Who was the Greater King,General,Stratagist Alaxander or Cyr

[iranianguy]

Who was the Greater King,General,Stragist Alexander or Cyrus. Alexander the Great was born to a father who was a great conquerer and who ruled all of Greece while Cyrus the Great was born to a father who was just a small king of a rejion of southern iran known as Ansan. Alexander the Great conqured the 1st World Empire known of in world history. Cyrus the Great with little resistance took over the mighty kingdom of Media. Cyrus the Great was well known not only as a conquerer but also for his diplomatic skill and leniance to other cultures and religions. Alexander the Great was more of a Conquerer and not as well known for his leniance to other cultures and religions.So please tell me in your opionion who was the greater King,General,Stratagist and for what reason.

[kenny]

This could be a very long answer,Will try make it brief.Alexander mastered and invented most of the strategies of war and mostly even emulated today at the high Military academies. Even great generals followed his blue prints.Alexander was an inovater and fast thinking on his feet ready to adapt to any type of military situation put before him.He was in total command of his craft and the shear mastermind behind the whole of his operations from Military tactics to the poverall running of his empire.To call Cyrus and the Persians lenient was a bit of a joke. There practice was to mutilate and ransack where they went. How do you think treasures from Athens ended up in Persia following failed Persian attacks.Open warfare.siegewarfare,even Guerilla warefare Alexander adopted to and overcame.I would wager Cyrus been very confident at Issus and the outcome still the same.Give us something Andrew?
Kenny

[iranianguy]

Well you got a point about Alexander reacting fast to different types of situations in battle. I disagree about him being good at running a empire though i think he was more of a fighter and not as good at ruling a empire.About Cyrus though i think you need to do some reading about him before you judge this Great King.
Let me tell you a few things about Cyrus. 1)He united the two largest tribes in Persia to start the worlds first global empire. 2)He ingeniusly captured the huge city of Babylon which was basicly a fortress of a city that was inpregnable thanks to Nebuchadnezzer. 3) He started an age of leniance and diplomacy which he used instead of tyrany to rule(He is the first person in writen history to do such a thing). 4)After capturing Babylon he freed the Jewish people who Nebuchadnezzer had taken hostage from Jerusalum and also funded there rebuilding of there temple there. 5) Unlike Alexander he didnt even have to fight a battle in India to rule there instead he promised the local chiefs to protect them from raiding Scytian bandits if in return they would rule as his satraps.I think you pro Alexander people aught to read a learn a little more about Cyrus and the changes he brought to this world of ours.

[stavros]

apologies for my ignorance/confusion!!whe you say you are persian are you Iranian???there are other countries or people from the mid east who also claim they are persian?? kind regards

[iranianguy]

Yes I am Iranian because i was born in the country of Iran and yes i am Persian because i am of Persian/Indo European race.

[S]

Greetings,Unfortunately, I suspect the majority of people in the West who admire Alexander do not know enough about Cyrus to appreciate him, though many of the people on Pothos are well-versed in his history.It always seems difficult to me to compare leaders, since each is so much a product of their own time, and so much information is lost.That said, there is much to learn from Cyrus. Have you considered writing a short biography of him to add to the biography page on Pothos? Regards,
Sikander

[beausefaless]

Deleted

[kenny]

hail Persian. AndrewIndeed Cyrus had his claims to fame etc. As you stated Cyrus didnt rule over India at all he just did deals. Alexander crushed the ones who wouldnt deal.Im sure all the Indian tribes didnt adhere to Cyrus as the Indian tribes couldnt agree with each other. So in the histories what is said about those.?What Is Cyrus trach record on the battle field? I would wager he didnt win them all. And finally to set Alexander as a true above Cyrus.Its weel documented that Cyrus didnt even rule the entity of his empire there were regions that the Persians paid taxes for passage through regions. I can recall the names but didnt Alexander crush a certain area that previous Persians had to pay tribute even Cyrus.To call Alexander only a general is another instance of pure Ignorance. Hannibal was only a general and why he was beaten.
Alexander was a general and everything needed to over see an empire.Kenny

[susan]

I've just deleted a message about the modern state of Iran. It didn't help the general harmony of the site, and I don't think that it improves the general study of Alexander, who was more tolerant than many of his era.From my viewpoint, there is no 'right' in any of this, but insulting other people's viewpoint of life rarely seems to help.Susan

[smittysmitty]

The discussion of who was the greater king, Alexander or Cyrus is futile, but a point that should be noted is during the Classical Period, Cyrus was perhaps better respected and admired than Alexander. Herodotus, Xenephon, Ctesias among others made Cyrus a household name in Greece and was greatly admired by the Greeks. There was a belief, if monarchy was still prevalent amongst the Greeks, then Cyrus was indeed the person to emulate. Indeed, it is peculiar that modern scholars in general have not acknowledged the significance of Achaemenian monarchy on the Argead kingdom of Macedon. The Argeads had gained greatly from the Persians and in my opinion had been emulating Achaemenian practices from their very first encounter.

[iranianguy]

Welll i am new to this site and didnt know that i was allowed to right a biography without the permission of the person who runs this site. I wil check it out and maybe write what i know. As for a Biography on Cyrus it would be very difficult because so much about him is still a mystery. I have read a few fictional books that try to dipict his early life and becoming the great king(but like i said its fiction).

[S]

Greetings,A short biography would be good to see. When finished, please send to Nick Welman at his posted email address or to me at philoalexandros@hotmail.comIf it is decided it will not be used here, with your permission I will put it in a file under your name at the yahoo site I moderate, Alexandria Eschate.Regards,
Sikander