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Cyrus II
Why Was Cyrus the Great So “Great”?
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Cyrus II
Cyrus II Cyrus II, monument in Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Cyrus the Great

king of Persia
Also known as: Cyrus II
Written by
Richard N. Frye
Aga Khan Professor Emeritus of Iranian, Harvard University. Director, Asia Institute, Pahlavi University, Shīrāz, Iran, 1969–74. Author of The History of Ancient Iran and others.
Richard N. Frye
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

Cyrus the Great (born 590–580 bce, Media, or Persis [now in Iran]—died c. 529, Asia) was a conqueror who founded the Achaemenian empire, centred on Persia and comprising the Near East from the Aegean Sea eastward to the Indus River. He is also remembered in the Cyrus legend—first recorded by Xenophon, Greek soldier and author, in his Cyropaedia—as a tolerant and ideal monarch who was called the father of his people by the ancient Persians....

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