogant from all his successes and was also

informed that the previous leader of the army was now dead. In his place ruled the beautiful,

Amazon-esque Scythian queen known as Tomyris. Cyrus readied his forces, but first dispatched

an offer of marriage to the queen in hopes of a diplomatic conquest. The diplomatic conquest

was no longer an option since the offer Cyrus sent was denied. The queen knew that Cyrus only

had an eye for her domain and army, rather than her. While the Persians were in the process of

constructing a plan of action, messengers arrived from Tomyris with an offer of her own. “King

of the Medes, cease to press this enterprise, for you cannot know if what you are doing will be of

real advantage to you. Be content to rule in peace your own kingdom, and bear to see us reign

over the countries that are ours to govern. As, however, I know you will not choose to hearken to

this counsel, since there is nothing you less desirest than peace and quietness, come now, if you

 are so mightily desirous of meeting the Massagetai in arms, leave your useless toil of bridge-

making; let us retire three days' march from the river bank, and do you come across with your

soldiers; or, if you like better to give us battle on your side the stream, retire yourself an equal

distance” (Herodotus 206). Tomyris decreed that the bridge was unnecessary. Either she would

retreat three days from the river and willingly fight the Persians there on open ground, or the

Persians could let the Massagetae cross instead. Cyrus gathered his advisors and all but one of

them recommended that Cyrus withdraw and wait for Tomyris to cross. The one who said

otherwise was Croesus. Cyrus took his advice and did just that. The Persians crossed and set up a

luxurious camp and lured in a third of the Massagetae army led by Tomyris’ son. The force,

which included Tomyris’ son, was destroyed and murdered. His mother swore to avenge her son

by giving Cyrus the fight he clearly desired. With that, the armies of Cyrus and Tomyris clashed.

The Massagetae had heavy bronze armor and brutal battle-axes that ripped the Achaemenid army

apart. Almost all of it was annihilated and Cyrus was killed, either on the field or from his

wounds a few days later. Either way, Tomyris would have fulfilled her vow of avenging her son.

Somehow Cyrus’ remains came to rest at the Tomb of Cyrus in Pasargadae, a remnant of the

ancient world that still exists more or less intact to this day. There is an inscription on the tomb

that read “I am Cyrus, son of Cambyses, who founded the empire of Persia and ruled over Asia.

Do not grudge me my monument.”

While some might have seen Cyrus as a power-hungry conquerer, there are many reasons

why this is not true. Out of all of the monarchs, rulers, and kings who have been categorized as

‘the greats’, Cyrus was the only person throughout our history that truly deserved and earned this

noble and lofty title. Cyrus, Cyrus II, King Cyrus, the first ‘King of Kings’, Kourosh, and even

 Agradates were all different names for Cyrus the Great. The mighty Achaemenid Persian Empire

was his legacy and something he worked hard to achieve. He ascended to power through his

dedication to conquest and tactful diplomacy. He showed intelligence and had mercy and justice

for everyone. He was seen as a savior for some and earned titles that no other could have. He

demonstrated skills as a warrior, displayed the image of an experienced statesman, and made

important actions happen that shaped the world in which we live today. Cyrus the Great was

truly great.

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