The Rise of Cyrus and the Persian Empire

Thirty years, one empire

In **559 BC** Cyrus became king of Persia, a minor kingdom answering to the Medes. By the time he died in **530 BC** he ruled from the Aegean coast to the edge of India. Nothing that size had existed before. The interesting question for this paper is not only **how he took it**, but **why it did not fall apart** the moment he had. Conquest is the easy half.

Names to keep straight

Five names that come up constantly in this period.

Build the timeline

Put the four turning points of Cyrus's reign into the order they happened.

• Cyrus becomes king of Persia (559 BC)
• He overthrows Astyages and takes Media (550 BC)
• He defeats Croesus and takes Lydia (around 546 BC)
• He takes Babylon (539 BC)

The richest man they knew

Which king did Cyrus defeat when he took Lydia, and what was that king best known for?

• Croesus, whose wealth was proverbial across the Greek world
• Astyages, ruler of the Medes
• Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon
• Cambyses, who ruled Egypt

Who is telling you this?

Almost everything you will read about Cyrus comes from one of two very different kinds of evidence, and a good answer says which.

Holding it together

Select the TWO things Cyrus did that helped a conquered people accept Persian rule.

• Left local rulers, laws and customs largely in place rather than replacing them
• Respected local religion, and in Babylon presented himself as restoring the temples
• Required conquered peoples to worship Persian gods
• Divided the whole empire into the fixed system of satrapies with set tribute

Match each place to what happened there

The source question that is not about the source

On this period study, questions 3 and 4 give you an **unseen** ancient source. You are expected to use it for **what it says** - its content. The specification **excludes** judging how reliable it is, or who wrote it and why, from these questions. That evaluation belongs to the depth study's prescribed sources, not here. So the paragraph beginning "however, this source may be biased because the author was..." earns nothing on Q3 or Q4. Spend those minutes on the content and on your own knowledge instead.

What Q3 actually wants

Question 3 gives you an unseen passage about Cyrus taking Babylon. What should your answer do with it?

• Use what it says, and combine that with your own knowledge of the period
• Assess how reliable it is and who wrote it before using anything in it
• Ignore it and answer purely from memory
• Copy it out, since it is the source you have been given

The story in one paragraph

Cyrus became king of Persia in 559 BC, when Persia still answered to the _____. He overthrew their king Astyages, then defeated _____ and took the Lydian capital Sardis. In 539 BC he took _____, where a clay cylinder was made presenting him as restoring the temples. Rather than replacing local rulers and customs he largely _____ them, and he died in _____ BC.

What a strong answer sounds like

**"Explain why Cyrus was able to hold the territory he conquered. (10 marks)"** "Cyrus conquered faster than any ruler before him, but he governed by leaving things alone. Local rulers, laws and customs largely stayed in place, so daily life for a conquered people changed less than the change of king suggests. He also respected local religion: the Cyrus Cylinder presents him restoring Babylon's temples, and exiles were permitted to return to Jerusalem. That gave subject peoples far less reason to revolt than a ruler who imposed his own gods and officials would have done." The shape is worth copying: a claim, then evidence naming something specific, then why that evidence answers the question. "He was a good leader" is not an explanation.

Build the explanation

Build a sentence that explains Cyrus's method of rule accurately.

Babylon has fallen

It is 539 BC and the greatest city in the world is yours. Three decisions face you. Pick what Cyrus actually did, and what made it work.

• Babylon has its own gods, its own priests and centuries of ceremony. What did Cyrus do with them?
• The city is full of people deported there by earlier conquerors. What did he do about them?
• Why did that approach hold the empire together better than force alone?

The year Babylon fell

In which year BC did Cyrus take Babylon? Give the number only.

Your turn: why did it last?

Explain how Cyrus built an empire that outlived him, referring both to how he conquered and to how he governed.

• Name the three powers he took, in order
• Explain what he did with local rulers, laws and customs
• Give one specific piece of evidence for his treatment of local religion
• Explain why that approach made revolt less likely