Cyrus the Great (c.590 BC or 576 BC – 530 BC) As leader of the Persian people in Anshan, he conquered the Medes and unified the two separate Iranian kingdoms; as the king of Persia, he reigned over the new empire from 559 BC until his death. The empire expanded under his rule, eventually conquering most of Southwest Asia and much of Central Asia, from Egypt and Hellespont in the west to the Indus River in the east, to create the largest state the world had yet seen. Beyond his nation, Cyrus left a lasting legacy on religion, politics, and military strategy, as well as on both Eastern and Western civilization
Home / Questions / Who was the founder of the Persian empire under the Achaemenid dynasty and the first Persian king to be given the suffix of ‘the Great’?