Changes

==Arguments for Cyaxares II==

==Arguments for Cyaxares II==

[[Jerome|St. Jerome's]] in his ''Commentary on Daniel'' asserts that this ''Darius the Mede'' was companion to [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus the Great]] and was not any of the other options concluding that the words 'the Mede' were deliberately added to avoid confusion with other Darius'.<ref>St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 9, v.1<br>https://tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm</ref>  This assertion is most consistent with [[Xenophon]]'s highly detailed account below and [[Josephus|Josephus']] assertion that <ref>"Baltasar, 1 who by the Babylonians was called Naboandelus; against him did Cyrus, the king of Persia, and Darius, the king of Media, make war"<br>.[[Josephus]], Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10<br>https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=10:section=229</ref>.

[[Jerome|St. Jerome's]] in his ''Commentary on Daniel'' asserts that this ''Darius the Mede'' was companion to [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus the Great]] and was not any of the other options concluding that the words 'the Mede' were deliberately added to avoid confusion with other Darius'.<ref>St. Jerome, Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 9, v.1<br>https://tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_daniel_02_text.htm</ref>  This assertion is most consistent with [[Xenophon]]'s highly detailed account below and [[Josephus|Josephus']] assertion that Darius was a war companion to [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus]].<ref>"Baltasar, 1 who by the Babylonians was called Naboandelus; against him did Cyrus, the king of Persia, and Darius, the king of Media, make war"<br>.[[Josephus]], Antiquities of the Jews, Book 10<br>https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=10:section=229</ref>.

In [[Xenophon|Xenophon's]] historical narrative, some time after the natural death of [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus']] grandfather [[Astyages]], [[Cyrus II the Great]], while still a youth and not yet king of [[Persia]], entered into the employ of his uncle [[Cyaxares II]] as general of the army in a mutual defence pact against Assyria ([[Babylon]]).  In this capacity [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus]] campaigns with [[Cyaxares II]] at the first and then by himself until his eventual conquest of [[Babylon]].  This position that [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus]] began in the employ of the Medes is consistent with [[Megasthenes]]: for in [[Megasthenes]] retelling of an alleged prophetic utterance by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (that at least seemed true enough to [[Megasthenes]]), [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] asserted under divine inspiration that "A Persian mule shall come, [and] shall impose upon you [Babylonians] the yoke of slavery: the author of which shall be a Mede."<ref>[[Megasthenes]], from [[Abydenus]], of Nebuchadnezzar,<br /> I.P. Cory ''The Ancient Fragments'', London, UK, 1873</ref>

In [[Xenophon|Xenophon's]] historical narrative, some time after the natural death of [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus']] grandfather [[Astyages]], [[Cyrus II the Great]], while still a youth and not yet king of [[Persia]], entered into the employ of his uncle [[Cyaxares II]] as general of the army in a mutual defence pact against Assyria ([[Babylon]]).  In this capacity [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus]] campaigns with [[Cyaxares II]] at the first and then by himself until his eventual conquest of [[Babylon]].  This position that [[Cyrus II the Great|Cyrus]] began in the employ of the Medes is consistent with [[Megasthenes]]: for in [[Megasthenes]] retelling of an alleged prophetic utterance by [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] (that at least seemed true enough to [[Megasthenes]]), [[Nebuchadnezzar II]] asserted under divine inspiration that "A Persian mule shall come, [and] shall impose upon you [Babylonians] the yoke of slavery: the author of which shall be a Mede."<ref>[[Megasthenes]], from [[Abydenus]], of Nebuchadnezzar,<br /> I.P. Cory ''The Ancient Fragments'', London, UK, 1873</ref>