Cyrus The Great

Stephen Dando-Collins

Description

Caligula featured in The Chicago Tribune, Real Clear History, History News Network, Classical Wisdom Weekly, Ancient Origins, and All that’s Interesting.

Caligula received blurbs from NYT Bestselling author Margaret George, Prof Lee Frantantuono (author of Caligula: An Unexpected General), former FORBES journalist Ralph Benko , Manda Scott (former president of the Historical Writers Assoc of the UK)

Cyrus the Great was a brilliant general who founded the Persian Empire, greatest empire of its day. He was also the king who freed the Jews from exile at Babylon and allowed them to return to Jerusalem, with the Bible describing him as the only non Jew "anointed by god." Cyrus influenced the US Bill of Rights, and is the biblical figure to whom US President Donald Trump has been favorably compared by Christian evangelicals and the Prime Minister of Israel.

In this first ever modern biography of Cyrus, noted historical biographer and author of 43 books Stephen Dando-Collins describes Cyrus' fraught youth, his rise to power via rebellion, his dashing military campaigns that destroyed the Median, Lydian and Babylonian empires, and his uniquely magnanimous reign. 

With his usual depth of research and highly readable narrative Dando-Collins cuts through myth and folklore to deliver a fascinating account of a fascinating life.

Sujets

• Middle Est
• Histoire
• Babylon (software)
• Benjamín Netanyahu
• Persia
• Heródoto
• Israel
• Jewish history
• Achaemenid Empire
• History of Iran
• Benjamin Netanyahu
• Xenophon
• Plutarch
• Jerusalem
• History of Christianity
• Herodotus
• History
• Babylon
• Persian
• Donald Trump
• Benyamin Netanyahou
• Bill of Rights

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 07 juillet 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781684424399
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

CYRUS THE GREAT
CYRUS THE GREAT
CONQUEROR, LIBERATOR, ANOINTED ONE
STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS
W ITH AN A FTERWORD BY P ROFESSOR D AVID R ICHTER
Turner Publishing Company
Nashville, Tennessee
www.turnerpublishing.com
Copyright 2020 Stephen Dando-Collins
Cyrus the Great
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to Turner Publishing Company, 4507 Charlotte Avenue, Suite 100, Nashville, Tennessee, [phone], fax [phone], E-mail: [e-mail] .
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Cover design: Alex Merto
Book design: Erin Seaward-Hiatt
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dando-Collins, Stephen, author.
Title: Cyrus the Great : conqueror, liberator, anointed one / Stephen Dando-Collins.
Other titles: Conqueror, liberator, anointed one
Description: [Nashville] : Turner Publishing Company, [2020] | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Cyrus the Great was one of the most influential figures in history, an enlightened ruler and brilliant general who created the Persian Empire, the largest empire known to man to that time. This concise and telling biography is the first of its kind for Cyrus, and especially relevant since the 2016 presidential election. -- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019035585 (print) | LCCN 2019035586 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684424375 (paperback) | ISBN 9781684424382 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781684424399 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Cyrus, the Great, King of Persia, -530 B.C. or 529 B.C. | Iran--Kings and rulers--Biography. | Iran--History--To 640.
Classification: LCC DS282 .D36 2020 (print) | LCC DS282 (ebook) | DDC 935/.05092 [B]--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035585
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019035586
Printed in the United States of America
17 18 19 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
I
A M
C YRUS ,
K ING OF THE W ORLD ,
G REAT K ING , P OWERFUL K ING ,
K ING OF B ABYLON , K ING OF S UMER AND A KKAD ,
K ING OF THE F OUR Q UARTERS OF THE E ARTH ,
S ON OF C AMBYSES , G REAT KING, KING OF A NSHAN ,
D ESCENDANT OF T EISPES , G REAT K ING , K ING OF A NSHAN ,
T HE PERPETUAL SEED OF KINGSHIP ,
W HOSE REIGN B EL AND N ABU LOVE .

T HE C YRUS C YLINDER , B ABYLON , 538 BC
God protect this country from foe, famine, and falsehood.
-D ARIUS THE G REAT , third successor to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, from an inscription at Persepolis
With grateful thanks to my New York literary agent, Richard Curtis, for his guidance; to my publisher, Stephanie Beard, for her support; to Professor David Richter for his learned Afterword; and to my anointed one, my wife, Louise, for her everlasting love .
CITY OF BABYLON, 539 B.C. AT THE TIME OF CYRUS PERSIAN ASSAULT

STATE OF ANCIENT WORLD AT START OF CYRUS REVOLT AGAINST MEDIA, 552 B.C.
#1. Cyrus the Great as depicted on the Cyrus Stele at Pasargadae. (Photograph: John Wright.)

#2. Greek amphora showing the fabulously rich King Croesus of Lydia on a pyre being lit by a Persian soldier following the fall of Sardis to Cyrus s army. Photograph: Bibi Saint-Pol .

#3. The Cyrus Cylinder. Courtesy of the British Museum.

#4. A commemorative coin depicting Cyrus the Great and US President Donald Trump, issued by a religious group in 2018.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

I NTRODUCTION : Our Sources on Cyrus
C HAPTER 1: Kill the Child
C HAPTER 2: Deporting the Jews to Babylon
C HAPTER 3: The Boy in the Basket
C HAPTER 4: Saved by the Magi
C HAPTER 5: Jerusalem Destroyed
C HAPTER 6: In the Court of the King
C HAPTER 7: Leading the Persian Revolt
C HAPTER 8: Cyrus s First Battle
C HAPTER 9: Battle of the Border
C HAPTER 10: Battle of Pasargadae: The Fall of Astyages
C HAPTER 11: A Mighty Empire Will Be Destroyed
C HAPTER 12: Croesus Versus Cyrus
C HAPTER 13: Sardis: The Fallen Helmet
C HAPTER 14: Killing a King
C HAPTER 15: Feet of Clay
C HAPTER 16: Marching on Babylon
C HAPTER 17: The Writing Is on the Wall for Nabonidus
C HAPTER 18: Cyrus Frees the Jews of Babylon
C HAPTER 19: Do Not Grudge Me My Monument
C HAPTER 20: The Sons of Cyrus
C HAPTER 21: Darius and the Jerusalem Temple
E PILOGUE : Was Cyrus Great? And Is There a Modern Parallel?
A FTERWORD
E NDNOTES
B IBLIOGRAPHY
I NDEX
INTRODUCTION
Our Sources on Cyrus

C YRUS THE G REAT was one of the most influential figures in history, an enlightened ruler and brilliant general who, via sword, cunning, and wisdom, in the sixth century BC created the Persian Empire, the largest empire known to man at that time. His army was based around one of the most famous bodyguard units in history, the Immortals, which until Cyrus s death, was unbeaten in battle.
Cyrus was magnanimous toward captured enemies and freed peoples enslaved by King Nebuchadnezzar II, sending them back to their homelands. He is most famous for freeing the Jews held at Babylon, after Cyrus s troops overran the city, and allowing them to return to Jerusalem. According to Jewish tradition, not only did Cyrus also give the Jews back the artifacts that Nebuchadnezzar had looted from their temple, he gave permission and provided funds for the Second Temple s construction. In Jewish and Christian texts, Cyrus was chosen by God to free the Jews and help them rebuild the temple, becoming the only non-Jew described in the Old Testament as anointed by God.
Cyrus has been credited with being the originator of a human rights creed that influenced Thomas Jefferson and his contribution to the United States Bill of Rights. Jefferson not only had a copy of the Cyropaedia of Greek writer Xenophon of Athens, a book in which the words, thoughts, and experiences of Cyrus are expounded, but he also made copious notations in the margins. Many other politicians, including Italy s duplicitous Niccol Machiavelli, drew inspiration from Cyrus and the Cyropaedia . But how reliable is Xenophon s book?
Xenophon lived more than a century after Cyrus. He commanded Greek mercenary troops in the Persian army of another Cyrus-called Cyrus the Younger by historians-who staged an unsuccessful military coup that aimed to overthrow his elder brother, the Persian king Artaxerxes II. Like Plato, Xenophon was a student of Greek philosopher Socrates, and he claimed to have been told by Socrates and Plato much of what he wrote about Cyrus, and there are clear and frequent examples of Xenophon putting Socratic words in the mouth of Cyrus.
The Cyropaedia reads like a fairy tale, often bearing little resemblance to known facts about Cyrus and other figures of his time. Xenophon clearly invented numerous characters. He also killed off Cyrus s Median grandfather Astyages early in the piece, when all other sources have Astyages living considerably longer. And Xenophon gave Astyages a son named Cyaxares, making him Cyrus s uncle, chief lieutenant, and confidant, when we know that Astyages had no son at all, and Cyaxares was Astyages s father, who died when Cyrus was a teenager.
Xenophon also made basic historical errors, including crediting Cyrus with conquering Egypt; that would in fact be accomplished by Cyrus s son Cambyses II after Cyrus s death. Xenophon wrote of Persian nobles worshipping the principal Mesopotamian god Mithra, or Bel as he was generally known, but portrayed Cyrus worshipping and sacrificing to the gods of the Greek pantheon, which, from inscriptions, we know to be wholly untrue; Cyrus also worshipped Bel. Xenophon seems to have done this to make Cyrus more acceptable to his Greek readers. Xenophon also frequently gave incorrect place names, and his chronology was sometimes inaccurate. Occasionally, too, it s possible to see where Xenophon borrowed from Herodotus (who is discussed below).
Scholars have long remarked that Xenophon s descriptions of Cyrus growing up in Persia are obviously based on the Spartan king Agesilaus II and Sparta s strict military customs; Xenophon befriended and served Agesilaus. Many scholars believe that other aspects of Cyrus s youth that Xenophon wrote about are actually based on Xenophon s own youth. Xenophon most noticeably created long philosophical conversations and speeches and put them in the mouths of Cyrus and others. He never claimed to be writing history, and clearly his intent was to write an adventure story that showed off his own worldly wisdom, using historical figures such as Cyrus as his mouthpiece. As John Percival, Bishop of Hereford, very correctly observes in an introduction to an edition of the Cyropaedia , Xenophon s book is a political romance. 1
Further confirmation that Xenophon was prone to invention comes in his Apology of Socrates to the Jury , which covers the trial of Socrates a