The History of Ancient Greece Podcast: 030 - Herodotos and the Rise of Persia

In this episode, we discuss the life, influences, drawbacks, and positives of the “Father of History”, Herodotos; and the political events of the Near East in the 7th and early 6th centuries BC, including the rise of the Medians and Neo-Babylonians and their destruction of the diminishing Assyrian Empire, and culminating with a young vassal king from the Persian city of Anshan, named Kyros, who overthrew the Medes and elevated the Achaemenid Persians among the other chief powers of the time (the Lydians, the Neo-Babylonians, and the Egyptians)

ca. 1000 BC - The Scythians, Cimmerians, Parthians, Medes, and Persians (as part of the Indo-European migrations) arrive on the Iranian Plateau

ca. 900-612 BC - Assyria dominates the Near East

ca. 725 BC - Sargon II of Assyria receives tribute from the tribes of the Zagros Mountains (included on the list are the Medes)

708-686 BC - The reign of first Median king, Deiokes; Ecbatana becomes the capital

705-675 BC - The reign of first Persian king, Achaemenes; Anshan becomes the capital

686-633 BC - The reign of Median king, Phraortes; the Parthians and Persians come under Median control and become their "vassals"

675-640 BC - The reign of Persian king, Tespis

646 BC - Assyrian king Ashurbanipal destroys the Elamites; the Persians, now under control of the Medes, incorporate the old kingdom of Elam (west of the Zagros along the coast)

640-580 BC - The reign of the Persian king, Cyrus I

633 BC - Median king Phrarotes dies in battle; the Scythians begin to dominate Media

627 BC - The death of the Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal

626 BC - Nabopolassar and Babylon revolt from the Assyrian Empire and establish a new ruling dynasty (known as the Neo-Babylonians)

626-605 BC - The reign of Babylonian king, Nabopolassar

625 BC - Cyaxerxes overthrows Scythians, re-establishes Median control over the Zagros

625-585 BC - The reign of Median king, Cyaxerxes

614 BC - The Medes and the Babylonians march against Assyria and sack the religious capital of Assur; Cyaxerxes' daughter, Amytis, is married to the crowned prince of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, uniting the two kingdoms

612 BC - The Medes and the Babylonians capture and destroy the Assyrian political capital of Nineveh, signaling the end of the Assyrian Empire; a balance of power now exists among the four chief nations of the area: Egypt, the Neo-Babylonians, the Medes, and the Lydians

605 BC - Naboplassar dies, succeeded by his son Nebuchadnezzar II to Babylonian throne

605-562 BC - The reign of Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar II

600-585 BC - Cyaxerxes wages war against Urartians and Lydians

585 BC - The Battle of the Halys River in Cappadocia between the Lydians under Alyattes and the Medes under Cyaxerxes ends in a draw due to the total eclipse of the sun (predicted by Thales); the Halys River is established as the boundary between Lydia and Media; shortly after the battle, Cyaxerxes dies and is succeeded by his son, Astyages

585-550 - The reign of Median king, Astyages

580-559 BC - The reign of Persian king, Cambyses I

580 BC - Plagued by visions that his grandson would be his ruin, Astyages marries his daughter, Mandane, to a minor vassal---the Persian king, Cambyses I

576 BC - Mandane gives birth to Cyrus II; Astyages has another vision of his ruin and orders the child to be killed but his general Harpagus choses not to do it himself and delegates the job to a shepherd who instead raises the kid as his own

566 BC - The 10-year-old Cyrus is discovered and sent to live with his real parents

559 BC - Cambyses dies and the 17-year-old Cyrus becomes king of Persia

552 BC - Cyrus leads a revolt against his grandfather, Astyages; at the Battle of Hyrba, while leading the Persian cavalry, he trounces the Median cavalry

551 BC - An indecisive Battle of the Persian Border between forces of Astyages and Cyrus

550 BC - In the Battle of Pasargadae, Cyrus routs Astyages' army and becomes sole ruler of the Iranian Plateau; since Medes and Persians are so closely related, seen as a change in dynasty and the beginning of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

Primary Sources:

Text/Herodotus' Histories (Book 1)