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Cyrus the Great

C yrus (r. 559–530 B.C.E.), known to history as “the Great” and the founder of the Persian Empire, began life as a subject of the Medes, an Iranian people very closely related to the Persians. There are few surviving sources describing his early life, and even the date of his birth is uncertain. There are many legends, however, some originating in Persia and others in Greece, as many later Greek leaders and authors admired Cyrus. The Greek historian Herodotus records the legend that Cyrus was the grandson of Astyages, king of the Medes, who ordered him killed to eliminate him as a future threat. Cyrus, like the biblical Moses, escaped the plot and went on to rule both his own Persians and the Medes.

Another story recounted by Herodotus tells how Cyrus’s playmates chose him king. He assigned them specific duties, and when one aristocratic boy refused to obey his orders, Cyrus had him “arrested.” The boy’s father later demanded that Cyrus explain his haughty behavior. Cyrus replied that the other boys had chosen him king, and he did his duty justly, as a king should. He told the man that if he had done anything wrong, he was there to take his punishment. The man and the other boys admired his calm sense of duty and responsibility. Through this anecdote, the historian projected Cyrus’s intelligence and good qualities, revealed later in life, back into his boyhood.

Astyages eventually marched against the grown Cyrus and was defeated. Instead of enslaving the Medes, Cyrus incorporated them into the new kingdom of Persia, thus demonstrating his inclusive concept of rule. This relatively mild rule continued with his later conquests. He won the admiration of many Greeks, whom he allowed to continue their religious rituals and intellectual pursuits.

After conquering Babylonia, Cyrus allowed the Jews who had been in forced exile there to return to Jerusalem. Hebrew Scripture portrays Cyrus as divinely chosen, as evidenced by this biblical passage, probably written in the late sixth century B.C.E., shortly after the end of the Babylonian Captivity:

Thus said the Lord to Cyrus, His anointed one —

Whose right hand He has grasped,

Treading down nations before him,

Ungirding the loins of kings,

Opening doors before him, and letting no gate stay shut:

I will march before you, and level the hills that loom up;

I will shatter doors of bronze

And cut down iron bars.

I will give you treasures concealed in the dark

And secret hoards —

So that you may know that it is I the Lord,

The God of Israel, who call you by name. . . .

It was I who roused him [Cyrus] for victory

And who level all roads for him.

He shall rebuild My city

And let My exiled people go

Without price and without payment

— said the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 45:1–3, 13)

Cyrus died in 530 B.C.E. while campaigning in Central Asia. Though much of his life was spent at war, he knew how to govern conquered peoples effectively and acquired a reputation for benevolence and tolerance. Much about his life can never be known, but Cyrus appears to have been a practical man of sound judgment, keenly interested in foreign peoples and their ways of life.

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