Episode 4 Cyrus and Cambyses

The Persian Empire (2012)

Dr John W I Lee

Film Review

The Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus II (son of Cambyses I) of the ancient Elamite kingdom of  Anshan.*  Cyrus was heir to a long (several centuries) Elamite royal tradition known for written language and effective administration.

Cyrus II began his military adventures by liberating the old Elamite city of Susa from occupying Medes. In the resulting peace, he married the daughter of the king of Medes and Median warriors joined his army.

The Conquest of Lydia

Seeking to expand his empire into Cyrus’s territory, King Croesus of Lydia (560-546 BC) led a massive army into former Median territory but was forced to retreat. Cyrus II and his warriors pursued Croesus into Anatolia and conquered the kingdom of Lydia in 546 BC.

Taken alive, Croesus also became part of Cyrus’s entourage.The king invited the Ionian Greek cities on the west coast of Anatolia to join the Persian empire but they declined. The governor of Sardis subsequently allied himself with the Greek cities to rebel against Persian rule, but Cyrus crushed the rebellion.

Conquest of Neo-Babylonian empire

When Cyrus invaded the Neo-Babylonian empire, many Babylonians allied with the Persians owing to efforts by the Babylonian king Nabonidus to replace the Babylonian god Marduke with the moon goddess Sin. It took two years of battle and siege, but In 539 BC Cyrus took Nabaonides alive, asserting he was doing the will of Marduke in capturing Babylon.

After moving the Persian capitol to Pasagardae, Cyrus spent the rest of his life at war. He died in 530 BC in a battle against the Masagetae nomads. There seems to be consensus on the part of ancient historians that he was a brilliant military and political leader. 

Cambyses II (530-522 BC) Assumes Persian Throne 

After succeeding his father, Cambyses II (530-522BC), who learned military tactics accompanying his father into battle, married his three sisters and preemptively invaded Egypt (before they could attack Persia). In addition to the Medes and Ionian Greeks in Cambyses’s army, former Egyptian allies Cyprus, Samos, Phoenicia (who gave the Persians 40 triremes**) and some of Egypt’s Greek mercenaries also joined the Persian side. Cambyses also formed an alliance with desert Arabs, who helped him cross the Sinai desert by showing him how to set up water depots using leather pipelines.

Ancient Egyptian papyri reveal the Persians took over and successfully managed the Egyptian government, with Cambyses dressing as a traditional pharaoh and honoring the Egyptian gods.

In 522 BC, Cambyses attempted to return to Persia to put down a revolt and died on the trip home.

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*Located in Persis, a historical region corresponding to modern Fars province in Iran.

**The trireme was a Greek warship propelled by armies of rowers nd used to ram enemy fleets.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/15372393/15372409