WI: Cyrus does not die in Transoxiana
- Thread starter Fed
- Start date
Well, he was already quite old by the time he died. He might have enough life left in him to finish his campaign in Transoxiana, but I'm not quite sure he'll survive long enough to embark on an Egyptian campaign. However, this may butterfly the murder of Cambyses, which would end up having large ramifications down the line.
Wasn't he something closer to 50? That's not too old.
And btw, if Cambyses is not murdered and Egypt is taken quickly enough, what would happen to the Achaemenid Empire afterwards? Where would it go to to keep expanding, or would it stay in those borders?
Well, two different dates are given for his birth. Come to think of it, the later date makes a bit more sense, as I can imagine a 70 year old man would have considerable difficulty campaigning.
Yes, I generally use the second date because 1) it's more concise and 2) a 70-year old man campaigning into Transoxiana doesn't seem likely to me, as you said.
So would Cyrus living, say, ten more years and conquering Egypt lead to Cambyses warring against Greece instead? Or would he instead consolidate the Empire?
Alright, so, say Cyrus lives ten more years and finishes his conquest of Transoxiana, with the lands between the Oxus and Jaxartes rivers coming under Achaemenid rule. After this, he decides not to go to Egypt, but instead consolidating his empire, establishing a large part of the civil tolerance, the four capitals and consolidating Zoroastrianism and defining it to a further degree. This leaves an Achaemenid State which is more centralised since the beginning, probably more Persian (although I think the Akkadian, Aramaic and Elamite influence would still be there).
After his death in 520, Cambyses succeeds to the throne as Cambyses II, spends a few years devoted to the centralisation Cyrus started, and then launches off in the conquest of Egypt like in OTL. If this butterflies away the death of Bardiya, he succeeds to the throne, although maybe Cambyses has another son.