Kyrus the YoungerCyrus_the_Younger

The second son of the Persian king, Darius II and Parysatis.

When Darius died, the eldest son, Artaxerxes, became king; Artaxerxes was a suspicious man and was easily convinced that Kyrus was plotting against him and trying to steal the throne; Artaxerxes had Kyrus arrested and only through the intervention of Parysatis was Kyrus allowed to return to his duties as the satrap of western Asia Minor; Kyrus never forgave the indignity his brother had heaped upon him and, if he had not been his brother’s enemy before his arrest, he was surely his enemy afterwards.

Kyrus very deliberately used his influence to sway various Persian officials and to befriend the Greeks so that he might solicit their aid when he moved to dethrone his brother; his friendly relations with the Spartans helped them defeat the Athenians during the Peloponnesian War (circa 407 BCE) and thus his close contact with the Greeks of Ionia made him a respected and trusted ally.

After the Peloponnesian War was over there were thousands of Greek warriors who had been soldiers all of their adult lives (the war lasted for 27 years) and they had no intention of returning to their homes to become shopkeepers or farmers; Kyrus enlisted these battle-hardened men to form a mercenary army and march against his brother, Artaxerxes; the historian, Xenophon, was with the mercenary army of Kyrus when they made their failed attempt to take the Persian throne from Artaxerxes; Kyrus was killed in the battle of Kunaxa (Cunaxa) in 401 BCE and his head and hands were severed and put on display; as leader of the mercenary army, Kyrus is also called Kyrus of the Ten Thousand.

For an account of the Greek mercenaries who assisted Kyrus, read the book, Anabasis, by Xenophon; it is an excellent story that is historically revealing as well as a dramatic view of a soldier’s life in the ancient world; I suggest the Loeb Classical Library version of this book (ISBN 0674991001) which is sometimes available at the library or can be ordered through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.