Alexander the Great was a mighty conqueror, but he was not the first person in history to be one. He admired the conquerors of past generations. His admiration was such that Alexander once visited the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire.
Cyrus the Great was a powerful emperor who lived in the sixth century BCE. He completely changed the face of the Middle East, just as Alexander would do two centuries later. Cyrus was king of the Persians, who at that time were not especially powerful.
A related people, the Medes, were dominant in the region of modern-day Iran at that time. Cyrus led his people, the Persians, to victory over the Median Empire and absorbed it into his own kingdom. He then expanded his dominion west and conquered the Lydian Empire.
Finally, Cyrus turned his attention to the south and conquered the Babylonian Empire. Thus, within the career of this one man, the vast Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, was formed.
Alexander was well aware of the career of Cyrus the Great, having learned about this king of the Persians from a young age. It is believed that Alexander read about him in a work known as the Cyropaedia.
This was a work devoted to describing the grand and impressive exploits of Cyrus, showing him to be a brave and mighty conqueror. Not only that, but it also explained that Cyrus was a wise and pragmatic king who governed his people excellently.
The Cyropaedia was written by Xenophon, a soldier and historian from Athens and a student of Socrates. He wrote it in about 370 BCE, meaning that it was a recent work on the subject when Alexander was born. So it seems that from a young age Alexander the Great already admired Cyrus.
Cyrus died in the year 530 BCE. Almost exactly 200 years later, in 334 BCE, Alexander the Great crossed the Hellespont and began his war against the Persian Empire. Famously, the king of the Greeks was able to conquer the Persians more swiftly than anyone could have imagined.
At one point Alexander travelled to Pasargadae. This was an important Persian city which had been the capital of the empire in the reign of Cyrus. While there, Alexander found that Cyrus’ tomb had been ransacked. This distressed him greatly, given the admiration he had for the once mighty ruler.
The main source for Alexander the Great’s visit to the tomb of Cyrus is Arrian, a Greek historian from the second century CE. Arrian’s own source was an account written by Aristobulus, a historian who accompanied Alexander the Great.
According to Arrian’s account, the tomb of Cyrus was in the middle of a grove of trees, near a meadow, and with streams nearby. It had a rectangular base built of well-cut stone blocks. There was a roofed chamber above it. This was the actual tomb.
To enter the tomb, one had to crawl through a very narrow hole through the front of the roofed chamber. Inside was a gold coffin in which Cyrus’ body had been placed. There was also a magnificent divan, or couch, with a Babylonian rug spread over it.
Various precious items, including jewellery, tunics, and other treasures, were laid out on the divan. There was also an inscription on the tomb, which read:
“O man, I am Cyrus son of Cambyses,
who founded the empire of Persia
and ruled over Asia.
Do not grudge me my monument.”
When Alexander visited the tomb, he found that raiders had taken almost everything from it. The only things that remained were the divan itself and the coffin. The tomb robbers had even removed the lid of the coffin, thrown the body on the floor, and caused great damage to the coffin itself.
Horrified at this desecration of the tomb of Cyrus the Great, Alexander ordered its restoration. He ordered that exact replicas of the items that had formerly been in the tomb be made and placed in there. The coffin was also to be repaired, with the remains of Cyrus’ body to be placed back inside.
Perhaps to prevent further ransacking, Alexander the Great had the tomb of Cyrus sealed. He had his men fill in the narrow entrance with stone and a coating of plaster. On top of this, he placed the royal seal.
According to Arrian, there was a group of Magi who guarded the tomb. Obviously, they had not done their job well. Perhaps, it was thought, they had even been complicit in the desecration. Alexander had his men torture them to find out who was responsible. In spite of the torture they refused to give any information, so they were eventually released.
