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Description

This is a side-view portrait of the Achaemenid Persian Shah Cyrus II (590-529 BC), better known as Cyrus the Great. He was the prolific conqueror who transformed Persia into the superpower of western Asia, expanding its imperial borders between the Aegean Sea to the west and the Indus River Valley to the east. He was also the Shah who freed the Hebrew people from captivity in Babylonia and allowed them to return to their homeland in Palestine.
As far as warmongering imperialists go, Cyrus seems to have been rather tolerant and cosmopolitan, allowing the disparate peoples of his domain to practice their indigenous customs and religions instead of forcing the Persian way of life onto them. He would even offer sacrifices to provincial deities as a way of honoring his foreign subjects. Future generations of Persians would venerate his legacy as the esteemed founder of their dominion over the eastern Mediterranean basin.

Description

This is a side-view portrait of the Achaemenid Persian Shah Cyrus II (590-529 BC), better known as Cyrus the Great. He was the prolific conqueror who transformed Persia into the superpower of western Asia, expanding its imperial borders between the Aegean Sea to the west and the Indus River Valley to the east. He was also the Shah who freed the Hebrew people from captivity in Babylonia and allowed them to return to their homeland in Palestine.
As far as warmongering imperialists go, Cyrus seems to have been rather tolerant and cosmopolitan, allowing the disparate peoples of his domain to practice their indigenous customs and religions instead of forcing the Persian way of life onto them. He would even offer sacrifices to provincial deities as a way of honoring his foreign subjects. Future generations of Persians would venerate his legacy as the esteemed founder of their dominion over the eastern Mediterranean basin.