Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger was a Persian prince, son of Darius II, who rebelled against his brother Artaxerxes II. He died at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC, after hiring Greek mercenaries later described by Xenophon.

Born: c. 423 BCE
Died: 401 BCE
Role: Achaemenid prince

Achaemenid prince and satrap (d. 401 BC)

c. 423-401 BCE

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Portrait of Cyrus the Younger in Persian royal dress

Quick facts

Profile details

Additional identity and tagging details that are not already covered in the introduction.

Also known as: Cyrus, Cyrus the Younger of Persia
Region: Persia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Persia and Anatolia

Facts

Cyrus the Younger timeline facts

Selected specifics from this profile's life story.

late 5th century BC: Royal prince
late 5th century BC: Power in the west
401 BC: Cunaxa
After 401 BC: The Anabasis legacy

Life Journey

The prince whose revolt exposed the empire

Follow Cyrus the Younger from western satrap to failed claimant and catalyst for a Greek march through Persia.

1 of 5/Royal prince

Next: Power in the west

late 5th century BC

Royal prince

Cyrus the Younger was born into the Achaemenid royal family, a son of Darius II and brother of Artaxerxes II.

late 5th century BC

Power in the west

Cyrus held authority in western Anatolia, where Persian satrapal power met Greek military and political networks.

401 BC

Challenge to Artaxerxes

Cyrus marched against Artaxerxes II in 401 BC, supported by Persian followers and Greek mercenaries.

401 BC

Cunaxa

Cyrus died at the Battle of Cunaxa near Babylon, ending his bid for the throne even though his Greek soldiers survived.

After 401 BC

The Anabasis legacy

Cyrus's revolt became famous through Xenophon's account of the Greek mercenaries who marched home through Persian territory.

late 5th century BC

Royal prince

Cyrus the Younger was born into the Achaemenid royal family, a son of Darius II and brother of Artaxerxes II.

Complete chronology

Full overview and deeper context for every journey step.

late 5th century BC

Royal prince

Cyrus the Younger belonged to the highest level of Achaemenid politics. As a royal prince, he had access to court prestige, provincial command, and the dangerous ambitions that surrounded succession. His name itself evoked Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire. But a famous name did not guarantee the throne. In the Achaemenid world, royal brothers could become rivals when armies, nobles, and provincial resources gathered behind different futures.

Royal birth created opportunity and danger in equal measure.

late 5th century BC

Power in the west

Cyrus's western base mattered because Anatolia sat between Persian administration and the Greek world. Satraps in this region could command wealth, troops, diplomacy, and relationships with Greek cities and soldiers. Cyrus cultivated connections that later helped him hire Greek mercenaries. His position shows both the strength and risk of the Persian system: powerful provincial figures could defend royal interests, but they could also gather the means to challenge the king.

The empire's governors were useful because they were powerful, and dangerous for the same reason.

401 BC

Challenge to Artaxerxes

In 401 BC, Cyrus moved from ambition to rebellion. He marched from western Anatolia toward the imperial heartland with a mixed force that included Greek mercenaries. The campaign depended on secrecy, money, loyalty, and speed. It was not a small local revolt. It was a direct challenge by a royal prince to the Great King, made possible by the empire's own provincial structures.

Cyrus used imperial resources against the empire's center.

401 BC

Cunaxa

At Cunaxa, Cyrus confronted the army of Artaxerxes II. The battle became famous because Cyrus was killed while the Greek mercenaries on his side remained undefeated in their part of the field. His death decided the political outcome. A living claimant might have transformed victory into kingship; a dead prince left his army stranded deep inside the empire. The failed rebellion became a different story: the long retreat of the Greeks.

A battle can be won locally and lost politically when the claimant dies.

After 401 BC

The Anabasis legacy

Cyrus the Younger is remembered partly because Xenophon turned the aftermath into one of the most influential Greek accounts of Persian space and military endurance. The march of the Ten Thousand did not prove that Persia was defenseless, but it did shape Greek perceptions of imperial vulnerability. Cyrus's failed bid for power therefore had consequences beyond his own death. It gave later Greek and Macedonian readers a story about moving through the empire and surviving.

His failed rebellion became evidence that later outsiders could imagine using.

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