Conquests of Cyrus the Great - Essay Example

CYRUS THE GREAT Introduction Cyrus the Great, also called Cyrus II of Persia, was the founder of the Persian Empire (what is now Iran). He is the first king in history whose name is followed by the word ‘Great’ {‘Vazraka’ in ancient Persian, and ‘Bozorg’ in modern Persian}. Cyrus was born into the Anshan royal family either in 576 BC or 590 BC {his early life is not properly recorded}, son of King Cambyses I and queen Mandane, daughter of Median emperor Astyages. The name ‘Cyrus’ is got from the word ‘kuros’ or ‘sun’ (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Due to the lack of records, very little is known about Cyrus’ early life (Suren-Pahlav, 2007). He was crowned King of Anshan after the death of his father in 559 BC. He soon started on a series of great achievements that marked his 29-year reign as the greatest in Persian history (Wikipedia.org, 2007). First Achievement Cyrus’ first great achievement was the conquest of the Median Empire ruled by his maternal grandfather Astyages. Being a vassal kingdom of the Median Empire, Anshan was subject to its feudal lordship policies. Cyrus decided to rebel against Median control. In an armed struggle that lasted 5 years {554 BC to 549 BC}, he finally managed to defeat the Median armies and capture Ecbatana, which marked the end of the Median Empire. Cyrus then united it with Anshan to create the Achaemenid Empire (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Second Achievement Cyrus’ second great achievement occurred 3 years later when he conquered the Lydian Empire. In 547 BC, Croesus, ruler of the Lydian Empire attacked Pteria, a city of the Achaemenid Empire. Croesus besieged the city, captured its inhabitants and forced them to serve as slaves. Cyrus gathered a large army and marched against the Lydian forces. Many fierce battles were fought, most notably the Battle of Pteria and the Battle of Thymbra. In the latter, acting on the advice of one of his military commanders named Harpagus, Cyrus used a new military plan – he ordered his soldiers to follow behind camels as they marched to fight. The plan was to create panic among the horses rode by the Lydian cavalry who were not used to the smell of camels. The plan worked and the Lydian army was totally defeated, marking Cyrus’ conquest of the Lydian Empire in 546 BC (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Third Achievement Cyrus’ third great achievement was the conquest of Asia Minor 4 years later. It began when Cyrus ordered his military commander named Mazares to pursue a Lydian called Pactyas who had earlier tried to create a rebellion in Sardis {capital of the Lydian Empire} against Cyrus’ rule. Pactyas fled to Ionia where he raised a force of mercenaries to fight against Mazares. His small force was no match for the mighty army commanded by Mazares. Mazares led his army into the Greek country and captured the cities of Magnesia and Priene, in the process seizing Pactyas and sending him to Persia for punishment. On Cyrus’ direction, Mazares pushed ahead by conquering more territory in Asia Minor. When Mazares unfortunately died due to a strange illness, Cyrus sent Harpagus to continue the conquest of Asia Minor. The clever Harpagus this time employed another new plan in the battlefield – he built earthworks to break down the walls of cities that his army attacked. This method was totally new to his opponents and made their conquest easy. Harpagus captured Lycia, Cilicia and Phoenicia. On Cyrus’ instructions, Harpagus ended his conquest of Asia Minor in 542 BC and went back to Persia (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Fourth Achievement Cyrus’ fourth achievement was the conquest of the Neo-Babylon Empire. Within a period of just one month {October, 539 BC}, his forces first attacked and captured the city of Opis, then captured Sippar without a fight {Cyrus made an agreement with the opposite generals to avoid bloodshed}, before moving on to Babylon. Cyrus captured Babylon by using yet another new military plan. He changed the path of the river Euphrates by channeling its waters into a canal. This caused the river’s water level to drop to the height of a man’s thigh, enabling his soldiers to easily march through the river. They did so at night, completely surprising and overcoming the Babylonians who surrendered without a fight. On October 29, 539 BC, Cyrus victoriously named himself as ‘King of Babylon, King of Sumer and Akkad, King of the Four Sides of the World’ (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Fifth Achievement Cyrus’ fifth great achievement was to stretch his empire further. In 539 BC he conquered Levant, and then went on to Peshawar {now in Pakistan} (Suren-Pahlav, 2007). His empire was the biggest the world had ever seen, extending from the river Indus in the east to Asia Minor and Judah in the west (Wikipedia.org, 2007). His empire was so huge that he had to rule it from 4 capitals – Babylon, Pasargadae, Ecbatgana and Susa (Suren-Pahlav, 2007). Characteristics of his Rule Apart from his great conquests, Cyrus was well-known for his statesmanship and tolerance. His rule was marked by kindness and nobility instead of restriction and cruelty (Wikipedia.org, 2007). His humane activities wave been written on a stone cylinder {called the ‘Cyrus Cylinder’} which was found in 1879. It is hailed as the first Charter of Human Rights in the world. It states that human beings should be respected, tolerated and allowed by follow their own culture and religion (Suren-Pahlav, 2007). The stone cylinder now resides in the British Museum (Alexandros, 2005). Cyrus’ most famous act was to release the Jews who had been held captive in Babylon by former Babylon ruler Nebuchadnezzar (Imani, 2005). He allowed 40,000 of them to return to their homeland, giving them costly gifts to help them erect a huge temple to their God (Alexandros, 2005). Death of Cyrus the Great Cyrus’ final battle took place against the Massagetae tribes led by their queen Tomyris who were constantly carrying out raids into the north eastern borders of the Achaemenid Empire (Suren-Pahlav, 2007). Cyrus, who always followed the advice of his commanders, for once disregarded the advice not to advance during the violent battle with the Massagetae in August 530 BC. There were a large number of deaths on both sides. Cyrus the Great was one of those who died (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Legacy of Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great made Persia the largest empire in the world, due to which most Persians today call him the ‘Father of Iran.’ His clever leadership and kind rule was the sole reason the Achaemenid Empire survived long after Cyrus’ death, lasting for over two and a half millennia. Modern day Persia {Iran}, then ruled by Mohammed Reza Shah, marked the occasion of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian monarchy in 1971. The monarchy finally fell in 1979 when the Islamic Republic of Iran was born (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Unfortunately, the new ruling regime in Iran looks upon the Persian heritage as a danger that could give rise to Persian nationalism and thereby prevent them from turning Iran into a pure Islamic State. The ruling regime has destroyed, and continues to destroy the most famous places in Persian history including Pasargad, wherein lies the tomb of Cyrus (Imani, 2005). Perhaps the great man foresaw this act because he instructed that the following words be written on his tombstone: “O man, whoever you are and wherever you come from, for I know you will come, I am Cyrus who won the Persians their empire. Do not therefore grudge me this little earth that covers my body” (Wikipedia.org, 2007). Conclusion The name and achievements of Cyrus the Great are forever recorded in history. Perhaps the greatest praise of Cyrus the Great is the consideration that he was greater than Alexander the Great, another famous world conqueror. Charles Freeman, in his book ‘The Greek Achievement,’ puts it well: “In scope and extent, his achievements ranked far above that of the Macedonian king, Alexander {‘the Great’} who was to demolish the empire in the 320’s but fail to provide any stable alternative” (Alexandros, 2005). References used: Alexandros, Kallistos. (2005). Cyrus the Great and Alexander. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from Ancient Worlds Web site: http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/571664 Anon. (2007). Cyrus the Great. Retrieved May 12, 2007, from Wikipedia.org Web site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great Imani, Amil. (2005). Cultural Genocide in the name of Islam. Retrieved May 12, 2007 from American Thinker Web site: http://www.americanthinker.com/2005/09/cultural_genocide_in_the_name.html Suren-Pahlav, Shapour. (2007). Cyrus the Great: The Father and Liberator. Retrieved May 12, 2007 from The Circle of Ancient Iranian Studies Web site: http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/History/hakhamaneshian/Cyrus-the-great/cyrus_the_great.htm Read More