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Cambyses II (died 522 BC)
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Image above:
Cambises Pers Rex
Cambyses the
Second, King of Persia
From the book
Promptuarii iconum insigniorum à seculo hominum,
subiectis eorum vitis, per compendium ex
probatissimis autoribus desumptis, printed
by Guillaume Rouille, Lyon, 1553 |
Cambyses II was the
eldest son
of
Cyrus the Great and a
member of the
Achaemenian
Dynasty.
According to
Herodotus, his mother was
Cassandane.
According to Ctesias, his mother was
Amytis.
We don't know exactly when
Cambyses II was born, but he ruled as the King of
Persia from 529 to 522 B.C.
Before becoming king in 529 B.C.,
Cambyses II represented his father at the famous New Year
festival at Babylon. Babylon had been conquered by his father in 539
B.C.
His father made him coregent over Babylon and officially
appointed him King of Babylon in 530 B.C.
The Victories of
Cambyses II
Cambyses' triumph over Egypt:
The campaign to conquer
Egypt had already been on Cyrus II's mind, who planned it all out.
In 525 B.C.
Cambyses II executed the plan successfully and
defeated Egypt's Psamtik III
after laying
siege to Memphis, in Egypt, where Psamtik and his men had barricaded themselves.
If
you want to believe Herodotus, Cambyses II was a mad man and behaved
as such during his conquest of Egypt. Today's
historians think this report is largely an invention.
Cambyses II was on the roll and
ready to conquer Ethiopia. But logistics presented a
problem shortly after he annexed the northern part of the country.
The Death of Cambyses II
There were reports of riots in Syria and Cambyses II
decided to leave Egypt to take care of the situation. And that is where he died in
522 B.C.
How did he die? We don't know.
Regarding the succession to the
throne after Cambyses II's death, see the
notes on Cyrus II.
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