Cyaxares II

The Achaemid Family Tree showing the merging or the royal houses of the Medes and the Persians to create the Medo-Persian Empire; also known to many as simply the Persian Empire.

Cyaxares II, is the alleged son of the legendary Astyages, King of the Mede in Ecbatana who allegedly reigned from 561 to 536 BC. The generally accepted narrative is that the throne passed straight from Astyages to Cyrus the Great.

Original Sources

The son of Astyages, Cyaxares II (not to be confused with Cyaxares I, father of Astyages) does not exist in any surviving or currently available extant cuniform tablets or the likes. The strongest evidence for his existence lies within the pages Xenohon's Cyropaedia, who as a Greek military commander served in Cyrus' army. This work was so highly prized by Alexander the Great, that he made it perpetual study; by extension it was obviously also recommended to him by his teacher Aristotle. This combined with a probable identity match with Josephus' Darius the Mede "who is known to the Greeks by another name" created a good case. Compoundingly, two of the rebels listed in Darius I's Behistun Inscription claimed "to be of Cyaxares" and "to be of the household of Cyaxares": which has naturally created debate if these are references to Cyaxares I or Cyaxares II.

Alternitively, Cyaxares II does not appear in Ptolemy's Canon or the Uruk King List, but neither of these feature Belshazzar who is now confirmed to us by the Nabonidus Cylinder (from Ur) after the capture of Nabonidus outside the city [walls]. Meanwhile the Nabonidus Chronicle openly states that Cyrus attacked Astyges and that the army betrayed Astyages which is in harmony with Herodotus' narrative.

In the following sections we shall examine these sources in more detail.

In the works of Xenophon

According to Xenophon, Cyaxares II ruled as king after the natural death of Astyages and sought to defended Medes from Babylon aggression, promoting his unascended nephew Cyrus as General/leader of the allied forces. Furthermore, Xenophon in great detail records the history of Cyrus pre-emptive strike and campaign with Cyaxares II. After the conquest of Babylon, Cyrus gifted a palace therein to Cyaxares II and accepted the hand of his daughter with the Kingdom of Media as her dowry.

In the works of Josephus

Josephus does not use the title of "Cyaxares", but rather names Darius the Mede as the son of Astyages, simply acknowledging that Darius the Mede is known by another name among the Greeks. Considering the possible candidates at the time, this has lead many to comment on this convergence and conclude that Josephus' Darius the Mede, son of Astyages is Cyaxares II.

In the Behistun Inscription

The Behistun Inscription details the nine self-proclaimed kings who rebelled in Darius Hystspes' first year of power whom he subdued. Two of those rebels claimed to be "of Cyaxares". Debate rages if they are referring to Cyaxares I, father of Astyages or to Astyages son Cyaxares II.