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Cyrus II the Great
(559-530 BC)
Cyrus the Great overthrew, in turn, the Medes,
the Lydians (547 BC), and the Babylonians (539
BC), suddenly creating an empire far larger than even the Assyrian.
Cyrus was better able,
through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; and the longevity
of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the Assyrian, was also "king of
kings," xshayathiya xshayathiyânâm (shâhanshâh in modern
Persian, hence the later "shah of Iran") - "great king,"
megas basileus, as known by the Greeks.
Alexander the Great, after he ultimately overthrew
the Persians, deliberately assumed the universal pretensions of the Achaemenid kings, but
the division of his empire after his early death eliminates any factual universality until
the advent of the Roman Empire.
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RULERS OF THE MIDDLE EAST:
Assyrian Empire
Rulers of Lydia
Rulers of Media
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Persian Empire
Greek Empire
Roman Empire |
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