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25-652: Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Halys , which ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes . He inherited a large empire, ruled in alliance with his two brothers-in-law, Croesus of Lydia and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon , whose wife, Amytis , Astyages' sister, was the queen for whom Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon . Married to Aryenis ,

50-457: A banquet. Cyrus succeeded his father in 559, and in 553, on the advice of Harpagus, who was eager for revenge for being given the "abominable supper," Cyrus rebelled against Astyages. After three years of fighting, Astyages' troops mutinied during the battle of Pasargadae , and Cyrus conquered the Median's empire. Astyages was spared by Cyrus, and despite being taunted by Harpagus, Herodotus says he

75-802: A history of Assyria and Persia in 23 books, Persica ( Περσικά ), drawn from documents in the Persian Royal Archives, written in opposition to Herodotus , in the Ionic dialect . The first six books of Persica covered the history of Assyria and Babylon to the foundation of the Persian empire in 550 BC by Cyrus the Great; the remaining 17 books covered the years to 398 BC. Of the two histories, abridgments by Photius and fragments are preserved by Athenaeus , Plutarch , Nicolaus of Damascus , and especially Diodorus Siculus , whose second book

100-454: A kindly old gentleman devoted to his grandson Cyrus, but the work is widely regarded as fiction and contains numerous historical inaccuracies which make it an unreliable source. The account given by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus relates that Astyages had a dream in which his daughter, Mandane , gave birth to a son who would destroy his empire. Fearful of the dream's prophecy, Astyages married her off to Cambyses I of Anshan , who had

125-467: A reputation for being a "quiet and thoughtful prince" and whom Astyages believed to be no threat. When a second dream warned Astyages of the dangers of Mandane's offspring, Astyages sent his general Harpagus to kill the child Cyrus. Herodotus correctly names Cyrus' parents, though he fails to mention that Cambyses was a king. Modern scholarship generally rejects his claim that Cyrus was the grandson of Astyages. Harpagus, unwilling to spill royal blood, gave

150-572: Is Median for "dog," which gives both the legend and Herodotus' rationalized version. Theodotion 's translation of Daniel 14 , Chapter 14 of the deutero-canonical version of the biblical Book of Daniel , otherwise known as Bel and the Dragon , opens with the accession of Cyrus after the death of Astyages. According to the original Douay-Rheims Bible , Darius the Mede is another name for Astyages. The contemporary Chronicle of Nabonidus refers to

175-419: Is correct, the battle's date would not be 585 BCE (date given by Pliny based on date of solar eclipse), but possibly September 3, 609 BCE, or July 4, 587 BCE, dates when such dusk-time lunar eclipses did occur. Ctesias Ctesias ( / ˈ t iː ʒ ə s / TEE -zhəs ; Ancient Greek : Κτησίᾱς , romanized :  Ktēsíās ; fl.  5th century BC ), also known as Ctesias of Cnidus ,

200-517: Is derived mainly from Ctesias. As to the worth of Persica , much controversy occurred, both in ancient and modern times. Although many ancient authorities valued the work highly and used it to discredit Herodotus , a modern author writes, "(Ctesias's) unreliability makes Herodotus seem a model of accuracy." Reportedly, Ctesias's account of the Assyrian kings does not reconcile with the cuneiform evidence. The satirist Lucian thought so little of

225-536: The Eclipse (or Battle of Halys ) was fought in the early 6th century BCE in Anatolia (present-day Turkey ) between the Medes and the Lydians . According to ancient Greek historian Herodotus , the battle was interrupted by "day turning into night" – presumably a solar eclipse – and the result was a draw which led to both parties negotiating a peace treaty and ending a six-year war. Herodotus writes that in

250-520: The Lydians and the Medes, and continued for five years, with various success. In the course of it the Medes gained many victories over the Lydians, and the Lydians also gained many victories over the Medes. Among their other battles there was one night engagement. As, however, the balance had not inclined in favour of either nation, another combat took place in the sixth year, in the course of which, just as

275-635: The Younger and his Greek mercenaries called the Ten Thousand , when Ctesias provided medical assistance to the king by treating his flesh wound. He reportedly was involved in negotiations with the Greeks after the battle, and also helped their Spartan general Clearchus before his execution at the royal court at Babylon. Ctesias was the author of treatises on rivers and on the Persian revenues, as well as an account of India, Indica ( Ἰνδικά ), and of

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300-533: The battle was growing warm, day was on a sudden changed into night. This event had been foretold by Thales, the Milesian, who forewarned the Ionians of it, fixing for it the very year in which it actually took place. The Medes and Lydians, when they observed the change, ceased fighting, and were alike anxious to have terms of peace agreed on. As part of the terms of the peace agreement, Alyattes's daughter Aryenis

325-485: The battle, some scholars assume the Halys River, as it was located in the border region between both kingdoms. As Isaac Asimov notes, this would be the earliest recorded eclipse the date of which was accurately determined in advance of its occurrence. However, such a reading is disputed by various scholars. For example, the known astronomical knowledge available of that time was not sufficient for Thales to predict

350-412: The eclipse. Also, the eclipse would have occurred shortly before sunset at any plausible site of the battle, and it was very uncommon for battles to take place at that time of day. Furthermore, based on the list of Medean kings and their regnal lengths reported elsewhere by Herodotus, Cyaxares died 10 years before the eclipse. An alternative theory regarding the date of the battle suggests that Herodotus

375-480: The grave of Darius I at Persepolis was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes. A record of the view that the Persians held of India was written by Ctesias under the title Indica . It includes descriptions of artisans, philosophers, and people having the qualities of deities, as well as accounts of unquantifiable gold, among other riches and wonders. The work is of value as it records

400-489: The historical reliability of Ctesias that in his satirical True Story he places Ctesias on an island where the evil were punished. Lucian wrote, "The people who suffered the greatest torment were those who had told lies when they were alive and written mendacious histories; among them were Ctesias of Cnidus, Herodotus, and many others." According to the Encyclopædia Britannica , Ctesias mentioned that

425-490: The infant to a shepherd, Mitridates, whose wife had just given birth to a stillborn child. Cyrus was raised as Mitridates' own son, and Harpagus presented the stillborn child to Astyages as the dead Cyrus. When Cyrus was found alive at age ten, Astyages spared the boy on the advice of his Magi , returning him to his parents in Anshan. Harpagus, however, did not escape punishment, as Astyages is said to have fed him his own son at

450-553: The mutiny on the battlefield as the cause for Astyages' overthrow, but does not mention Harpagus by name. However, since Harpagus was Astyages' general at the battle of Pasargadae and his family were granted high positions in Cyrus' empire after the war, and since Harpagus went on to become Cyrus' most successful general, it is possible he had something to do with the mutiny against Astyages. Cyrus then went on to capture Astyages' capital of Ecbatana . Ancient sources agree that after Astyages

475-513: The sister of the Lydian king Croesus, to seal the treaty between the two empires, Astyages ascended to the Median throne upon his father's death later that year. The ancient sources report almost nothing about Astyages’ reign, and a final judgment on his character is not possible, since Herodotus’ negative account (Astyages is represented as a cruel and despotic ruler) and Ctesias’ favorable one, are both biased. Xenophon's Cyropaedia depicts him as

500-489: The sixth year of the war, the Lydians and the Medes were engaged in an indecisive battle when suddenly day turned into night, leading to both parties halting the fighting and negotiating a peace agreement. Herodotus also mentions that the loss of daylight had been predicted by Thales of Miletus . He does not, however, mention the location of the battle. Afterwards, on the refusal of Alyattes to give up his suppliants when Cyaxares sent to demand them of him, war broke out between

525-587: Was a Greek physician and historian from the town of Cnidus in Caria , then part of the Achaemenid Empire . Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Achaemenid king, Artaxerxes II , whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger . Ctesias was part of the entourage of King Artaxerxes at the Battle of Cunaxa (401 BC) against Cyrus

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550-517: Was married to Cyaxares's son Astyages , and the Halys River (present-day Kızılırmak River ) was declared to be the border of the two warring nations. If the description by Herodotus of the event is read as a solar eclipse, then based on modern astronomical calculations it can be identified with the Eclipse of Thales , yielding an exact date for the battle: May 28, 585 BCE. For the location of

575-442: Was recounting events that he did not personally witness, and that furthermore, the solar eclipse story is a misinterpretation of his text. According to this view, what happened could have been a lunar eclipse right before moonrise, at dusk. If the warriors had planned their battle activities expecting a full moon as in the previous few days, it would have been a shock to have dusk fall suddenly as an occluded moon rose. If this theory

600-570: Was taken by Cyrus he was treated with clemency, though the accounts differ. Herodotus says that Cyrus kept Astyages at his court during the remainder of his life, while according to Ctesias , he was made a governor of a region of Parthia and was later murdered by a political opponent, Oebares . The circumstances of Astyages' death are not known. After Astyages' overthrow, Croesus marched on Cyrus to avenge Astyages. Cyrus, with Harpagus at his side, defeated Croesus and conquered Lydia in or after 547 BCE. Battle of Halys (585 BC) The Battle of

625-415: Was treated well and remained in Cyrus' court until his death. Rather than giving the popular mythology that Cyrus was suckled by a dog (the dog was sacred to Persians. cf. also the legend of Sargon, or the similar legend of Romulus and Remus, suckled by a she-wolf ( Latin : Lupa )) Herodotus explains that the herdsman Mitridates lived with another of Astyages' slaves, a woman named 'Spaco,' which he explains

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