"A multitude of rulers is not a good thing. Let there be one ruler, one king."
- Herodotus
Rise of the persian empire.
Introduction taken by Franēois Sargot book Iranian empires - 1853, Paris
[...]One cannot name Alexander the Great without ever looking at Kurus. His conquests enabled the rise of the Persian empires, building an economical network that enabled him the conquests of cities like Susim and Babylon. It is he we have to take a look at, even as the historic sources are rare and challenging to read. But the segments we have of Persian and Greek historians offer us at least a possibility to compare certain accounts of how the persian empire got to be.[...]
Map of the situation in 559 BC. The Persians are colourd in purple.
Who was Franēois Sargot?
Vidarna History of Parsa (real title of the book is unknown)
(written at about 530-500 BC)
Book III
[...]
3. So it came to be that Kūrus, under all heaven created by Auramazdā', came to be King of Parsa in 1180 bp [559BC]. He traveled from his home town Māsrā, after he read the letter of his former King Cyrus. During his travels to the Pāthrāgada [the capital of Persia] he was often asked by peasants, what gives you the right to become king? Kūrus would then dismount from his brown hourse, look the peasant directly in his eyes and say in a friendly tone: I am Kūrus of Māsrā, yesterday I was no one. But It was Auramazdā' who came to visit our beloved King Cyrus in his dreams. Auramazdā' spoke that I the little known lord of Māsrā, has been chosen by the great creator to fulfill his destiny. Auramazdā' gave him a letter so it would be proved that he had a divine order. The sick Cyrus woke from his dreams with the letter in his hand and sent his very best man to bring me this letter. It has been said that Cyrus died with a smile on his lips in the very moment I was given the letter and became the successor of Cyrus. Seeing the divine letter, the peasants started to cry and fell down on their knees to praise their new lord and king.
Cyrus Letter - Teherans museum of history
4. On arriving in the city of Pāthrāgada many citizens came to greet their new king, but many aristocrats remained in their houses, because the awed and feared Kūrus on the same time. After Cyrus died without a son, they thought the time was right to take the powers in their own hands. Even his very best advisor Hystapes, who was the loyal regent of the city, begged to leave the city, since he feared that Kūrus might be murdered. Instead he sent word to all the important families to come to the royal palace. And they came indeed, in great numbers, curious what the new king had to say. Kūrus came to greet everyone with a cup of Kyrnish [probably some special water]. Then, after everyone was refresh the new King read aloud the letter that Cyrus got from Auramazdā' in his dreams and all the lords, all the guards and the king cried together. And all the lords fell down on their knees and hailed their new king of Kūrus.
Who was Vidarna?
Demostenens of Ancyle History of the greeks
(written at about 420-400 BC)
From book V:
[...] 43.It was at the same time that Kūrus became King that his son Kambūjia was a general in the royal army. He waged war with a large army against the northern Iranians, battling them at Ysastis and uniting the northern Iranians under his fathers crown. In his actions he was both wise and patient, hence the people shouted his fathers name and his own whenever he was seen.[...]
Who was Demonstenes of Ancyle?
Excerpt from Life and Death of Kūrus by Professor James Marshal, 1994 Chicago
"The first step of Kūrus was to eliminate any opposition by the other lords. His becoming of king may be a bit obscure and the story of the letter has most likely used as propaganda for his legitimacy, but we can see that Kūrus was a most devout man [1]. It is more then dubious that the lords would subdue to a simple stone. More likely is, that like Cyrus, he put the Zoroastrian priests back to the tax collection. With this new old system of tax collection Kūrus was able to obtain a good deal of money and wealth and outplaying his rivaling lords [2](compare Michael Zaggers work Priesthood of Zoroaster 1991)"
Remains of Kūrus Palace in Iran
Royal Arstibara can be seen marching. It shows us the importance of the military during Kūrus reign.