Cyrus the Great Essay

Cyrus continued his expansion by contemptible west and h over-the-hill ined Croesus of Lydia in 546 BCE and ordered it split and ruled by satraps. continue to move west, he conquered the Chaldean empire of Babylon in 538 BCE of whom was led by King Nabonidus. Cyrus expansion continued to the Aegean Sea, where he had acquired several classical city-states in Anatolia and had turn them over to satraps. His successors would later unsuccessfully try to conquer Greece. His empire also continued east to the Indus River Valley, where he eventually met his destruction and the end of his empire. He had several capitals throughout his massive empire including Persepolis, Susa, Babylon, and Pasargadae, where he is buried to this day. Woodard 2The key factor that make Cyrus rule ofttimes more successful than previous and future attractions was the way he treated the conquered destinys of his empire. He was known has a great leader even according to Herodotus, who compared him quite favor ably to otherwise Persian rulers. Herodotus tell it is because of this fixing of tributeby Dariusand other similar ordinances that the Persians called Darius the merchant, Cambyses the master and Cyrus the father for Darius made petty profit out of everything, Cambyses was harsh and arrogant, Cyrus was merciful and always worked for their wellbeing.?Many forecasts of his kindness were kept in the Cyrus Cylinder. The cylinder is written in Babylonian script stating that Marduk, the city-god of Babylon, had looked for a champion to restore Babylon to its old ways, and chose Cyrus, King of Persia, and declared him king of the world. ? Marduk ordered Cyrus to rule over the tribes of Iran justly, and to parade on Babylon which was uncontested, and the King of Babylon surrendered and the hoi polloi of Babylon rejoiced for Cyrus as their king.Cyrus had set himself apart from other rulers by compromising with his empire rather than forcing his entire will on them. He accomplished this by allowing people that had been moved from their homeland to return, more or less notably allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem after Nebuchadnezzar had them exiled and held captive in Babylon.? On top of them returning, Cyrus also encouraged them to re hold their temple, which was also one of his fine qualities. During his conquests, he would allow the people to keep their religions and cultural differences, while allowing them to part of the Persian Empire.While Cyrus did allow these freedoms, he also was able to throw an empire-wide trade vane as well as a ascendent Woodard 3 army due to an overall agenda that allowed him to keep his people happy while allowing his empire to expand. By allowing the Jews to return home and build a temple, he knew fortifications would be built in order to cling to the border of his empire. This also allowed for a buffer between the empire and Egypt.He also was able to utilize the Phoenicians by using their trade network to gain access to Egypts resources in exchange for being a part of the Persian Empire. His eventual downfall came during his conquests in the Indus River Valley. According to Ctesias, he fought against the Derbici, a central- Asian tribe, who were assisted by the Indians, and they wounded him with a spear.? He was taken back to the capital city of Persepolis to die peacefully. Another account by Herodutus claims that Cyrus was at battle with the Massagetae, and he was knocked off his horse by Tomyrus, the queen of the Massagatae. She then cut his head off with a wizard slice.Due to these, the exact cause of Cyrus death cannot be determined, though he was buried in Pasargadae. ? Throughout all of the rulers in the Ancient World, Cyrus the bulky was one of the most successful because he knew how to be a kind ruler. Instead of being demanding and risking rebellions, he learned how to compromise with his people, and allow them to fork up freedom while still having control, which ultimately led to one of the superior empires built to this day.