Cyrus II (c. 600–530 BC) was the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty and the first king of the Persian realm. In turn he conquered Media, Lydia, and Neo-Babylonia, stretching his dominion from the Indus to the Aegean and forging the ancient world's first truly multi-ethnic empire. After taking Babylon, he freed the exiled Jews to return home and rebuild their temple, and proclaimed the Cyrus Cylinder — hailed as humanity's earliest charter of human rights — governing his many lands through religious tolerance and local autonomy. The Greek historian Xenophon, in his Cyropaedia, held him up as the very model of the ideal ruler, a mirror for kings across the Middle East & Africa.
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InfantryMiddle East & Africa
Cyrus the Great
Founder of the First Empire
The king who built an empire on tolerance and held the line behind an unbreakable shield — an Infantry bulwark who turns his own endurance into your army's opening.
History
On the Battlefield
Cyrus stands at the head of the line as an Infantry tank with a supporting heart. He plants himself before the army to absorb the first crushing charge, and at the decisive moment shrugs off all control with his Immortal Shield, sharing that immunity outward so his comrades stand unshaken beside him. His Walls of Babylon endure longer than any siege could break them, stretching that sheltered moment wider still. Where the Lord sends Cyrus, the front holds — and every blow he weathers becomes a window for his allies to strike.
Hero Bonds
Bonds this commander belongs to — activate by fielding all listed heroes together:
- Mandate of Heaven (天命君主) — with Hannibal Barca · Pericles → +5% Damage Reduction
