Opener of Doors

"That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure even saying to Jerusalem, "Thou shalt be built", and to the temple, "Thy foundation shall be laid."
Isaiah 44:28

Anyone who gets an endorsement like that from the Prophet Isaiah is definitely destined to achieve new heights, and reach new heights this Persian emperor did. This man is called "The Great Father" by the Persian nation, and his name translates into "Like the Sun" or "He who will humiliate others. " He would cause the fate of three countries to change drastically.

ahem (clears throat dramatically)

Cyrus the Great, even when he was first born, was an anomaly. He was the son of a Persian prince and a Median women. The dual virtues of the Medians (politics and charisma) and the Persians (war and strategy) combined in Cyrus as he quickly worked to strengthen his position as King of the Persians. At that time Persia was a tributary of the mighty Median Empire, and Cyrus knew that any move he would make would have to be against his erstwhile overlords. Cyrus used his relation to a Median General to great effect when he persuaded him to defect from the Medes to Cyrus' army at the height of the battle of Pasargadae. With the defection of an entire army and one of his best generals, the Median King lost ground steadily and was soon destroyed by Cyrus. The taking of Media displays Cyrus' brilliance, as he did not upset the Medians by treating them as conquered subjects. He shrewdly claimed that this was simply the unification of the Medo-Persian Alliance, thereby creating an air of normalcy during the transition, and shifting the prestige and loyalties of Median Empire to the new Persian controlled nation. Persia had become a very dangerous power very quickly. To fully understand the scope of the coup that Cyrus had pulled off, we need to look at the political climate of the Middle East at that time.
The state of the Middle East could be summed-up as a slow boil. Egypt was allied with the Kingdom of Lydia against the Babylonian Empire and the Medes, while minor states and territories flocked to one or the other of the large alliances. Persia had usually stayed out of these struggles, only joining when the Median crown ordered them to, but now, with the quick conquest of Media, Cyrus had created a third independent power that threatened to destabilize the entire status quo. The Babylonians quickly allied themselves with their old enemies to ward off this monster that had arisen from the East. Although it may seem that the Persians were doomed in facing such a massive force, Cyrus knew that their new alliance lacked real unity and could not be depended upon to act in the best interests of all the member states. One of the members would undoubtedly break their pact.
Cyrus was correct in his assumption that an alliance member would prove unscrupulous. The Kingdom of Lydia was the unfortunate aggressor that attacked first in order to gain more spoils. The Kingdom of Lydia occupied a large part of Asia-Minor, and it was a highly dangerous country that utilized a prize, Calvary force with such destruction, that they were considered the best of the ancient world.
Lydia's campaign was flawed from the beginning in the fact that it lacked sufficient forces to occupy what it conquered, but visions of spoils compelled the King of Lydia to send his army in.
Cyrus, knowing that the allies of Lydia were gathering at his southern border, left the majority of his armies to deal with the coalescing forces and took an army of levies and mercenaries to deal with the Lydians. The ensuing battle, although inconclusive, forced the Lydians back into their own territory. It looked like Cyrus had extended himself too far, but when he pursued the Lydian Armies, they sent out their feared cavalry. Cyrus showed his military acumen by using camels, which scared the Lydian Horses and allowed them to be swept pathetically from the field by the Persian forces. The conquest of Lydia would prove as a defining moment of Cyrus the Great. Would the young conqueror be satisfied with his gains?
The king of Babylon, Nabonidus, and his son, Belshazzar, having lost the pivotal ally of Lydia, inquired this same thing of the Persians. Cyrus' answer was the epitome of eloquence -- the Persian army marched on Babylon. In the conquest of Lydia, we can see Cyrus' military ability, but in the conquest of the Babylonian Empire, we see Cyrus' political genius. Babylon may have been the first great world empire, but it was riddled with deep flaws in it's structure. Cyrus used these flaws with deadly ability. He preyed upon the Babylonian's heavy-handedness in bureaucratic matters, and issued a claim that the client-states join him in a revolt against their masters. Many did, thereby depriving Nabonidus of vitally needed troops and supplies for his upcoming battle with the advancing Persian forces. The Persian army easily swept away the derelict Babylonian army and continued to subdue the countryside on their march to the city of Babylon. The prince of Babylon was not afraid though. In fact, he was so confident of the strategy he had devised with his generals, that he declared a feast to the gods on the day of his father's battle. It was at this feast that the writing on the wall appeared, and Daniel translated Belshazzar's doom. It was that night that the Babylonian generals would be bribed by the Persians. It was on that night that Belshazzar was killed and Babylon fell to the Medo-Persians.
The subjugation of Babylon was something new to history. Tradition dictated that the conqueror would decimate the capitol of the enemy, making sure that it could not be used as a center for rebellion. Cyrus did the opposite. He caused as little damage to the city as possible, payed homage to the Babylonian gods, and kept the native governors working at their posts (with a watchful Persian to supervise, of course). Cyrus did not even force the people to accept him as a foreign overlord, but instead, installed himself as the choice King of Babylon by Marduk (the patron god of Babylon), leaving the day-to-day running of the city to his uncle Darius the Mede. These strange, new techniques that Cyrus utilized worked wonders in his newly, conquered territory, and actually net him tremendous good-will from his new subjects.
The largest empire to that date, the Persian Empire, now spanned from the border of India, to Asia Minor, concluding at the Sinai Peninsula. This empire was the first to institute a freedom of religion, and it laid the foundation for administration that was used years after it's demise. The Persian Empire can well be considered 'the second World Empire', and much, if not all, of this success can be attributed to Cyrus the Great.