Cyrus II (c. 590–529 BCE), known as Cyrus the Great, is traditionally regarded as the fourth of the Achaemenid kings and the founder of the Persian Empire. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Cyrus’s grandfather was Astyages, king of the Medes, who had dreamed that he would lose his throne to his grandson. Astyages ordered one of his servants to kill the infant, but the servant’s wife secretly reared the boy, who grew into a wise leader of men. In 559 BCE Cyrus became king of Anshan, at that time under the rule of the Medes. Then in 550 BCE he united the Persians and the Medes under his rule and reduced his grandfather to a mere prisoner at his court.
Conquest of Lydia
In 547 BCE the Persian Empire was attacked by the kingdom of Lydia in western Anatolia. After a brief skirmish the Lydians retreated to their capital of Sardis. Cyrus followed and met them in battle beneath the walls of Sardis. The Lydians were excellent horsemen, and the long spears of their cavalrymen were the greatest asset of their army. Cyrus is said to have ordered his men to ride into battle mounted on camels. The smell of the Persian camels disturbed the horses of the Lydians and threw their army into confusion. The Lydians retreated behind the high walls and cliffs of Sardis. One of Cyrus’s men spotted a Lydian soldier who dropped his helmet and climbed down the cliffs to fetch it. By doing so, the soldier revealed to the Persians a route through the city’s defenses and enabled them to capture the city.
Religious Freedom
Cyrus knew that his vast empire, which stretched from the Mediterranean to the Hindu Kush, contained many different peoples. He knew he could rule them peacefully only if he governed with their consent. He respected the many different gods worshiped by his subjects. When his troops captured Babylon in 539 BCE, Cyrus made sure that the Temple of Marduk was protected. He freed the Jews from their long slavery in Babylon, and forty thousand returned to Judah.
Pasargadae
Cyrus built a new capital at Pasargadae. Stonemasons from across Asia were summoned to build the city in the plain of Morghab. The buildings were a strange mix of Greek, Babylonian, Assyrian, Egyptian, and Persian designs.
Cyrus died in 529 BCE fighting the tribes of central Asia. He had already built his tomb at Pasargadae, a small, simple building on top of a platform of plain stone steps. According to the Roman historian Arrian, Alexander the Great ordered the restoration of the tomb after reading the inscription: "O man, I am Cyrus, who founded the empire of the Persians and was king of Asia. Grudge me not this monument." The tomb has survived, although there is no trace of the inscription.
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WHEN THE PERSIANS CAPTURED BABYLON IN 539 BCE, CYRUS ORDERED HIS TROOPS TO TREAT THE CITY AND ITS INHABITANTS WITH RESPECT. THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY ARE SAID TO HAVE WELCOMED THEIR NEW RULER INTO THE CITY WITH ENTHUSIASM. All the inhabitants of Babylon, as well as the entire country of Sumer and Akkad, princes and governors, bowed to Cyrus and kissed his feet, jubilant that he had received the kingship, and with shining faces they happily greeted him as a master through whose help they had come to life from death and had all been spared damage and disaster, and they worshiped his name. FROM AN INSCRIPTION ON A CLAY CYLINDER WRITTEN IN AKKADIAN
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