# Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BCE) founded Achaemenid Persia, the largest empire the ancient world had yet seen, and is remembered for a model of imperial rule notable for its tolerance of local religions and customs. He overthrew the Median overlords, conquered Lydia, and in 539 BCE took the city of Babylon — the conquest that ended the Babylonian Exile of the people of Kingdom of Israel and Judah (see Babylonia). That act is the source of Cyrus's outsized modern political footprint. Because he freed the Judeans and authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem, the Book of Isaiah calls him God's "anointed" — a righteous gentile ruler used by God for divine purposes. This is the direct scriptural basis for the [[Cyrus Prophecy]], the charismatic-evangelical framing of [[Donald Trump]] as a modern Cyrus: a flawed, even ungodly leader nonetheless anointed to deliver God's people. See [[Antiquity in Right-Wing Thought Hub]]. ## See also [[Cyrus Prophecy]] · [[Antiquity in Right-Wing Thought Hub]]