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.

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 Cyropedia who as a Greek military commander, allegedly served in Cyrus' army; whose Cyropedia was highly prized by Alexander the Great as a source of perpetual study. This combined with a probable identity match with Josephus' Darius the Mede and two of the rebels in the days of Darius I claiming to be of the household of Cyaxares (I or II?) has left room for a good case of his existence to many. Below we shall examine the original sources.

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.