Cyrus

Could not find Cyro in Logeion dictionaries.

Cyro Proper-name noun: masculine ablative singular, Proper-name noun: masculine dative singular of Cyrus

Cȳrus, i, m., = Κῦρος.

The founder of the Persian monarchy, Cic. Leg. 2, 22, 56; id. Brut. 29, 112; id. Div. 1, 23, 46; Hor. C. 2, 2, 17; 3, 29, 27; called Cyrus Major, Lact. 4, 5, 7.—
II Cyrus Minor, a brother of Artaxerxes Mnemon, killed in the battle at Cunaxa, Cic. Div. 1, 25, 52; id. Sen. 17, 59; Nep. Alcib. 9, 5.—
III An architect of the time of Cicero, Cic. Q. Fr. 2, 2, 2; id. Att. 2, 3, 2; id. Mil. 17, 46.—Hence,
- B Cȳrēa, ōrum, n., the structures raised by him, Cic. Att. 4, 10, 2.—
IV The name of a youth, Hor. C. 1. 33, 6; 1, 17, 25.—
V A river of Albania, Plin. 6, 9, 10, § 26 sq.; Mel. 3, 5, 6.

Cyrus or Cyrus the Elder or the Elder Cyrus

The Elder (Κῦρος ὁ παλαιός or ὁ πρὁτερος), the founder of the Persian empire. Κῦρος. The life of this prince is one of the most important portions of ancient history, both on account of the magnitude of the empire which he founded, and because it forms the epoch at which sacred and profane history become connected: but it is also one of the most difficult, not only from the almost total want of contemporary historians, but also from the fables and romances with which it was overlaid in ancient times, and from the perverseness of modern writers, of the stamp of Rollin and Hales, who have followed the guidance, not of the laws of historical evidence, but of their own notions of the right interpretation of Scripture. Herodotus, within a century after the time of Cyrus, found his history embellished by those of the Persians who wished to make it more imposing (οἱ Βουλόμενοι σεμνοῦν τὰ περὶ Κῦρον), and had to make his choice between four different stories, out of which he professes to have selected the account given by those who wished to tell the truth (τὸν ἐόντα λέγειν λόγον, 1.95). Nevertheless his narrative is evidently founded to some extent on fabulous tales. The authorities of Ctesias, even the royal archives, were doubtless corrupted in a similar manner, besides the accumulation of errors during another half century. Xenophon does not pretend, what some modern writers have pretended for him, that his Cyropaedeia is anything more than an historical romance. In such a work it is always impossible to separate the framework of true history from the fiction: and even if we could do this, we should have gained but little. Much reliance is placed on the sources of information which Xenophon possessed in the camp of the younger Cyrus. No idea can be more fallacious; for what sort of stories would be current there, except the fables which Herodotus censures, but which would readily and alone pass for true in the camp of a prince who doubtless delighted to hear nothing but what was good of the great ancestor whose name he bore, and whose fame he aspired to emulate ? And even if Xenophon was aware of the falsity of these tales, he was justified, as a writer of fiction, in using them for his purpose. Xenophon is set up against Herodotus. The comparative value of their authority, in point of time, character, and means of information, is a question which, by itself, could never have been decided by a sober-minded man, except in favour of Herodotus. But it is thought that the account of Xenophon is more consistent with Scripture than that of Herodotus. This is a hasty assumption, and in truth the scriptural allusions to the time of Cyrus are so brief, that they can only be interpreted by the help of other authorities. In the accounts of the modern Persian writers it is impossible to separate the truth from the falsehood.

The account of Herodotus is as follows: In the year B. C. 594, Astyages succeeded his father, Cyaxares, as king of Media. He had a daughter whom he named Mandane. In consequence of a dream, which seemed to portend that her offspring should be master of Asia, he married her to a Persian named Cambyses, of a good house, but of a quiet temper. A second dream led him to send for his daughter, when she was pregnant; and upon her giving birth to a son, Astyages committed it to Harpagus, his most confidential attendant, with orders to kill it. Harpagus, moved with pity, and fearing the revenge of Mandane, instead of killing the child himself, gave it to a herdsman of Astyages named Mitradates, who was to expose it, and to satisfy Harpagus of its death. But while the herdsman was in attendance on Astyages, his wife had brought forth a still-born child, which they substituted for the child of Mandane, who was reared as the son of the herdsman, but was not yet called Cyrus. The name he bore seems from a passage of Strabo (xv. p.729) to have been Agradates, Ἀγραδάτης. When he was ten years old, his true parentage was discovered by the following incident. In the sports of his village, the boys chose him for their king, and he ordered them all exactly as was done by the Median king. One of the boys, the son of a noble Median named Artembares, disobeyed his commands, and Cyrus caused him to be severely scourged. Artembares complained to Astyages, who sent for Cyrus, in whose person and courage he discovered his daughter's son. The herdsman and Harpagus, being summoned before the king, told him the truth. Astyages forgave the herdsman, but revenged himself on Harpagus by serving up to him at a banquet the flesh of his own son, with other circumstances of the most refined cruelty. As to his grandson, by the advice of the Magians, who assured him that his dreams were fulfilled by the boy's having been a king in sport, and that he had nothing more to fear from him, he sent him back to his parents in Persia.

When Cyrus grew up towards manhood, and shewed himself the most courageous and amiable of his fellows, Harpagus, who had concealed a truly oriental desire of revenge under the mask of most profound submission to his master's will, sent presents to Cyrus, and ingratiated himself with him. Among the Medians it was easy for Harpagus to form a party in favour of Cyrus, for the tyranny of Astyages had made him odious. Having organized his conspiracy, Harpagus sent a letter secretly to Cyrus, inciting him to take revenge upon Astyages, and promising that the Medes should desert to him. Cyrus called together the Persians, and having, by an ingenious practical lesson, excited them to revolt from the Median supremacy, he was chosen as their leader. Upon hearing of this, Astyages summoned Cyrus, who replied that he would come to him sooner than Astyages himself would wish. Astyages armed the Medes, but was so infatuated (Δευβλαβὴς ἐών) as to give the command to Harpagus, " forgetting," says Herodotus, " how he had treated him." In the battle which ensued, some of the Medes deserted to Cyrus, and the main body of the army fled of their own accord. Astyages, having impaled the Magians who had deceived him, armed the youths and old men who were left in the city, led them out to fight the Persians, and was defeated and taken prisoner, after a reign of 35 year, in B. C. 559. The Medes accepted Cyrus for their king, and thus the supremacy which they had held passed to the Persians. Cyrus treated Astyages well, and kept him with him till his death. The date of the accession of Cyrus is fixed by the unanimous consent of the ancient chronologers. (African. apud Euseb. Praep. Evan. 10.10 ; Clinton, Fast. Hell. ii. s. a. 559.) It was probably at this time that Cyrus received that name, which is a Persian word (Kohr), signifying the Sun.

In the interval during which we hear nothing certain of Cyrus, he was doubtless employed in consolidating his newly-acquired empire. Indeed there are some notices (though not in Herodotus) from which we may infer that a few of the cities of Media refused to submit to him, and that he only reduced them to obedience after a long and obstinate resistance (Xen. Anab. 3.4.7.)

The gradual consolidation and extension of the Persian empire during this period is also stated incidentally by Herodotus in introducing his account of the conquest of Lydia, which is the next event recorded in the life of Cyrus. It took place in 546 B. C. [Croesus]

The Ionian and Aeolian colonies of Asia Minor now sent ambassadors to Cyrus, offering to submit to him on the same terms as they had obtained from Croesus. But Cyrus, who had in vain invited the Ionians to revolt from Croesus at the beginning of the war, gave them to understand, by a significant fable, that they must prepare for the worst. With the Milesians alone he made an alliance on the terms they offered. The other Ionian states fortified their cities, assembled at the Panionium, and, with the Aeolians, sent to Sparta for assistance. The Lacedaemonians refused to assist them, but sent Cyrus a message threatening him with their displeasure if he should meddle with the Greek cities. Having sent back a contemptuous answer to this message, Cyrus returned to the Median capital, Ecbatana, taking Croesus with him, and committing the government of Sardis to a Persian, named Tabalus. He himself was eager to attempt the conquest of Babylon, the Bactrian nation, the Sacae, and the Egyptians. He had no sooner left Asia Minor than a revolt of the states which had lately formed the Lydian empire was raised by Pactyes, a Persian; but, after a long and obstinate resistance, the whole of Asia Minor was reduced by Harpagus. [Harpagus ; Pactyas.] In the mean time, Cyrus was engaged in subduing the nations of Upper Asia, and particularly Assyria, which since the destruction of Ninus had Babylon for its capital. Its king was Labynetus, the Belshazzar of Daniel. [Labynetus.] Cyrus marched against Babylon at the head of a large army, and in great state. He carried with him a most abundant supply of provisions for his table; and for his drink the water of the Choaspes, which flows by Susa, was carried in silver vessels. He passed the river Gyndes, a tributary of the Tigris, by diverting its water into a great number of rills, and arrived before Babylon in the second spring from the commencement of his expedition. Having defeated in battle the whole forces of the Babylonians, he laid siege to the city, and after a long time he took it by diverting the course of the Euphrates, which flowed through the midst of it, so that his soldiers entered Babylon by the bed of the river. So entirely unprepared were the Babylonians for this mode of attack, that they were engaged in revelry (ἐν εὐπαθείησι), and had left the gates which opened upon the river unguarded. This was in B. C. 538.

After Cyrus had subdued the Assyrians, he undertook the subjugation of the Massagetae, a people dwelling beyond the Araxes. Cyrus offered to marry Tomyris, the widowed queen of this people; but she refused the offer, saying that he wooed not her, but the kingdom of the Massagetae. The details of the war which followed may be read in Herodotus. It ended in the death of Cyrus in battle. Tomyris caused his corpse to be found among the slain, and having cut off the head, threw it into a bag filled with human blood, that he might satiate himself (she said) with blood. According to Herodotus, Cyrus had reigned 29 years. Other writers say 30. He was killed in B. C. 529. (Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. sub anno.)

The account of Ctesias differs considerably in some points from that of Herodotus. According to him, there was no relationship between Cyrus and Astyages. At the conquest of Media by Cyrus, Astyages fled to Ecbatana, and was there concealed by his daughter Amytis, and her husband, Spitamas, whom, with their children, Cyrus would have put to the torture, had not Astyages discovered himself. When he did so, he was put in fetters by Oebaras, but soon afterwards Cyrus himself set him free, honoured him as a father, and married his daughter Amytis, having put her husband to death for telling a falsehood. [Astyages.] Ctesias also says, that Cyrus made war apon the Bactrians, who voluntarily submitted to him, when they heard of his reconciliation with Astyages and Amytis. He mentions a war with the Sacae, in which Cyrus was taken prisoner and ransomed. He gives a somewhat different account of the Lydian war. (Ctesias, Pers. 100.5; Croesus.) Cyrus met with his death, according to Ctesias, by a wound received in battle with a nation called the Derbices, who were assisted by the Indians. Strabo also mentions the expedition against the Sacae, and says, that Cyrus was at first defeated but afterwards victorious. He also says, that Cyrus made an expedition into India, from which country he escaped with difficulty.

The chief points of difference between Xenophon and Herodotus are the following : Xenophon represents Cyrus as brought up at his grandfather's court, as serving in the Median army under his uncle Cyaxares, the son and successor of Astyages, of whom Herodotus and Ctesias know nothing ; as making war upon Babylon simply as the general of Cyaxares, who remained at home during the latter part of the Assyrian war, and permitted Cyrus to assume without opposition the power and state of an independent sovereign at Babylon; as marrying the daughter of Cyaxares; and at length dying quietly in his bed, after a sage and Socratic discourse to his children and friends. The Lydian war of Cyrus is represented by Xenophon as a sort of episode in the Assyrian war, occasioned by the help which Croesus had given to the Assyrians in the first campaign of Cyrus against them.

Diodorus agrees for the most part with Herodotus ; but he says, that Cyrus was taken prisoner by the Scythian queen (evidently meaning Tomyris), and that she crucified or impaled him.

Other variations, not worth specifying, are given by the chronographers and compilers.

To form a complete and consistent life of Cyrus out of these statements is obviously impossible ; but the leading events of his public life are made out with tolerable certainty, namely, the dethronement of Astyages, the conquest of the Lydian and Assyrian empires, his schemes to become master of all Asia and of Egypt, and his death in a battle with one of the Asiatic tribes which he wished to subdue. His acquisition of the Median empire was rather a revolution than a conquest. Herodotus expressly states, that Cyrus had a large party among the Medes before his rebellion, and that, after the defeat of Astyages, the nation voluntarily received him as their king. This was very natural, for besides the harshness of the government of Astyages, Cyrus was the next heir to the throne, the Medes were effeminate, and the Persians were hardy. The kingdom remained, as before, the united kingdom of "the Medes and Persians," with the difference, that the supremacy was transferred from the former to the latter; and then in process of time it came to be generally called the Persian empire, though the kings and their people were still, even down to the time of Alexander, often spoken of as Medes. If Cyrus had quietly succeeded to the throne, in virtue of his being the grandson of the Median king Astyages, it seems difficult to account for this change. The mere fact of Cyrus's father being a Persian is hardly enough to explain it.

With regard to the order of Cyrus's conquests in Asia, there seems much confusion. It is clear that there was a struggle for supremacy between Cyrus and the king of Babylon, the latter having become master of Mesopotamia and Syria by the conquests of Nebuchadnezzar. It was in fact a struggle between the Zend tribes, which formed the Medo-Persian empire, and the Semitic tribes under the king of Babylon, for the supremacy of Asia. We can scarcely determine whether Cyrus conquered Lydia before making any attack on Babylon, and perhaps in this matter Xenophon may have preserved something like the true succession of events. That Croesus was in alliance with Babylon is stated also by Herodotus, who however, makes Croesus entirely the aggressor in the Lydian war. No clear account can be given of his campaigns in Central Asia, but the object of them was evidently to subdue the whole of Asia as far as the Indus.

With respect to the main points of difference between Herodotus and the Cyropaedeia, besides what has been said above of the historical value of Xenophon's book, if it could be viewed as a history at all, its real design is the great thing to be kept in view; and that design is stated by Xenophon himself with sufficient clearness. He wished to shew that the government of men is not so difficult as is commonly supposed, provided that the ruler be wise; and to illustrate this he holds forth the example of Cyrus, whom he endows with all virtue, courage, and wisdom, and whose conduct is meant for a practical illustration and his discourses for an exposition of the maxims of the Socratic philosophy, so far as Xenophon was capable of understanding it. Of course it would not have done to have represented this beau ideal of a philosophic king as the dethroner of his own grandfather, as the true Asiatic despot and conqueror, and as the victim of his own ambitious schemes. It seems incredible that any one should rise from the perusal of the Cyropaedeia without the firm conviction that it is a romance, and, moreover, that its author never meant it to be taken for anything else; and still more incredible is it that any one should have recognized in the picture of Xenophon the verisimilitude of an Asiatic conqueror in the sixth century before Christ. That Cyrus was a great man, is proved by the empire he established; that he was a good man, according to the virtues of his age and country, we need not doubt; but if we would seek further for his likeness, we must assuredly look rather at Genghis Khan or Timour than at the Cyrus of Xenophon.

It has, however, been supposed, that the statement of Xenophon about Cyaxares II. is confirmed by Scripture; for that Dareius the Mede, who, according to Daniel, reigns after the taking of Babylon (for two years, according to the chronologers) and before the first year of Cyrus, can be no other (this is the utmost that can be asserted) than Cyaxares II. This matter seems susceptible of a better explanation than it has yet received.

1. Xenophon's Cyaxares is the son of Astyages; Dareius the Mede is the son of Ahasuerus. Now, it is almost beyond a doubt that Ahasuerus is the Hebrew form of the Persian name or title which the Greeks called Xerxes, and Cyaxares seems to be simply the form of the same word used in the Median dialect. Cyaxares, the son of Phraortes, is called Ahasuerus in Tobit 14.15. It is granted that this argument is not decisive, but, so far as it goes, it is against the identification.

2. After the taking of Babylon, Dareius the Mede receives the kingdom, and exercises all the functions of royalty, with great power and splendour, evidently at Babylon. But in Xenophon it is Cyrus who does this, and Cyaxares never comes near Babylon at all after its capture, but remains in Media, totally eclipsed and almost superseded by Cyrus. There are other arguments which seem to shew clearly that, whoever Dareius the Mede may have been (a point difficult enough to decide), he was not the Cyaxares of Xenophon. The matter cannot be further discussed here; but the result of a most careful examination of it is, that in some important points the statements of Xenophon cannot be reconciled with those of Daniel; and that a much more probable explanation is, that Dareius was a noble Median, who held the sovereignty as the viceroy of Cyrus, until the latter found it convenient to fix his court at Babylon; and there are some indications on which a conjecture might be founded that this viceroy was Astyages. It is quite natural that the year in which Cyrus began to reign in person at Babylon should be reckoned (as it is by the Hebrew writers) the first year of his reign over the whole empire. This view is confirmed by the fact, that in the prophecies of the destruction of Babylon it is Cyrus, and not any Median king, that is spoken of. Regarding this difficulty, then, as capable of being explained, it remains that Xenophon's statement about Cyaxares II. is entirely unsupported. Xenophon seems to have introduced Cyaxares simply as a foil to set off the virtues of Cyrus. In the passage of Aeschylus, which is sometimes quoted as confirming Xenophon [Astyages], the two kings before Cyrus are clearly Phraortes and Cyaxares, or Cyaxares and Astyages. At all events, no room is left for Cyaxares II. The most natural explanation seems to be, that Phraortes, in whose reign the Persians were subjected to the Medes, and who was therefore the first king of the united Medes and Persians, is meant in the line Μῆδος γὰρ ἦν ὁ πρῶτος ἡγεμὼν στρατοῦ.

The next line admirably describes Cyaxares, who took Ninus, and consolidated the empire. Ἄλλος δʼ εκείνου παῖς τόδʼ ἔργον ἤνυσε.

If so, Astyages is omitted, probably because he did not complete his reign, but was dethroned by Cyrus, who is thus reckoned the third Medo-Persian king, Τρίτος δʼ ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ Κῦρος. For the ἀπ̓ αὐτοῦ surely refers to the person who is called πρῶτος. On the other hand, the account which Herodotus gives of the transference of the Median empire to the Persians is in substance confirmed by Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Anaximenes, Dinon, Ctesias, Amyntas, Strabo, Cephalion, Justin, Plutarch, Polyaenus, and even by Xenophon himself in the Anabasis, as above quoted. (See Clinton, i. pp. 262, 263.) Much light would be thrown on the subject if the date of Cyrus's birth could be fixt; but this is impossible. Dinon says, that he was seventy at his death; but this is improbable for various reasons, and Herodotus evidently considered him much younger.

None but the sacred writers mention the edict of Cyrus for the return of the Jews. A motive for that step may be perhaps found in what Herodotus says about his designs on Egypt. The very remarkable prophecy relating to the destruction of Babylon and the restoration of the Jews by Cyrus is in Isaiah xliv. xlv., besides other important passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah, which predict the fall of Babylon without mentioning the name of Cyrus, and the corresponding history is in the books of Daniel, Ezra, and 2 Chron. 36.22, 23. The language of the proclamation of Cyrus, as recorded both in Ezra 1.2 and Chron. 36.22, seems to countenance the idea that he was acquainted, as he might easily be through Daniel, with the prophecy of Isaiah. "The Lord God of heaven... hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah" (compare Isaiah 44.28, 45.13); but beyond this one point there is nothing to sustain the notion of Hales and others, that Cyrus was more than an unconscious instrument in accomplishing the designs of Providence. The contrary is intimated in Isaiah 45.5.

In the East Cyrus was long regarded as the greatest hero of antiquity, and hence the fables by which his history is obscured. The Persians remembered him as a father (Hdt. 3.89, 160), and his fame passed, through the Greeks, to the Europeans, and the classical writers abound with allusions to him. His sepulchre at Pasargadae was visited by Alexander the Great. (Arrian, 6.29; Plut. Alex. 69.) Pasargadae is said to have been built on the spot where Cyrus placed his camp when he defeated Astyages, and in its immediate neighbourhood the city of Persepolis grew up. The tomb of Cyrus has perished, but his name is found on monuments at Murghab, north of Persepolis, which place, indeed, some antiquarians take for Pasargadae. (Herodotus, lib. i.; Ctesias, ed. Lion; Xenophon, Cyropaedeia; Diodorus; Justin; Strabo; and other ancient authors; Clinton, Fast. Hell. i. ii. supplements; Heeren, Ideen (Asiatic Researches) ; Schlosser, Univ. Geschich. d. alt. Welt; Höckh, Vet. Med. et Pers. Monum.) [P.S]

Cyrus or Cyrus the Younger or the Younger Cyrus

The Younger, the second of the four sons of Dareius Nothus, king of Persia, and of Parysatis, was appointed by his father commander (κάρανος or στρατηγός) of the maritime parts of Asia Minor, and satrap of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia. (B. C. 407.) He carried with him a large sum of money to aid the Lacedaemonians in the Peloponnesian war, and by the address of Lysander he was induced to help them even more than his father had commissioned him to do. The bluntness of Callicratidas caused him to withdraw his aid, but on the return of Lysander to the command it was renewed with the greatest liberality. [Callicratidas; Lysander; Tissaphernes.] There is no doubt that Cyrus was already meditating the attempt to succeed his father on the throne of Persia, and that he sought through Lysander to provide for aid from Sparta. Cyrus, indeed, betrayed his ambitious spirit, by putting to death two Persians of the blood royal, for not observing in his presence a usage which was only due to the king. It was probably for this reason, and not only on account of his own ill health, that Dareius summoned Cyrus to his presence. (B. C. 405.) Before leaving Sardis, Cyrus sent for Lysander and assigned to him his revenues for the prosecution of the war. He then went to his father, attended by a body of 500 Greek mercenaries, and taking with him Tissaphernes, nominally as a mark of honour, but really for fear of what he might do in his absence. He arrived in Media just in time to witness his father's death and the accession of his elder brother, Artaxerxes Mnemon (B. C. 404), though his mother, Parysatis, whose favourite son Cyrus was, had endeavored to persuade Dareius to appoint him as his successor, on the ground that he had been born after, but his brother Artaxerxes before, the accession of Dareius. This attempt, of course, excited the jealousy of Artaxerxes, which was further enflamed by information from Tissaphernes, that Cyrus was plotting against his life. Artaxerxes, therefore, arrested his brother and condemned him to death; but, on the intercession of Parysatis, he spared his life and sent him back to his satrapy. Cyrus now gave himself up to the design of dethroning his brother. By his affability and by presents, he endeavoured to corrupt those of the Persians who past between the court of Artaxerxes and his own; but he relied chiefly on a force of Greek mercenaries, which he raised on the pretext that he was in danger from the hostility of Tissaphernes. When his preparations were complete, he commenced his expedition against Babylon, giving out, however, even to his own soldiers, that he was only marching against the robbers of Pisidia. When the Greeks learnt his real purpose, they found that they were too far committed to him to draw back. He set out from Sardis in the spring of B. C. 401, and, having marched through Phrygia and Cilicia, entered Syria through the celebrated passes near Issus, crossed the Euphrates at Thapsacus, and marched down the river to the plain of Cunaxa, 500 stadia from Babylon. Artaxerxes had been informed by Tissaphernes of his designs, and was prepared to meet him. The numbers of the two armies are variously stated. Artaxerxes had from 400,000 to a million of men; Cyrus had about 100,000 Asiatics and 13,000 Greeks. The battle was at first altogether in favour of Cyrus. His Greek troops on the right routed the Asiatics who were opposed to them; and he himself pressed forward in the centre against his brother, and had even wounded him, when he was killed by one of the king's body-guard. Artaxerxes caused his head and right hand to be struck off, and sought to have it believed that Cyrus had fallen by his hand. Parysatis took a cruel revenge on the suspected slayers and mutilators of her son. The details of the expedition of Cyrus and of the events which followed his death may be read in Xenophon's Anabasis. This attempt of an ambitious young prince to usurp his brother's throne led ultimately to the greatest results, for by it the path into the centre of the Persian empire was laid open to the Greeks, and the way was prepared for the conquests of Alexander. The character of Cyrus is drawn by Xenophon in the brightest colours. It is enough to say that his ambition was gilded by all those brilliant qualities which win men's hearts.

(Xenophon, Xen. Hell. 1.4, 5, 2.1, 3.1, Anab. i., Cyrop. 8.8.3, Oecon. 4.16, 18, 21; Ctesias, Persica, 1.44, 49, Fr. li., lii., liii., liv., lvii., ed. Lion; ap. Phot. p. 42b. 10, 43, b. 10, 44, a. 14, ed. Bekker; Isocr. Panath. 39; Plut. Lys. 4, 9; Artax. 3, 6, 13-17; Diod. 13.70, 104, 14.6, 11, 12, 19, 20, 22.) [P.S]

Cyrus

a rhetorician, of uncertain age. Works Περὶ Διαφορᾶς Στάσεων

He is the author of a work Περὶ Διαφορᾶς Στάσεων. Fabricius suspects that the anonymous work entitled Προβλήματα Ῥητορικὰ εἰς Στάσεις was written by the same person. Editions

This appears in the Aldine collection of the Greek orators, reprinted, more correctly, in Walz's Greek Orators, viii. p. 386, &c. Further Information

Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vi. pp. 102, 128; Walz, l.c. ; Westermann, Geschichte der Griech. Beredtsamkeit, § 104. [P.S]

Cyrus

(Κῦρος), the name of several physicians.

Cyrus

1. Cyrus (called also in some editions Syrus), a native of Alexandria, who lived in the fifth century after Christ. He was first a physician and philosopher, and afterwards became a monk. He is said to have been an eloquent man, and to have written against Nestorius. (S. Gennadius, de Illustr. Vir. 100.81.)

Cyrus

2. A physician at Edessa, one of whose medicines is quoted by Aetius (2.2. 91, p. 292), and who attained the dignity of Archiater. He must have lived between the second and fifth centuries after Christ, as the office of Archiater was first conferred on Andromachus, the physician of Nerc. (Dict. of Ant. s. v. Archiater.)

Cyrus

3. A physician, probably of Lampsacus, son of Apollonius, who obtained the dignity of Archiater. He is mentioned in a Greek inscription found at Lampsacus, as having, besides many other acts of liberality, presented to the senate one thousand Attic drachmae, i. e. (reckoning the drachma to be worth nine pence three farthings) forty pounds, twelve shillings, and six pence. (Spon, Miscellan. Erudit. Antiquit. p. 142, quoted by Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. xiii. p. 134, ed. vet.)

Cyrus

4. A physician at Rome in the first century B. C., mentioned in a Latin inscription as having been the physician of Livia, the wife of Drusus Caesar, who afterwards married the emperor Augustus. (Spon, quoted by Fabric. l.c.)

Cyrus

5. Cyrus, St., was a native of Alexandria, where he practised medicine gratuitously and with great reputation. He was a Christian, and took every opportunity of endeavouring to convert his patients from paganism. During the persecution of Diocletian he fled to Arabia, where he was said to heal diseases not so much by his medicines as by miraculous powers. He was put to death with many tortures by the command of the prefect Syrianus, in company with several other martyrs, A. D. 300; and his remains were carried to Rome, and there buried. His memory is celebrated on the thirty-first of January both by the Romish and Greek churches. (Acta Sanctor.; Menolog. Graecor.; Bzovius, Nomencl. Sanctor. Professione Medicor.; C. B. Carpzovius, De Medicis ab Eccles. pro Sanctis habitis.) [W.A.G]

Cyrus

an architect, who lived at Rome at the time of Cicero, and died on the same day with Clodius, B. C. 52. (Cic. Fam. 7.14, ad Att. 2.3, ad Qu. Fr. 2.21, pro Milon. 17.) [L.U]

Cyrus

Christians.

1. An Egyptian, belonging to the fifth century, afterwards bishop of Smyrna, according to the testimony of Theophanes. His poetical talents procured him the favour of the empress Eudocia. Under Theodosius the Younger he filled the office of governor of the praetorium, and exarch of the city of Constantinople. When Eudocia withdrew to Jerusalem, A. D. 44.5, he fell under the emperor's displeasure. This led to his retirement from civil offices and his joining the clerical order. It is the express testimony of Theophanes that, by order of Theodosius, he was made bishop of Smyrna. After he was elevated to the episcopal dignity, he is said to have delivered a discourse to the people on Christmas day, in which he betrayed gross ignorance of divine things. He lived till the time of the emperor Leo. Suidas says, that on his retirement from civil authority he became ἐπίσκοπος τῶν ἱερῶν ἐν Κορυαείῳ τῆς Ψρυγίας; but whether this means bishop of Cotyaeia in Phrygia is uncertain. It is not known whether he wrote anything. (Cave, Histor. Literar. vol. i.; Suidas, s. v.)

Cyrus

2. An Egyptian bishop belonging to the seventh century. He was first bishop of Phasis A. D. 620, and afterwards patriarch of Alexandria, A. D. 630-640. It was owing to the favour of Heraclius, the emperor, that he was appointed over the latter place. Works Libellus Satisfactionis

In 633 he attempted to make peace between the Theodosians or Severians and the Catholics, and for that purpose held a synod at Alexandria, in which he proposed a Libellus Satisfactionis in nine chapters. This treatise was to be subscribed by the Theodosians, and then they were to be admitted into the bosom of the church. But the seventh chapter favoured the Monotholite heresy, and led to much disputation. Ecthesis or formula of faith

In 638, Heraclius published an Ecthesis or formula of faith drawn up by Sergius, in which he clearly stated that there was but one will in Christ. This was subscribed by Cyrus, a circumstance that served to confirm its truth in the eyes of many. Cyrus died A. D. 640. Besides the Libellus Satisfactionis, he wrote three letters to Sergius, patriarch of Constantinople, which are still extant. Both are printed in the Concilia, vol. vi. Further Information

Cave, Histor. Literary. vol. i.; Murdock's Moshein, vol. i.; Guerike's Handbuch, vol. i.; Gieseler's Text-book, by Cunningham, vol. i. [S.D]

Cyrus , Theodorus Prodromus

[Theodorus.]

…exercebant etiam tum vita hominum sine cupiditate agitabatur ; sua cuique satis placebant. Postea vero, quam in Asia Cyrus, in Graecia Lacedaemonii et Athenienses coepere urbis atque nationes subigere, lubidinem dominandi causam belli habere, maxumam gloriam…

Sallust, Catilina
…ac sicarium abiecti homines et perditi describebant. iacent suis testibus qui Clodium negant eo die Romam, nisi de Cyro audisset, fuisse rediturum. respiravi, liberatus sum ; non vereor ne, quod ne suspicari quidem potuerim ,…

Cicero, pro Milone
…ista defectio virium adulescentiae vitiis efficitur saepius quam senectute ; libidinosa enim et intemperans adulescentia effetum corpus tradit senectuti. Cyrus quidem apud Xenophontem eo sermone, quem moriens habuit, cum admodum senex esset, negat se umquam sensisse senectutem…

M. Tullius Cicero, De Senectute
…semper ipse paruerit numquam impellenti, saepe revocanti. et Socrates quidem quo quem auctorem meliorem quaerimus Xenophonti consulenti sequereturne Cyrum, posteaquam exposuit, quae ipsi videbantur Et nostrum quidem, inquit, humanum est consilium ; sed de rebus…

M. Tullius Cicero, De Divinatione
…vos tamen, deos verentes, qui hanc omnem pulchritudinem tuentur et regunt, memoriam nostri pie inviolateque servabitis. Cyrus quidem haec moriens ; nos, si placet, nostra videamus. nemo umquam mihi, Scipio, persuadebit aut…

M. Tullius Cicero, De Senectute
…eas non tum primum accipere videantur, sed reminisci et recordari. haec Platonis fere. apud Xenophontem autem moriens Cyrus maior haec dicit nolite arbitrari, o mihi carissimi filii, me, cum a vobis discessero, nusquam aut…

M. Tullius Cicero, De Senectute
…artium studiis eruditi sic se adhibere in tanta potestate ut nulla alia potestas ab iis quibus is praesit desideretur. Cyrus ille a Xenophonte non ad historiae fidem scriptus sed ad effigiem iusti imperi, cuius summa gravitas ab illo philosopho…

Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum fratrem
…et idem comes Clodi, P. Clodium illo die in Albano mansurum fuisse, sed subito ei esse nuntiatum Cyrum architectum esse mortuum, itaque repente Romam constituisse proficisci. dixit hoc item comes P. Clodi, C .…

Cicero, pro Milone
…dictatore amplificata M. Curius Dentatus consula ., , Cynical Cyrenaici, qui sunt ab Aristippo Cyrenaeo sqq. Cyrus maior, rex Persarum Danai Decii P. Decius Mus consul a. sqq. P. Decius Mus quartum…

M. Tullius Cicero, de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum
…; ei magos dixisse, quod genus sapientium et doctorum habebatur in Persis, ex triplici appetitione solis triginta annos Cyrum regnaturum esse portendi. quod ita contigit ; nam ad septuagesimum pervenit, cum quadraginta natus annos regnare coepisset .…

M. Tullius Cicero, De Divinatione

CYRUS

CYRUS (Κῦρος).

A large river, which flowed into the Caspian in a course nearly SE. There is some difference among ancient writers whence it rose, and what was its actual course. Thus Mela (3.5) and Pliny (Plin. Nat. 6.10) state that it rises in the Montes Coraxici, and flowed to the Caspian through Albania, Iberia, and Hyrcania. Plutarch (Plut. Pomp. 34) places its source in the mountains of Iberia. Strabo (xi. pp. 491, 500) seems to consider it as the greatest of the rivers of Albania; and Dio Cassius (Dio Cass. 36.36) and Ptolemy (Ptol. 5.12) as dividing Armenia and Albania. In other places Ptolemy and Strabo speak as though they considered it the boundary between Armenia and Iberia (Ptol. 5.12; Strab. 1. p. 61, 11. p. 491). Modern maps demonstrate that Pliny and Mela were the more correct in attributing its source to the Coraxici Montes, or main chain of the Caucasus, as its course is almost wholly SE. from those mountains to the sea. It has preserved its ancient name little, if at all, changed into Kûr. In its course it received several other and two rivers; the one called the Cambyses (Yori or Gori), and the other the Araxes (Eraskh or Aras), a river hardly inferior to itself in size. [CAMBYSES; ARAXES.] It fell into the Caspian by many mouths, the traditional number being said to be twelve; some of them, as indeed Strabo remarks, being much blocked up by sand and mud. (Ptol. 5.13; Appian, Mithr. 100.103; Strab. xi. pp. 491 and 501; Agathem. 2.10, 14.) It may be observed that Mela (3.5) gives to the Cyrus and Cambyses separate outlets into the Caspian, and that both Ptolemy and Strabo imagined that the Araxes flowed independently into the sea. It is quite possible that formerly the Araxes may have had a separate mouth. At present, however, it flows into the Kur, at no great distance from the sea, as Pliny and Plutarch believed. The name Cyrus is no doubt of Persian origin.

A river of Media Atropatene, mentioned only by Ptolemy (Ptol. 6.2.1) and Ammianus (23.6), who determine its situation by placing it between the mouth of the Araxes (Arás or Kúr) and the Amardus (Sefíd Rúd). Modern maps indicate several small rivers which flow into the Caspian, agreeably with this determination; yet we think it may be doubted whether these ancient geographers were not in error, and attributed to the small stream what was true of the Cyrus of Armenia. (See below.) The passage in Mela (3.5), which has been claimed for the Median river, belongs, in our opinion, to the Armenian.

A river of Persia, described by Strabo (15. p. 729) as flowing through that part of the province which was called Κοίλη Πέρσις near Pasargadae. It was one of the tributaries of the Araxes (Bendamir), which flowed into the Salt Lake, now called Bakhtegan. Strabo (15. p. 729) states, if the present text be right (and that it is so is rendered probable by the consent of all the MSS.), that Cyrus derived his name from this river, his earlier appellation having been Agradates. Casaubon, in his edition, changed one word in the text, and deduced the contrary and perhaps more probable meaning, that the river was called after the king, and not the king after the river. The Arabian geographers, Ibn Haukal (p. 98) and Al Edrisi (p. 124), recognise the name Kur or Kur-áb as that of a river which falls into Lake Bakhtegan. If the modern maps are correct, it would seem certain that the larger river Araxes is that now called the Bendamir Kúm-Firúz or Kur-áb, while the smaller one, which was the proper Cyrus, is called the Pulwan. (De Bode, Luristan, vol. 1. p. 75; Fergusson, Nineveh Restored, p. 90.) It has been supposed by some geographers that the Κόριος of Ptolemy (Ptol. 6.8.4) is the same river; but it is much more likely that Ptolemy was correct in placing it in Carmania.

Cyrus

(Κῦρος; in Persian, Kurus). (1) A celebrated conqueror, and the founder of the Persian Empire. He comes forth in a line of monarchs who ruled in Susiana. According to Herodotus, he was the son of Mandani, daughter of Astyages, king of the Medes. The father of Cyrus was the Persian Cambyses. It having been foretold that Mandani's son would become the lord of all Asia, Astyages attempted to destroy the infant, and delivered it to Harpagus, his attendant, to kill. Harpagus, however, fearing the anger of Mandani, gave the child to a herdsman, one Mitradates, who reared the young Cyrus as his own son, under the name of Agradates. When ten years of age, the true parentage of the boy was accidentally discovered by Astyages, who, after punishing Harpagus with great barbarity, sent Cyrus to his parents in Persia. When the young prince grew up, he headed a revolt against Astyages, who had become unpopular by his tyranny, and defeated him in battle (B.C. 559). The Medes then accepted Cyrus as their king.

He had not been long seated on the throne when his dominions were invaded by Croesus, king of Lydia, the issue of which contest was so fatal to the latter. (See Croesus.) The conquest of Lydia established the Persian monarchy on a firm foundation, and Cyrus was now called away to the East by vast designs and by the threats of a distant and formidable enemy. Babylon still remained an independent city in the heart of his empire, and to reduce it was his first and most pressing care. On another side he was tempted by the wealth and weakness of Egypt, while his northern frontier was disturbed and endangered by the fierce barbarians who ranged over the plains that stretch from the skirts of the Indian Caucasus to the Caspian. Until these last should be subdued or humbled his Eastern provinces could never enjoy peace or safety. These objects demanded his own presence; the subjugation of the Asiatic Greeks, as a less urgent and less difficult enterprise, he committed to his lieutenants. While the latter, therefore, were executing his commands in the West, he was himself enlarging and strengthening his power in the East. After completing the subjugation of the nations west of the Euphrates, he marched upon Babylon (q.v.), which he took. The account of this conquest, as described by Herodotus, is given in the article Babylon. Recent archaeological discoveries, however, tend to discredit his narrative. A tabletinscription found at Babylon states that Cyrus, “king of Elam,” took Sippara and Babylon “without fighting.” This took place in B.C. 538. See Sayce, Fresh Light from the Ancient Monuments (London, 1883); and his Introduction to Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther (2d ed. London, 1887).

Cyrus enjoyed no long interval of repose. The protection which he afforded to the Jews was probably connected with his designs upon Egypt, but he never found leisure to carry them into effect. Soon after the fall of Babylon he undertook an expedition against one of the nations on the eastern side of the Caspian. According to Herodotus, it was the Massagetae, a nomadic horde which had driven the Scythians before them towards the West; and, after gaining a victory over them by stratagem, he was defeated in a great battle and slain. The event is the same in the narrative of Ctesias; but the people against whom Cyrus marched are called the Derbices, and their army is strengthened by troops and elephants furnished by Indian allies; while the death of Cyrus is speedily avenged by one of his vassals, Amorges, king of the Sacae, who gains a decisive victory over the Derbices, and annexes their land to the Persian Empire. Cyrus died in B.C. 529. His son and successor, Cambyses, had been made by him king of Babylon three years before. Cyrus was one of the greatest Asiatics who ever lived; and with the exception of Egypt, the greater part of the Old World was under his rule at the time of his death. His capitals were Ecbatana and Susa; and his tomb exists to-day at Murgab, near Pasargadae.

(2) Commonly called “the Younger,” to distinguish him from the preceding, was the second of the four sons of Darius Nothus and Parysatis. According to the customs of the monarchy, his elder brother Artaxerxes was the legitimate heir-apparent; but Cyrus was the first son born to Darius after his accession to the throne, and he was also his mother's favourite. She had encouraged him to hope that, as Xerxes, through the influence of Atossa, had been preferred to his elder brother, who was born while their father was yet in a private station, so she should be able to persuade Darius to set aside Artaxerxes and declare Cyrus his successor. In the meanwhile he was invested with the government of the western provinces. This appointment he seems from the first to have considered as a step to the throne. He had, however, sagacity and courage enough to perceive that, should he be disappointed in his first expectations, the co-operation of the Greeks might still enable him to force his way to the throne. It was with this view that he zealously embraced the side of Sparta in her struggle with Athens, both as the power which he found in the most prosperous condition and as that which was most capable of furthering his designs. According to Plutarch (Artax. 2), Cyrus went to attend his father's sick-bed with sanguine hopes that his mother had accomplished her purpose, and that he was sent for to receive the crown. On his arrival at court, however, he saw himself disappointed in his expectations, and found that he had only come to witness his father's death and his brother's accession to the throne. He accompanied Artaxerxes, whom the Greeks distinguished by the epithet of Mnemon, to Pasargadae, where the Persian kings went through certain mystic ceremonies of inauguration, and Tissaphernes took this opportunity of charging Cyrus with a design against his life. It would seem, from Plutarch's account, that one of the officiating priests was suborned to support the charge, though it is by no means certain that it was unfounded. Artaxerxes was convinced of its truth, and determined on putting his brother to death; and Cyrus was only saved by the passionate entreaties of Parysatis, in whose arms he had sought refuge from the executioner. On this occasion Artaxerxes suffered her to overpower both the suspicions suggested by Tissaphernes and the jealousy which the temper and situation of Cyrus might reasonably have excited. He not only pardoned his brother, but permitted him to return to his government. Cyrus felt himself not obliged, but humbled, by his rival's clemency; and the danger he had escaped only strengthened his resolution to make himself, as soon as possible, independent of the power to which he owed his life.

Immediately after his return to Sardis, he began to make preparations for the execution of his designs. The chief difficulty was to keep them concealed from Artaxerxes until they were fully matured; for though his mother, who was probably from the beginning acquainted with his purpose, was at court, always ready to put the most favourable construction on his conduct, yet Tissaphernes was at hand to watch it with malignant attention and to send the earliest information of any suspicious movement to the king. Cyrus, however, devised a variety of pretexts to blind Tissaphernes and the court, while he collected an army for the expedition which he was meditating. His main object was to raise as strong a body of Greek troops as he could, for it was only with such aid that he could hope to overpower an adversary who had the whole force of the Empire at his command; and he knew enough of the Greeks to believe that their superiority over his countrymen, in skill and courage, was sufficient to compensate for almost any inequality of numbers.

In the spring of B.C. 401, Cyrus began his march from Sardis. His whole Grecian force, a part of which joined him on the route, amounted to 11,000 heavy infantry and about 2000 targeteers. His barbarian troops were 100,000 strong. After directing his line of march through the whole extent of Asia Minor, he entered the Babylonian territory; and it was not until he reached the plain of Cunaxa, between sixty and seventy miles from Babylon, that he became certain of his brother's intention to hazard an engagement. Artaxerxes met him in this spot at the head of an army of 900,000 men. If we may believe Plutarch, the Persian monarch had continued to waver almost to the last between the alternatives of fighting and retreating, and was only diverted from adopting the latter course by the energetic remonstrances of Tiribazus. In the battle which ensued the Greeks soon routed the barbarians opposed to them, but committed an error in pursuing them too far; and Cyrus was compelled, in order to avoid being surrounded by the rest of the king's army, to make an attack upon the centre, where his brother led in person. He routed the royal body-guard, and being hurried away by the violence of his feelings the moment he espied the king, he engaged with him, but was himself wounded and slain by a common soldier. Had Clearchus acted in conformity with the directions of Cyrus, and led his division against the king's centre, instead of being drawn off into pursuit of the flying enemy, the victory must have belonged to Cyrus. According to the Persian custom of treating slain rebels, the head and right hand of Cyrus were cut off and brought to the king, who is said himself to have seized the head by the hair and to have held it up as a proof of his victory to the view of the surrounding crowd. Thus ended the expedition of Cyrus. The Greeks, after the battle, began to negotiate with the king through Tissaphernes, who offered to lead them home. He treacherously violated his word, however; and having, by an act of perfidy, obtained possession of the persons of the Greek commanders, he sent them up to the king at Babylon, where they were all put to death. The Greeks were not, however, discouraged, though at a great distance from their country and surrounded on every side by a powerful enemy. They immediately chose new commanders, in the number of whom was Xenophon, who has given an account of their celebrated retreat. See Anabasis.

Cyrus

(Κύρος). A large river of Asia, rising in Iberia and falling into the Caspian; now the Kur. This river waters the great valley of Georgia, and is increased by the Aragui; the Iora, probably the Iberus of the ancients; and the Alasan, which is their Alazo.

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