居鲁士大帝(前590/580～西元前529?年)

Cyrus the Great，亦称居鲁士二世（Cyrus II）。

波斯阿契美尼德王朝的开国君王。居鲁士一世之孙，藉由推翻他的外祖父米底亚国王而建立自己的势力。居鲁士靠外交手段和军事实力建立起一个规模空前的大帝国，以波斯为核心，涵盖了米底亚、爱奥尼亚、里底亚、美索不达米亚、叙利亚和巴勒斯坦。据《圣经》记载，居鲁士在巴比伦尼亚曾释放被囚禁的犹太人，使他们返回家园。死於与中亚游牧民族的战役。他所留下的遗产，不仅仅是一个大帝国，同时也是至少持续发展了两个世纪的文化和文明，对希腊人和亚历山大大帝具有强烈的影响。他的一世充满传奇色彩与英雄特质，长久以来被波斯人尊为「波斯之父」，几乎如信仰偶像般崇拜。1971年伊朗庆祝居鲁士创立王朝两千五百周年纪念。

English version：

前590/580～西元前529?年

Cyrus the Great

Conqueror and founder of the Achaemenian empire. The grandson of Cyrus I (fl. late 7th century BC), he came to power by overthrowing his maternal grandfather, the king of the Medes. The empire he developed was thenceforth centered on Persia and included Media, Ionia, Lydia, Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine. Cyrus conquered by diplomacy as well as by force. The subject of a rich legend in Persia and Greece (recorded by Xenophon and others), he was called the father of his people. He appears in the Bible as the liberator of the Jews held captive in Babylon. He died battling nomads in Central Asia. His legacy is the founding not only of an empire but of a culture and civilization that continued to expand after his death and lasted for two centuries. He exerted a strong influence on the Greeks and Alexander the Great. Awarded heroic qualities in legend, he has long been revered by Persians almost as a religious figure. In 1971 Iran celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of his founding of the monarchy.