Introduction
When the word "Father of the Nation" is mentioned, people in any country should have a feeling of reverence and solemnity in their hearts. After all, people who can hold the title of "Father of the Nation" are basically pioneers in changing dynasties and are also the foundation of the current country. By. In modern society, the "fathers" of various countries are basically modern figures, but there is one country in the world whose citizens generally regard an ancient man who lived in the 6th century BC as the father of the country. From the perspective of modern society, this is undoubtedly incredible. So, which ancient figure has such charm that even after more than two thousand years, people today still highly respect him?
This country is Iran in West Asia, and the "Father of the Nation" they honor is the Persian monarch Cyrus II, known as "Cyrus the Great". He started as a small country in what is now southwest Iran , gradually annexed the then powerful countries of Media, Lydia and Babylon, unified most of the ancient Middle East, and established a huge empire that stretched from the Mediterranean in the west to India in the east - the Persian Empire. The dynasty he founded was later called the Achaemenid Dynasty, also known as the First Persian Empire. Until it was conquered by Alexander the Great, it was the world's largest empire.
▲Achaemenid Dynasty territory map
As the founder of this glorious empire, Cyrus the Great’s life experience can be described as very bizarre. Most of the modern information about Cyrus the Great comes from the records of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the "Father of History" in Greece. According to this "Father of History", Cyrus the Great was not He was born into the Persian royal family, but gained power through the Medes, and he has Mede blood in him. Although scholars waved warning flags when Herodotus discussed the Persians, and even Herodotus recorded some conflicting stories about Cyrus, scholars still insist on the origin of Cyrus. Approval of the attitude - Cyrus was a member of the aristocracy, but not the royal family. On the other hand, Cyrus may also have been the fourth king of Anshan (i.e. Tali-Maryan). His position was established when he became ruler of the Kingdom of Persia in 559 BC.
▲ Statue of Herodotus
Anshan was a city in the ancient Persian Gulf region, located in the Zagros Mountains, near Parsa (today's Fars, in southwestern Iran) on the Marvdasht plain, from AD It has been one of the capitals of Elam since three thousand years ago. Around 700 BC, Achaemenes, the ancestor of the Achaemenid family, established the Kingdom of Persia with the city of Anshan as its center, but it was still restricted by Elam. Anshan was once under Assyrian rule and then probably under Mede control. Modern belief is that the kingdom did not begin to be called Persia until the empire was established.
▲The image of Cyrus the Great painted by people today
Around 550 BC, Cyrus defeated his grandfather, the Median king Astyages (also known as Ishtum) and captured him , captured Ecbanatan, the capital of the Median kingdom, and then became the king of Media. By this point, Cyrus had gained power over the Persians and the Medes, tribes related to Iran, and the Medes had taken power over the country. The scope of the Median Kingdom extended to present-day Tehran and westward to the Halis River on the border of Lydia. Cappadocia was also within the jurisdiction of Cyrus.
This event was the first recorded conquest in the history of the Achaemenid Dynasty, but for this conquest, the records from three different channels are very different. The first theory is that in the dream of the King of Babylon, the god Marduk led Cyrus, the king of Anshan, to successfully defeat Astyages. The second version comes from the Babylonian Chronicles, “Astyages gathered his army and marched against King Cyrus II of Anshan. Cyrus II’s army rose up and captured Astyages. .”
The third one is Herodotus’ record.Herodotus's version is different from the other two, in that Astyages was betrayed in this war - because Astyages had killed the son of his close associate Harpagos and sent him to Cook it into dishes for Harpagos to eat. Regardless of whether Astyages marched on Anshan or not, he would fail because he was betrayed by his own people.
▲Map of Media and Lydia
King Croesus, known for his wealth, ruled the Kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor. The kingdom of Lydia was located west of the River Halys, with its capital at Sardis, and its kings controlled the Greek cities of Ionia and received tribute from these areas. In 547 BC, Croesus crossed the Halys River, entered Cappadocia, and occupied Cyrus' territory, and the war started.
Croesus burned the first Persian city he encountered, Putria (today's central Turkey), and the Persian army led by Cyrus soon arrived on the battlefield, where the two sides started fighting. . The cavalry equipped with spears in the Lydian army were very powerful, but Cyrus' army had the upper hand in numbers. After a battle, both sides suffered casualties, and it was difficult to tell the winner. Croesus thought that prolonging the battle was not an option, so he decided to retreat.
▲Oil painting depicting Cyrus the Great on the march
What Croesus did not expect was that in order to prevent him from gathering his troops to attack Persia again, Cyrus actually took the initiative and led his army to directly attack Lydia itself. The Lydians who hurriedly responded to the battle were defeated step by step, and finally fought a decisive battle with the Persians on the plains of Simbra on the outskirts of the capital Sardis. The Lydians still wanted to rely on their spear cavalry to gain the upper hand, but Cyrus ultimately prevailed.
Cyrus adopted the strategy of the general Harpagos, gathering the camels that carried food and luggage with the army, unloading all the things on their backs, and then manning them with soldiers who were good at riding camels, and walked on them. The front of the army was , followed by infantry and cavalry. When Lydia's cavalry encountered the camels, they were immediately routed, and Croesus's last hope was dashed. The reason why Cyrus adopted this method was because horses were afraid of camels and would not be able to bear the sight or smell of camels.
▲Image painting of Persian camel cavalry
The Lydians are, after all, the most brave and warlike nation in West Asia. They jumped off their horses and fought hand-to-hand with the Persian army, causing heavy losses on both sides. Eventually, the Lydians were defeated and fled back to the city of Sardis. After two weeks of siege, the Persian army climbed the cliff and invaded Sardis, and the Kingdom of Lydia was destroyed. In the same year (547 BC), Cyrus conquered Urartu. According to Herodotus, he also conquered Patria. To some extent he conquered Parthia, Dragiyana, Aria, Chorasiya, Bactria, Sogdiyana, Gandhi, Sitiya, Satajdia, Alacosia and Macca.
The next important known event is the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Because he allowed to believe in Marduk (the god believed by the Babylonians) and God (the only god believed by the Jews) at the same time, he gained the support of many people, and everyone recognized him as a leader. Cyrus' policy on religious beliefs was very tolerant. He allowed conquered people to worship the gods they believed in, and allowed clergy of any religion to preach in the lands of the Persian Empire.
▲Restored picture of Solomon’s Temple (the first Jewish temple)
You must know that just half a century ago, King Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom conquered the Kingdom of Judea twice and burned the Jewish Temple of Jehovah. , taking a large number of civilians, craftsmen, priests and nobles into captivity in Babylon. These people are called "Babylonian prisoners" in history.When the Jews lamented their bleak future, they received an edict from Cyrus, who allowed them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. He also returned a large number of gold and silver sacrifices that Nebuchadnezzar II had plundered. Jews. The Jews were grateful for this. In the Bible, they called Cyrus "the instrument of God", and God promised him that he would "make the nations bow before him" and "make the gates of the city open before him." Many scholars believe that the ancient king recorded in the Book of Ezra in the Bible is Cyrus the Great.
▲Portrait of the Babylonian Prisoners
In 530 BC, Cyrus sent troops to conquer the Massagetae people who were active on the vast grasslands of Central Asia on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. This tribe was led by the widowed queen Tomyris. During the war, the queen's son led his troops to rob the camp. Cyrus annihilated the enemy army and captured the queen's son. The latter immediately committed suicide in shame and anger. When the queen learned of this, she sent an envoy to tell Cyrus: "I swear by the sun, the master of the Massagetae people, no matter how bloodthirsty you are, I will make you drink enough blood." After a brutal fight, , the Massagetaeans won the victory, Queen found Cyrus's body, cut off his head, and put it into a leather bag filled with blood. She finally fulfilled her oath and let Cyrus "drink his blood" .
▲Current photo of Cyrus the Great’s mausoleum
After Cyrus’ death, his son Cambyses II succeeded to the throne. He sent troops to defeat the Massagetae, brought back his father’s body, and buried him solemnly in his hometown. Du Pasargada (located in present-day Fars Province, Iran). Although Cyrus was defeated and died, he won the eternal respect of future generations. 200 years after the death of Cyrus the Great, when Alexander the Great passed through Pasargadae on his eastern expedition, he not only did not destroy his tomb, but instead repaired it. In this way, the young emperor expressed himself to the great men of the past. of admiration.
Conclusion
From our Chinese point of view, this emperor undoubtedly did not get a good death, but as a warrior, being able to be shrouded in horse leather on the battlefield is undoubtedly the highest reward he could hope for. Cyrus fought all his life and left behind great achievements, but wherever he went it was not a scene of mourning. This great emperor conquered more than ten countries, large and small, in his lifetime, but the civilizations represented by these countries were not destroyed because of his conquests. Even on the contrary, many civilizations that had disappeared or were struggling to survive have been reborn due to his arrival. I have to say that this is amazing.
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