Not for nothing was the site known as Pasargadae: the name of Cyrus' tribe. It was hardly a paradox, after all, that a nomad too might have his roots.
Now, with Cyrus dead, manoeuvrings among the clans and tribes of Persia would affect millions. Could a successor hope to take Cyrus' place, or was the empire of the Persians, suddenly deprived of its founder's charisma, doomed to vanish as rapidly as it had emerged? As the chronicles of countless vanished empires bore witness, the death of a king was a moment ripe with peril for even the greatest monarchy. Cyrus, with a dynast's natural enthusiasm for progeniture, had fathered three daughters and — more significantly — two sons; but this guaranteed nothing. To a great empire as to a nomad's clan, a superfluity of heirs might prove quite as perilous as none.
Far-sighted as ever, though, Cyrus had understood the danger and sought to insure against it, carefully providing for the hopes of both his sons. Before his death, he had appointed the elder, Cambyses, crown prince, and the younger, Bardiya, governor of Bactria. This was the largest and most important of the eastern provinces, and even though denied a kidaris, the fluted tiara of royal power, Bardiya had been exempted from paying tribute, a privilege properly befitting a king. Whether his resentment of his brother had been mollified by such an honour, or whether it had only piqued his taste for royal status, time would have to tell. Either way, due notice had been given to the world of Cyrus' plans for its future: Cambyses was to sit on the throne of the Persians, and Bardiya was to be his lieutenant. No one else was to have a sniff of power. Just to press this point home, a scandalous match was arranged between Cambyses and his two elder sisters, Atossa and Rhoxsane, a spectacle of incest without precedent in the traditions of Persia, but which set a satisfying block on the ambitions of any rival noble house. 31 After all, who worthier of Cyrus' daughters than Cyrus' son? The bloodline of the great conqueror had become — like a spring watched over by the Magi or the flames of a sacred fire - something precious, to be tended and preserved from all pollution.
Even as Cyrus' corpse was laid to rest in a sarcophagus of gold, inside a tomb carefully oriented towards the rising sun, amid the prayers and lamentations of its Magian attendants, Cambyses moved to claim his birthright. The monarchy of the world was now his. True, as he took his place upon his father's throne, a few eyes may have turned towards his brother; but Bardiya, confirmed in the governorship of his great fiefdom in the east, gave no sign of any treacherous intent. Cyrus' last will and testament proved to have been most cunningly constructed. Both brothers had much to gain by interlocking their interests. It might have been thought that Cambyses would have sought, as his priority, to avenge his father's death — but that would have required him to lead a massive army into the eastern provinces, and provoke his brother's open resentment. Equally, it might have been thought that Bardiya, possessed of a menacing power base, would have sought to force further privileges from Cambyses — but that would have been to risk the open fury of the new king. Whether tacitly or not, the two brothers formed a compact. Bardiya was to be left undisturbed in his province, but he would guard his brother's back; 32 Cambyses, every bit as ambitious for conquest as his father, would turn his armies not against the impoverished tribesmen who had killed Cyrus but towards a kingdom at the opposite end of his frontiers, rich in gold and gargantuan temples, the one great power still surviving from the old world order, and that the most timeless and celebrated of all. He would wage war on Egypt.
Such a campaign, of course, could not be rushed. The might of the pharaohs may have been much diminished from its ancient splendour, having grown dependent upon the support of shiftless
Now, with Cyrus dead, manoeuvrings among the clans and tribes of Persia would affect millions. Could a successor hope to take Cyrus' place, or was the empire of the Persians, suddenly deprived of its founder's charisma, doomed to vanish as rapidly as it had emerged? As the chronicles of countless vanished empires bore witness, the death of a king was a moment ripe with peril for even the greatest monarchy. Cyrus, with a dynast's natural enthusiasm for progeniture, had fathered three daughters and — more significantly — two sons; but this guaranteed nothing. To a great empire as to a nomad's clan, a superfluity of heirs might prove quite as perilous as none.
Far-sighted as ever, though, Cyrus had understood the danger and sought to insure against it, carefully providing for the hopes of both his sons. Before his death, he had appointed the elder, Cambyses, crown prince, and the younger, Bardiya, governor of Bactria. This was the largest and most important of the eastern provinces, and even though denied a kidaris, the fluted tiara of royal power, Bardiya had been exempted from paying tribute, a privilege properly befitting a king. Whether his resentment of his brother had been mollified by such an honour, or whether it had only piqued his taste for royal status, time would have to tell. Either way, due notice had been given to the world of Cyrus' plans for its future: Cambyses was to sit on the throne of the Persians, and Bardiya was to be his lieutenant. No one else was to have a sniff of power. Just to press this point home, a scandalous match was arranged between Cambyses and his two elder sisters, Atossa and Rhoxsane, a spectacle of incest without precedent in the traditions of Persia, but which set a satisfying block on the ambitions of any rival noble house. 31 After all, who worthier of Cyrus' daughters than Cyrus' son? The bloodline of the great conqueror had become — like a spring watched over by the Magi or the flames of a sacred fire - something precious, to be tended and preserved from all pollution.
Even as Cyrus' corpse was laid to rest in a sarcophagus of gold, inside a tomb carefully oriented towards the rising sun, amid the prayers and lamentations of its Magian attendants, Cambyses moved to claim his birthright. The monarchy of the world was now his. True, as he took his place upon his father's throne, a few eyes may have turned towards his brother; but Bardiya, confirmed in the governorship of his great fiefdom in the east, gave no sign of any treacherous intent. Cyrus' last will and testament proved to have been most cunningly constructed. Both brothers had much to gain by interlocking their interests. It might have been thought that Cambyses would have sought, as his priority, to avenge his father's death — but that would have required him to lead a massive army into the eastern provinces, and provoke his brother's open resentment. Equally, it might have been thought that Bardiya, possessed of a menacing power base, would have sought to force further privileges from Cambyses — but that would have been to risk the open fury of the new king. Whether tacitly or not, the two brothers formed a compact. Bardiya was to be left undisturbed in his province, but he would guard his brother's back; 32 Cambyses, every bit as ambitious for conquest as his father, would turn his armies not against the impoverished tribesmen who had killed Cyrus but towards a kingdom at the opposite end of his frontiers, rich in gold and gargantuan temples, the one great power still surviving from the old world order, and that the most timeless and celebrated of all. He would wage war on Egypt.
Such a campaign, of course, could not be rushed. The might of the pharaohs may have been much diminished from its ancient splendour, having grown dependent upon the support of shiftless
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