Cyrus is the king of Persia, who ruled back in 559 BC. e. He founded the power of the Achaemenids. He was called the Great during his lifetime. Legends go about the wisdom and genius of the ruler. Thanks to his intelligence and strategic abilities, he was able to unite many disparate states located from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. And now you can see many monuments testifying to its greatness. And in the Pasargades there is a mausoleum where, according to theory, the remains of a wise ruler lie.
Biography of Cyrus the Great
Due to the limitation of what is happening, the exact date of birth of Cyrus is unknown. There are several versions in the archives of historians of antiquity, but they all contradict each other. The ruler was supposedly born in 593 BC. e. The father of Cyrus was the king of Persia Cambyses I, descended from the Achaemenid clan. The ancient historian Herodotus wrote that even at a very young age Cyrus was expelled to the mountains. He was saved by a she-wolf, who nurtured him like her puppy. And later the child was found by a shepherd and raised by him. There is an opinion that the name "Cyrus" in Persian sounds like a "young dog", but it is impossible to say with accuracy.
Conquest
Reliable can be considered information on Cyrus the Great, which speaks of his rule. At first he began to rule the Anshan region. But the country was dependent on the Medes and rulers from the Medes dynasty. Soon after his appointment, he raised an uprising. Having won, he reasoned sensibly and left some of the laws of the Medes, and also left them as the leading class. It took Cyrus 3 years to win. It is also interesting that the ruler of the Medes was Astyages - grandfather of Cyrus. His daughter Princess Mandana was the wife of Cambyses. There is a legend that the seer predicted his grandfather would overthrow him. And he, as soon as he found out about the birth of his grandson in the family, ordered to kill him. But a slave named Harpag took pity and did not. He left Cyrus with him and educated him. He was later punished, but Cyrus remembered the generosity and appointed him to lead his army.
After the small country of Persia at that time was able to exalt itself like that, other countries, fearing aggression, created a coalition. It included Egypt, Babylon and Lydia. The goal was not only protection, but also the prevention of any state aggression. Supported the union and Sparta.
But Cyrus did not stand still. By 549 BC e. Armenia, Hyrcania, Elam, and Parthia were conquered. Well, Cilicia acted differently. Her king voluntarily decided to go to the side of Cyrus and offered his help in hostilities.
In 547 BC e. King Lydia Croesus decided to conquer Cappadocia, which at that time was under the leadership of Cyrus. But she received a sharp and strong rebuff. Croesus decided to withdraw his troops in order to regain strength and repeat the attack. But he did not expect that the very next day after his return, Cyrus would attack him. Thanks to the strategic actions of his commander Harpag, the best military Croesus could not ride on their horses during the battle, and dismounted, were defeated. Croesus was captured, and Lydia began to submit to Persia and none other than Harpag himself ruled her.
The conquests of the Great husband of Cyrus do not end there. In just 5 years, he conquered Drangiana, Khorezm, Margiana, Sogdiana, Gandahar, Gedrosia, Bactria and Arachosia.
For Cyrus, the task remained - to conquer Babylonia. Her impregnable fortress could scare anyone, but not Great. In 539 BC e. the stepson of the king of Babylonia was killed. And his army is crushed. In October of this year, Babylon was taken. Cyrus the Great gave permission to the deported people to return to their homes, retained all the privileges and wealth of the nobility, gave instructions to restore all temples and idols.
