Saul Grenfell, Junior School WW2 History Account Page 1 Sharad Patel, Junior School

Cyrus II of Persia, also known as Cyrus the Great and Cyrus the Elder was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. The empire conquered most of Western and Central Asia; it was the largest empire the world had ever seen. His reign lasted 30 year, during which he defeated the Median Empire, the Lydian Empire and the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Cyrus is said to have died in battle against the Massagetae in December 530 BC. His great success was owed to the respect he had for the cultures, religions and customs of the land he conquered. Cyrus also created a first of its kind government, where Kings, called Satraps ruled over their own land and reported to him. Cyrus the Great is most recognised for his declaration of human rights, politics and military strategy.

Cyrus was born around 600 BC in a city called Anshan. His father was King Cambyses and his mother was Mandane, daughter of King Astyages of the Median Empire. According to Herodotus, a Greek historian, King Astyages had a dream of water flooding out of his daughter’s womb, which he took to mean the downfall of his empire. Therefore, he married his daughter to Cambyses to get her out of the way. He later had another of vines sprouting out of his daughter’s womb, meaning that her child, Cyrus would cause the downfall of his empire. Therefore, Astyages ordered his commander Harpagus to take Cyrus home, kill him and bury him. However, Harpagus did not kill the child and instead gave him to a cowherd called Mitridates and told him to leave the child in the mountains. The cowherd could not bring himself to kill Cyrus and instead switched him with his own baby and left his baby in the mountains. Astyages later found out about Cyrus and let him go to live with his real parents in Anshan. Astyages punished Harpagus by tricking him into eating his own son. Harpagus did not react publicly, but instead started plotting to exact his revenge.

Cyrus the Great had Harpagus as his advisor, who told him to go to war with Astyages. Cyrus united the Persian tribes to fight and foolishly, Astyages had the same Harpagus advising Cyrus to be his commander. Harpagus took his revenge by convincing many members of the median army to desert or join the Persians. The soldiers still loyal to Astyages were defeated and Astyages raised another army. Unluckily for the Median King, the same thing happened to the new army and he was handed over to Cyrus. He did not kill Astyages, but instead kept him in his royal court and married one of his daughters Amytis and created the Achaemenid Empire.

The King of Lydia, Croesus was not happy with this conquest, as Astyages was his brother in law. He was told that if he went to war with Cyrus a great empire would fall. He assumed that the great empire which would fall was the Persian empire, however it turned out to be his own. He went into battle in 547 BC but there was a draw and the Lydians retreated to Sardis, their capital. The Lydian King disbanded his soldiers to wait for a larger army from his allies, however, Cyrus attacked, and another battle broke out. Harpagus is said to have provided Cyrus with the winning strategy. The Lydians had strong cavalry, however horses fear camels. Therefore, he told Cyrus to have a front line of camels before any soldiers. This caused all the horses to run away from the battle, ensuring Cyrus a decisive victory. The Lydians retreated once again to Sardis, but the Persians quickly followed and laid siege, capturing the Lydian Empire after 650 years. No one knows for sure what happened to King Croesus, but it is said that Cyrus kept him in his court like Astyages and that he died a peaceful death.

After several more conquests in which Cyrus captured parts of Asia minor and Mesopotamia, he went to conquer Babylonia. Legend has it that the Babylonians allowed Cyrus into their city without bloodshed and fighting, as they did not like their king, Nabonidus, for he did not respect their patron god, Marduk.