Cyrus the Great: Quick Facts


Facts

Also Known As Cyrus II
Born c.590 BCE or c.580 BCE • Media • Iran
Died c.529 BCE • Asia
Title / Office king (550BC-529BC), Persia
Founder Achaemenid Empire
House / Dynasty Achaemenid Empire
Notable Family Members father Cambyses I • son Bardiya • son Cambyses II
Role In Greco-Persian Wars • Siege of Sardis

Did You Know?

  • Pasargadae, built by Cyrus after he took the throne, was the ceremonial capital city of the early Achaemenid dynasty.
  • The Cyrus Cylinder is a building inscription that described and defended Cyrus's conquest of Babylon.
  • Cyrus's tomb looked like a ziggurat with an ancient Armenian templelike space on top.

Photos and Videos



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Darius I
king of Persia
Bas-relief detail of Xerxes I wearing a robe and crown, holding a flower, from the north courtyard of the treasury at Persepolis, now in the Archaeological Museum in Tehran.
Xerxes I
king of Persia
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Cambyses II
king of Persia
Shāpūr II, gold coin, 4th century; in the British Museum, London.
Shāpūr II
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Mardonius
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Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucus I Nicator
Seleucid ruler
Croesus
Croesus
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ʿAbbās I
ʿAbbās I
Ṣafavid shah of Persia
Khosrow II
Khosrow II
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Artaxerxes II
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Ardashīr I, coin, 3rd century; in the British Museum
Ardashīr I
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Shāpūr I
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Alexander and Darius
Darius III
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Megabyzus
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Tissaphernes
Persian satrap
Bahrām VI Chūbīn, coin, 6th century; in the British Museum
Bahrām VI Chūbīn
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Bagoas
Achaemenian minister
Narses
Narses
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Agesilaus II; Pharnabazus
Pharnabazus
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Jacques-Louis David: The Emperor Napoleon in His Study at the Tuileries
Napoleon I
emperor of France