part0007

“Whenever you can, act as a liberator. Freedom, dignity, wealth—these three together constitute the greatest happiness of humanity. If you bequeath all three to your people, their love for you will never die.”

Following the fall of Babylon, Cyrus is said to have acquired immense spoils of war. According to the Greek chronicler Xenophon, one of the greatest of these prizes was a young noblewoman named Panthea. Panthea was said to be the most beautiful woman of Asia, but she was already married to a man named Abradatas, a leader in the armies of Cyrus’ enemies.

Sadly, the forceful taking of an opponent’s wife was a common practice in ancient warfare, and when Panthea was foisted upon Cyrus by his minions, they expected him to take her as his own bride. Cyrus is said to have proven himself to be a man of honor, however, and after hearing Panthea’s sorrowful cries for her husband, he refused to take her as his wife. Instead, Cyrus treated Panthea as a highly respected prisoner of war and ordered his officials to see to it that she was well cared for and treated with dignity. Panthea was said to be very impressed with Cyrus’ good manners and began to openly wonder if her husband Abradatas would be better off switching sides and joining this benevolent monarch.

As the legend goes, Panthea managed to arrange a meeting between the two, and after Abradatas learned of how kind Cyrus had been to his wife, he was overcome with gratitude and immediately pledged his allegiance to Cyrus. Becoming a commander in Cyrus’ army, Abradatas then led a campaign in which he served as a chariot driver.

Abradatas fought hard, but after an intense battle he was cut down. According to Xenophon, after hearing the news of his demise, Cyrus took Panthea to gather the remains of her slain husband. As she sobbed over his broken body, Cyrus was moved by her grief and promised to pay for Abradatas’ funeral in full. Through her tears, Panthea thanked Cyrus and asked if she could be alone with her slain husband. Cyrus obliged her, and as soon as he left her presence, she pulled out a knife and plunged it into her heart, ending her own life. Cyrus was shocked at the sight, but nonetheless kept his word and not only paid for the funeral of the slain Abradatas but also for his wife Panthea.

As touching as this narrative may be, it is hard to say whether or not this story ever actually happened at all. Xenophon was known to create some rather striking embellishments and borrow details from other legends and mythologies, all for the sake of a good story. The story does, however, symbolize the immense respect that Cyrus seemed to engender among those he ruled. From his freeing of the Jews from their Babylonian exile to his acceptance of other cultures and religions to the benevolence with which he treated prisoners of war—Cyrus was great not only for his ability to wage wars but also for the magnanimity that he showed to those he had conquered. Rather than rule with an iron fist as a tyrannical despot, Cyrus was more inclined to try and please his subjects, winning their respect, loyalty, and admiration in the process.

At the very beginning of his conquests in Media, he set this example by taking one of Astyages’ daughters, Amytis, as his bride. Cyrus could have had his choice of a wide variety of women, but he knew that creating a bond with a woman of the Median royal line would be much more appreciated by the populace. Wishing to salve any old wounds, Cyrus viewed the union as a means of bringing Media and Persia closer together. As the daughter of Astyages, Amytis would have been Cyrus’ aunt, which was most unusual even though marriages between close relatives was not unheard of in ancient times. This detail makes some historians question whether Cyrus only claimed to be the grandson of Astyages to legitimize his rule in Media.

In any case, the fact that Cyrus was marrying a Median princess would be a great help in soothing any latent anxiety over his ascension to the throne. Such a royal wedding would have brought with it tremendous fanfare and public acclaim. It was indeed the perfect vehicle with which Cyrus could quickly move past the violent overthrow of Astyages and move public attention forward to the new royal family that he was establishing.

Even though the union between Cyrus and Amytis did not seem to produce any children, Cyrus would not be in want of children or heirs to follow him—his other wife would make sure of that. Her name was Cassandane, a name which translated from the ancient Persian dialect means “creation of glory.” She was indeed said to be beautiful to behold. Cassandane was a Persian noblewoman, the daughter of Pharnaspes, and is said to have been the love of Cyrus’ life. Together they had five children. The first son Cyrus named after his father, Cambyses, and the second he named Bardiya (known by some as Smerdis). These two sons would grow up to be powerful Persian princes, and Cambyses II would eventually succeed Cyrus the Great as the ruler of the Achaemenid Empire.

Cyrus and Cassandane would also have three daughters— Atossa, Artystone, and Roxane. Atossa would later marry Darius I, or as he was later known Darius the Great, who ruled the Achaemenid Empire at the height of its expansion. She also gave birth to the future ruler Xerxes I, carrying the bloodline that stemmed from Cyrus forward for future generations.

Cassandane is said to have once remarked that rather than be separated from Cyrus, she would prefer to “depart [with] her life.” Ultimately Cassandane did indeed leave her husband, passing away around 538 BCE. Upon her death, Cyrus, grieved to his core, is said to have staged a six-day period of public mourning throughout the empire. As a final tribute to the dearly departed, Cyrus then had his wife’s body interred inside the massive Zendaan-e Solaymaan tower in the Persian capital city of Pasargadae. Even after the official six days of mourning were over, Cyrus would continue to pine for his beloved, mourning her loss for the rest of his life.