That way, to start (quite late, indeed) this year of 2019, we've decided to bring this figure who is part of the history of the Persian Empire. Though few were the resources found, we have at least decided to try to propose a discussion about this interesting individual. His name was Cyaxares and he was a tribal king who reigned over to what nowadays is located as the northwest of Iran.
There are no records that could tells us about Cyaxares birth, raising, but the one used to tell about him comes from a Greek historian named Herodotus. Even that, however, can be seen with questioning eyes as he wrote about this character almost a century later. It is always wise to read him carefully.
Apparently, what we know of this king is that he was born in Ecbatana, a Median capital. His father, a king before him, was named Phraortes and he was apparently in conflict with a tribe known by name of Scythians. We know nothing of Cyaxares' childhood and family other than that, and we might especulate that if he was not an adult, he was old enough to avenge his father by the time Phraortes was killed in battle. As we can see below:
"His father Phraortes was killed in a battle against the Assyrians, led by Ashurbanipal, the king of Assyria. After Phraortes' demise, the Scythians overran Media and controlled the area for a period off twenty-eight years. Cyaraxes, seeking revenge, killed the Scythian leaders and proclaimed himself King of Medes. After throwing off the Scythians, he prepared for war against Assyria."¹
This corroborates the point of view of Herodotus as well:
"According to the 5th century BC Greek historian Herodotus, Cyaxares renewed the war with the Assyrians after his father, Phraortes, had been slain in battle. While besieging Nineveh, he was attacked and defeated by a great army of Scythians, who then ruled Media (653-625) until their chiefs were slain by Cyaxares at a banquet. It was probably Cyaxares, not his father, as is maintained by Herodotus, who united the tribes of ancient Iran. He also reorganized the Median army, dividing it into spearmen, bowmen, and cavalry and instituting changes in clothing and weapons."²
We can tell from the excerpts above that Cyaxares was raised in a society that was constructed by warrior values. Tribes as the one he was king and others he eventually subdued all knew the importance of a weapon. Such importance can be told by how he reorganized his army once he united the tribes that thus shaped the kingdom over which he ruled. Unfortunately, however, we can go no further in speculating such social aspects as there are very few informations concerning the Median society.
What we know next regards Cyaxares' warfares and how skillful he seemed to have been both as a strategist and as a warrior. Not only concerning the reorganization of his army as it has already been said, but the victories he collected. As we can see following the paragraphs:
"Cyaxares reorganized the Median army, then allied himself with King Nabopolassar of Babylonia, a mutual enemy of Assyria. This alliance was formalized through the marriage of Cyaxares' daughter, Amytis, to Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II. Cyaxares also allied with the Scythians even though they warred against each other a decade earlier. In the year 612 B.C.E, Cyaxares and his army was able to conquer Assur and he also claimed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh. The Medians, Babylonians, and Scythians overthrew the Assyrian Empire and destroyed Nineveh in 612 BC. Fighting between the Medes and Assyrians would finally come to an end in the year of 609 B.C.E."
Once Cyaxares defeated the Scythians, allying himself with them in order to defeat the Assyrian Empire, he continues his conquest. It appears he also conquered "Northern Mesopotamia, Armenia and the parts of Asia Minoreast of the Halys River". The growth of his power certainly must have scared other tribes, lesser powerful than him. Nonetheless, this did not exclude other potential threats. For Cyaxares soon found himself confronting the Lydian army (led by the ruler of a kingdom located close to what today is known as Ukraine) and, as the result of this, it came the first defeat of Cyaxares. It is not clear, however, if he was killed in this battle or not, but it appears that he died after this defeat.
"All in all, we can be certain about three events during Cyaxares' reign: the destruction of Assur in the summer 614, the capture of Nineveh in July 612 and the battle against the Medes on 28 May 585." Furthermore, "under Cyaxares, the Median empire reached its greatest extent, but under his son Astyages, it was destroyed. When in 522 BCE a Mede with the name Phraortes and a Sagartian named Tritantaechmes revolted against the Persian king Darius I the Great, they both claimed to be a descendant of Cyaxares, even though the great king was dead for more than sixty years."
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