Astyages

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Astyages (Persian: ایشتوویگو (Ištovigu); spelled by Herodotos as Astyages; by Ctesias as Astyigas; by Diodorus as Aspadas; Akkadian: Ištumegu), the last king of the Median Empire, r. 585 BCE-550 BCE, the son of king Cyaxares (Cyaraxes the Great), dethroned in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great.

His name derives from the Old Iranian Rishti Vaiga meaning "swinging the spear, lance-hurler"^[1]

[edit] Reign

Astyages succeeded his father in 585 BCE, following the Battle of Pteria which ended a five-year war between the Lydians and the Medes.

Astyages inherited a large empire, ruled in alliance with his two brothers-in-law, Croesus of Lydia and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whose wife, Amytis, Astyages' sister, was the queen for whom Nebuchadnezzar was said to have built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Married to Aryenis, the sister of King Croesus of Lydia, to seal the treaty between the two empires, Astyages ascended to the Median throne upon his father's death later that year. By her he had perhaps a daughter Amytis married to her nephew Cyrus the Great, and according to some Mandana, Cyrus' mother. Christian Settipani, however, says she was born from another mother.^[2]

The reign of Astyages was noted for its both its stability and for the growth of the eastern prophet-based religion, Zoroastrianism throughout his empire, at the same time that Croesus was overseeing an explosion of secular thought in the west (through the philosophers he patronized, Thales, Solon, Aesop...), and Nebuchadnezzar was turning his city of Babylon into the greatest metropololis the world had yet seen.

After thirty-two years of relative stability, Astyages lost the support of his nobles during the war with Cyrus, resulting in the formation of the Persian empire.

Reported by Herodotus as a vain and superstious king, Astyages was said to have had a dream where his daughter, Mandane gave birth to a son who would destroy his empire. Fearing this to be true, Astyages married her off to Cambyses I of Anšan, who had a reputation for being a "quiet and thoughtful prince" and whom Astyages believed to be no threat.

When a second dream warned Astyages of the dangers of Mandane's offspring, Astyages sent his general Harpagus to kill the child, Cyrus. Harpagus, unwilling to spill royal blood, gave the infant to a shepherd, Mitridates, whose wife had given birth to a stillborn child. Cyrus was then raised as Mitridates' own son. Harpagus presented the stillborn child to Astyages as the dead Cyrus.

When Cyrus was found alive at age ten, Astyages spared the boy on the advice of his Magi, returning him to his parents in Anshan. Harpagus, however, did not escape punishment, as Astyages fed him his own son at a banquet.

Cyrus succeeded his father in 559 and in 553 rebelled against Astyages. After three years of fighting, Astyages' troops mutinied during the battle of Pasargadae - according to Herodot under the leadership of Harpagus. The contemporary Chronicle of Nabonidus does refer this mutiny on the battlefield as the cause for Astyages' overthrow, but does not mention Harpagus by name. However, as Harpagus was Astyages' general at the battle of Pasargadae, as his family were granted high positions in Cyrus' empire after the war, and as Harpagus went on to become Cyrus II's most successful general, it is possible he had something to do with the mutiny against Astyages.^[3] Cyrus then went on to pillage Astyages's capital of Ecbatana.

Astyages was handed over to Cyrus. Ancient sources agree that he was treated with clemency after his capture, but differ in details. Herodotus says that he was imprisoned for the rest of his life, while according to Ctesias, he was made a governor of a region of Parthia and was later murdered by a political opponent, Oebaras. The circumstances of Astyages' death are not known.

After Astyages' overthrow, Croesus marched on Cyrus to avenge Astyages. Cyrus, with Harpagus at his side, defeated Croesus and conquered Lydia in 547 BCE.