The Confession of Cyril uses of the procession of the Holy Spirit the compromising formula Ik tov vaTpbc ii' vtov (a poire per JUium). It teaches abso- lute predestination, denies moral freedom prior to re- generation, declares strongly against the rights claim- ed by the popes, and acknowledges only two sacra- ments, baptism and the Lord's Supper. It recommends the reading of the Bible, distinguishes the canonical from the deutero-canonical books, and rejects the ven- eration of images. It has been published by Kimmel in his lAbfi tymbol. eccles, Grceca. — ^Thom. Smith, Col- leckmea de CyrUlo Lucari (Lond. 1707) ; Bohnstedt, De CyriUo Lucari (Halle, 1724) ; Herzog, RecU-Ency- Hop. yiii, 538 ; Pichler, GetcMchie des ProtettatUismu8 fn der OrientoHfchm Kirche^ etc. (Munich, 1862, 8vo) ; Stanley, Eattem Church ; Princeton Review^ v, 312 ; Murdoch's Mosheim, Church History^ iii, 847, note 5 (N.Y.18M).
Cy'ras (Hebraized Ko'reth, «5'niS [frmce ttS'^JD, Ezra i, 1 kt. clause, 2], 2 Chron. xxxvi, 22, 23 ; Ezra i, 1, 7, 8 ; iii, 7 ; iv, 3, 6 ; Isa. xliv, 28 ; xlv, 1 ; Dan. i, 21; X, 1; Chald. id. Ezra v, 18, 14, 17; vi, 3, 14; Dan. vi, 28 ; Greek Ktipoc, as in 1 Esdr. ii, 8 ; iv, 44. 67; V, 71, 78; vi, 17, 21; for the old Persic Kunuh, supposed by the Greeks to mean the gun [Ctesias, Pert, Exc, 49; Plutarch, Arictx. /], but rather con- nected with the Sanscrit Kuru, of unknown signif., Rawlinson, Herod, iii, 455), originally called AgrodO" te* ('AypaSarrjc, Strabo, xv, 729 ; see RosenmQller, Al- terth, I, i, 367), the celebrated Persian king (D^B ?jbtt) and conqueror of Babylon, who promulgated the first edict for the restoration of the Jews to their own land (Ezra i, 1, etc.). "In consequence of a dream, Asty- ages, it is said, designed the death of his infant grand-
kh u r tt «A .
Symbolical Figure of Cyrus (from the Pereepolitan Monu- ments), and his Name in cuneiform Charactera.
son, but the child was spared by those whom he charged with the commission of the crime (Herod, i, 109 sq.), and Cyrus grew up in obscurity under the name of Agradates (Strab. xv, 729). His real paren- tage was discovered by the imperious spirit which he displayed while yet a boy (Herod, i, 114), and when he grew up to manhood his courage and genius placed him at the head of the Persians. The tyranny of As- tyages had at that time alienated a large faction of the Medes, and Cyrus headed a revolt which ended in the defeat and capture of the Median king, B.C. 559, near Pasargadss (now Murgh-Aub) (Strabo, xv, 730). After consolidating the empire which he thus gained, Cyrus entered on that career of conquest which has made him the hero of the East. In B.C. 546 (?) he defeated Croesus, and the kingdom of Lydia was the prize of his success. While his general Harpagus was engaged in completing the reduction of Asia Minor, Cyrus turned his artns against the Babylonians. Bab- ylon fell before his army, and the ancient dominions of Assyria were added to his empire (B.C. 538). The conquest of Baljylon opened the way for greater de- signs. It is probable that Cyrus planned an invasion of Egypt; and there are traces of campaigns in Cen- tral Asia, in which he appears to have attempted to extend his power to the Indus (Ctesias, Pen. o. 5 sq.). Afterwards he attacked the MjEissagets, and, accord- ing to Herodotus, (i, 214; comp. Josephus, i4n<. xi, 2, 1), he fiell in a battle against them B.C. 529 (Clinton, Fatt, Eeil ii, 801 sq.). His tomb is still shown at
CTRtrS
636
CYRUS
Pasargadn (Arrlan, E^, ALviy 29), the scene of his first decisive victory (Rawlinson, Herod, i, 278).
" It is impossible to insist upon tlie details of the out- line thos sketched. In the time of Herodotos C^rrns was already regarded as the national hero of Persia, and his history had received varioos popular embel- lishments (Herod. 1, 9&; comp. iii, 18, 160; Xenoph. Cyrop. i, 2, 1). In the next century Xenophon chose him as the hero of his romance, and fact and fiction became thenceforth hopelessly confused in classical writers. But, in the absence of authentic details of his actions, the empire which he left is the best record of his power and plans. Like an Oriental Alexander, he aimed at universal dominion ; and the influence of Persia, like that of Greece, survived the dynasty from which it sprung. In every aspect the reign of Cyrus marks an epoch in universal history. The fall of Sar- dis and Babylon was the starting-point of European life ; and it is a singular coincidence that the begin- ning of Gre^iian art and philosophy, and the founda- tion of the Roman constitution, synchronize with the triamph of the Arian race in the East (Niebuhr, GtHh, Ass. p. 232).*'— (Smith, s. v.) The fbllowmg poinU demand especial consideration (our statements on which are chiefly drawn from Kitto and Smith) :
1. His Parentage. — Herodotus (i, 107) and Xenophon (Cyrop. i, 2, 1) agree that he was son of Cambyses, prince of Persia, and of Mandane, daughter of Astya- ges, king of the Median empire. In an Assyrian in- scription he is called the " son of Cambyses the pow- erful king*' (Rawlinson, Herod. 1, 193), Ctesias denies that there wfs any relationship at adl between Cyrus and Astyages (Pers. Exc. 2). According to him, when Cyrus had defeated and captured Astyages, he adopted him as a grandfather, and invested Amytis, or Amyn- tis, the daughter of Astyages (whose name is in all probability only another form of Bfandane), with all the honors of queen dowager. His object in so doing was to facilitate the submission of the more distant parts of the empire, which were not yet conquered ; and he reaped excellent fhiit of his policy in winning the homage of the ancient, rich, and remote province of Bactria. Ctesias adds that Cyrus afterwards mar- ried Amytis. It is easy to see that the latter account is by far the more hbtorical, and that the story fol- lowed by Herodotus and Xenophon is that which the courtiers published in aid of the Persian prince's de- signs. Tet there is no reason for doubting that, on the father's side, Cyrus belonged to the AchsemenidsB, the royal clan of the military tribe of the Persians. See Siutorius, De ratiomb. cur in esepon. vita et rel. ge$t, Cjfriy Xenophonii potius quam Herodot, sit credettdum (Lfkbben, 1771). A diffSerent view is taken in Smith's Did. of Class. Biog. s. v. See Daricts (the Mede).