The Persian Empire from 559-465BC
CYRUS THE GREAT 559-530BC
The background and accession of Cyrus:
• Father was Cambyses I and mother was Mandane; his grandfather was Astyages, king of
Medes
• According to Herodotus, a prophecy was given to Astyages that, one day, his grandson
would take over his kingdom
• When Cyrus was born, Astyages ordered that Harpagus kill him, however Harpagus did not
kill the baby but instead handed him over to Mithridates and Cyno (the herdsman and his
wife). Mithridates did not want to kill the baby either, so, at the suggestion of Cyno, he
swapped Cyrus for their recently deceased baby
• When he was 10, Cyrus was playing a game where he was king and one of the boys, a
nobleman's son, disobeyed him. So Cyrus had the boy beaten by the others
• Cyrus was brought to Astyages who was going to punish him, but he inadvertently revealed
his identity due to his noble attitude
• Harpagus was punished terribly for his mistake: Astyages killed Harpagus' son and served
him to his father in a stew, revealing his son's fate at the end of the dinner
• While Harpagus managed to control himself, he formed a secret alliance with Cyrus, in order
to get revenge
• When Cyrus grew up, he began to use the discontent of the Persians to rise against Astyages
• When Astyages went to fight against Cyrus, Harpagus turned the Persian army against the
king, and they deserted
• Astyages tried to resist but was captured
• Cyrus allowed his grandfather to live peacefully, and cemented his rule in Media by marrying
Astyages' daughter
The conquest of Lydia; the conquest of Babylon:
• Lydia: Croesus, ruler of Lydia, once asked an oracle what would happen if he waged war
against the Persians. The oracle responded by saying that a great empire would be
destroyed. Taking that to mean the Persian empire, Croesus went to war with the Persians
• During the battle, Cyrus used camels to terrify the Lydian horses, rendering the cavalry
useless
• Cyrus defeated the Lydians and captured Croesus, who he planned to burn, but when
Croesus was on the pyre he cried out the name 'Solon' (who had told Croesus that he can't
tell him if he is the luckiest man alive for he hasn’t died yet)
• Cyrus took this as a warning that fate can change quickly and went to put out the fire,
sparing Croesus
• When he did this, a storm arose, extinguishing the fire in aid of their attempts
• Croesus advised that Cyrus did not loot the city too much for he said that he was damaging
what was already his
• An alternative version of Croesus' capture says that he was imprisoned in shackles 3 times,
and each time, the shackles mysteriously came off. After he was bound more tightly, the
shackles came of with lightning, so Cyrus decided to free him
, • Before the conquest of Lydia, Cyrus asked Ionia and Aeolia to revolt from Croesus, but they
refused. However, after the conquest of Lydia, the two states came back to Cyrus, asking to
be allies, but Cyrus angrily refused
• Myron vase: depicts Croesus on a pyre (sitting on the throne, wearing his crown and holding
a sceptre) as a Greek sets fire to the pyre
• Babylon: Cyrus cylinder = small clay cylinder with written account of Cyrus' conquest of
Babylon. Thought to have been created by Babylonians for Cyrus
• King Nabonidus, king of Babylon, was interfering with worship, stopping rituals at sacred
centres and got rid of the worship of Marduk (chief Babylonian god)
• He also acted cruelly towards his people, making them work in forced levies
• The city of Babylon was 15 miles in length; surrounded by very thick walls (83ft wide, 333ft
high). The river Euphrates ran directly through it
• Cyrus ordered a small group of soldiers to wait at the place where the river entered the city
and took the rest of his forces upriver. They cut channels, diverting the river into nearby
lakes, which dropped the river level enough to allow his forces to wade through, into the
city. The Babylonians were oblivious as they were very far away, celebrating a festival
• According to the Cyrus Cylinder, Marduk helped Cyrus become king of Persia, and gave him
his territories. When he invaded Babylon, Marduk walked beside him like a 'friend and
companion' and helped him take the city without bloodshed
• In order to ensure the loyalty of the Babylonians, Cyrus freed the citizens of their forced
labour under Nabonidus and 'did not permit anyone to frighten' them
• Cyrus restored the worship of Marduk, restored sacred centres and worship and restored
the images of the gods to 'pleasing abodes'. Cyrus also participated in some of the rituals
• Cyrus allowed the Jews to return home to Jerusalem, even supplying them with money,
assistance and resources to restore the temple in Jerusalem
Cyrus' attitude towards conquered peoples and his liberation of the Jews:
• Religion: Main sources are Cyrus Cylinder and Ezra from the Bible
• Marduk = patron god of the Babylonians
• Ahuramazda = sole deity of the Zoroastrians (Persians/Medians)
• Yahweh = god of the Jews
• Attitude: Cyrus was tolerant of other religions, actively helping and restoring other faiths if
they were the dominant religion of the people he conquered
• Cyrus used tolerance of foreign religions as a way to ensure political stability and
contentment among the people he conquered
The construction of Pasargadae:
• Capital of the Persian empire before Cyrus was Ecbatana
• Cyrus built a new capital to cement his rule and to show his power and status to his people
and other states
• Pasargadae provided another centre in the empire for Cyrus to use, possibly serving as a
means of intimidation to foreign rulers visiting the city
• Features:
• Palace S - covered audience hall; carvings of lions, bulls and mystical creatures on walls.
Door flanked by human figures, fighting an eagle-footed creature and a creature with the
legs and tail of a bull (identified as warriors fighting demons)
CYRUS THE GREAT 559-530BC
The background and accession of Cyrus:
• Father was Cambyses I and mother was Mandane; his grandfather was Astyages, king of
Medes
• According to Herodotus, a prophecy was given to Astyages that, one day, his grandson
would take over his kingdom
• When Cyrus was born, Astyages ordered that Harpagus kill him, however Harpagus did not
kill the baby but instead handed him over to Mithridates and Cyno (the herdsman and his
wife). Mithridates did not want to kill the baby either, so, at the suggestion of Cyno, he
swapped Cyrus for their recently deceased baby
• When he was 10, Cyrus was playing a game where he was king and one of the boys, a
nobleman's son, disobeyed him. So Cyrus had the boy beaten by the others
• Cyrus was brought to Astyages who was going to punish him, but he inadvertently revealed
his identity due to his noble attitude
• Harpagus was punished terribly for his mistake: Astyages killed Harpagus' son and served
him to his father in a stew, revealing his son's fate at the end of the dinner
• While Harpagus managed to control himself, he formed a secret alliance with Cyrus, in order
to get revenge
• When Cyrus grew up, he began to use the discontent of the Persians to rise against Astyages
• When Astyages went to fight against Cyrus, Harpagus turned the Persian army against the
king, and they deserted
• Astyages tried to resist but was captured
• Cyrus allowed his grandfather to live peacefully, and cemented his rule in Media by marrying
Astyages' daughter
The conquest of Lydia; the conquest of Babylon:
• Lydia: Croesus, ruler of Lydia, once asked an oracle what would happen if he waged war
against the Persians. The oracle responded by saying that a great empire would be
destroyed. Taking that to mean the Persian empire, Croesus went to war with the Persians
• During the battle, Cyrus used camels to terrify the Lydian horses, rendering the cavalry
useless
• Cyrus defeated the Lydians and captured Croesus, who he planned to burn, but when
Croesus was on the pyre he cried out the name 'Solon' (who had told Croesus that he can't
tell him if he is the luckiest man alive for he hasn’t died yet)
• Cyrus took this as a warning that fate can change quickly and went to put out the fire,
sparing Croesus
• When he did this, a storm arose, extinguishing the fire in aid of their attempts
• Croesus advised that Cyrus did not loot the city too much for he said that he was damaging
what was already his
• An alternative version of Croesus' capture says that he was imprisoned in shackles 3 times,
and each time, the shackles mysteriously came off. After he was bound more tightly, the
shackles came of with lightning, so Cyrus decided to free him
, • Before the conquest of Lydia, Cyrus asked Ionia and Aeolia to revolt from Croesus, but they
refused. However, after the conquest of Lydia, the two states came back to Cyrus, asking to
be allies, but Cyrus angrily refused
• Myron vase: depicts Croesus on a pyre (sitting on the throne, wearing his crown and holding
a sceptre) as a Greek sets fire to the pyre
• Babylon: Cyrus cylinder = small clay cylinder with written account of Cyrus' conquest of
Babylon. Thought to have been created by Babylonians for Cyrus
• King Nabonidus, king of Babylon, was interfering with worship, stopping rituals at sacred
centres and got rid of the worship of Marduk (chief Babylonian god)
• He also acted cruelly towards his people, making them work in forced levies
• The city of Babylon was 15 miles in length; surrounded by very thick walls (83ft wide, 333ft
high). The river Euphrates ran directly through it
• Cyrus ordered a small group of soldiers to wait at the place where the river entered the city
and took the rest of his forces upriver. They cut channels, diverting the river into nearby
lakes, which dropped the river level enough to allow his forces to wade through, into the
city. The Babylonians were oblivious as they were very far away, celebrating a festival
• According to the Cyrus Cylinder, Marduk helped Cyrus become king of Persia, and gave him
his territories. When he invaded Babylon, Marduk walked beside him like a 'friend and
companion' and helped him take the city without bloodshed
• In order to ensure the loyalty of the Babylonians, Cyrus freed the citizens of their forced
labour under Nabonidus and 'did not permit anyone to frighten' them
• Cyrus restored the worship of Marduk, restored sacred centres and worship and restored
the images of the gods to 'pleasing abodes'. Cyrus also participated in some of the rituals
• Cyrus allowed the Jews to return home to Jerusalem, even supplying them with money,
assistance and resources to restore the temple in Jerusalem
Cyrus' attitude towards conquered peoples and his liberation of the Jews:
• Religion: Main sources are Cyrus Cylinder and Ezra from the Bible
• Marduk = patron god of the Babylonians
• Ahuramazda = sole deity of the Zoroastrians (Persians/Medians)
• Yahweh = god of the Jews
• Attitude: Cyrus was tolerant of other religions, actively helping and restoring other faiths if
they were the dominant religion of the people he conquered
• Cyrus used tolerance of foreign religions as a way to ensure political stability and
contentment among the people he conquered
The construction of Pasargadae:
• Capital of the Persian empire before Cyrus was Ecbatana
• Cyrus built a new capital to cement his rule and to show his power and status to his people
and other states
• Pasargadae provided another centre in the empire for Cyrus to use, possibly serving as a
means of intimidation to foreign rulers visiting the city
• Features:
• Palace S - covered audience hall; carvings of lions, bulls and mystical creatures on walls.
Door flanked by human figures, fighting an eagle-footed creature and a creature with the
legs and tail of a bull (identified as warriors fighting demons)
