Who was greater, Cyrus the Great or Alexander the Great?
It depends on what you measure. Cyrus built: he founded the Persian Empire, the largest the world had yet seen, and created the template for the multi-ethnic world empire. Alexander conquered: he destroyed that empire, never lost a major battle and was the more dazzling soldier, but what he won did not hold. As a founder, Cyrus has few equals.
Two conquerors are bound together by one empire: Cyrus the Great founded the Persian Empire, the largest empire the ancient world had yet seen, and two centuries later Alexander the Great destroyed it. One built, the other took. Here they are, side by side.1
Head to head
| Cyrus the Great | Alexander the Great | |
|---|---|---|
| Lived | Born c. 600 to 580 BC; died c. 530 BC2 | 356 to 323 BC3 |
| Age at death | About 50 to 70; his birth year is uncertain4 | 325 |
| Years in power | King of Persia from 559 BC to his death, about 30 years6 | King of Macedon from 336 to 323 BC, about 13 years7 |
| Role | Founder of the Persian Empire | King of Macedon and conqueror |
| Greatest achievement | Building the Persian Empire | Gaugamela, 331 BC |
| At its height | From the Aegean to Central Asia | From Greece to the edge of India |
| Empire area | No estimate for 530 BC; the Persian Empire at its peak, about 500 BC under Darius I: c. 5.5 million km² (2.1 million mi²)8 | c. 5.2 million km² (2.0 million mi²) in 323 BC9 |
| Main battles | Won against the Medes (c. 550 BC), Lydia (Sardis, 547 or 546 BC) and Babylon (Opis, 539 BC); defeated and killed by the Massagetae in 530 BC, according to Herodotus10 | Won at the Granicus (334 BC), Issus (333), Gaugamela (331) and the Hydaspes (326); never lost a major battle11 |
| Reputation | Remembered as a tolerant founder-king | Never lost a major battle |
| Undoing | Killed on campaign in the east, c. 530 BC | Died at 32; his empire split among his generals |
| Lasting legacy | The model of the world empire | The Hellenistic age and the spread of Greek culture |
Cyrus: the founder
Cyrus the Great united the Persians and Medes and, in a single generation, built the largest empire the world had yet seen, stretching from Asia Minor to the edge of Central Asia. He is remembered not only for conquest but for a relatively tolerant rule, allowing conquered peoples their own customs and faiths, an image preserved in the Cyrus Cylinder and in the biblical return of the Judean exiles.12
Alexander: the conqueror
Alexander the Great inherited a superb Macedonian army and, in less than a decade, destroyed the very empire Cyrus had built, winning his decisive victory at Gaugamela in 331 BC. He never lost a major battle and carried Greek culture as far as India, but died at thirty-two with no settled succession, and his empire was torn apart by his generals.13
Who lived first, Cyrus or Alexander?
Cyrus, by more than two centuries. He was born around 600 to 580 BC and died in about 530 BC; Alexander was born in 356 BC, some 174 years after Cyrus's death. Cyrus became king of Persia in 559 BC, Alexander king of Macedon in 336 BC, so their reigns began 223 years apart.14
Between them ruled Cyrus's successors. His son Cambyses II added Egypt in 525 BC, and under Darius I, who reigned from 522 to 486 BC, the empire reached its greatest extent. The king Alexander overthrew, Darius III, was the last of the same Achaemenid line.15
Whose empire was bigger, Cyrus's or Alexander's?
On the most widely used estimates, the Persian Empire at its peak and Alexander's empire were close in size. A table by Peter Turchin and colleagues, built on Rein Taagepera's measurements, gives about 5.5 million km² (2.1 million mi²) for Persia around 500 BC and 5.2 million km² (2.0 million mi²) for Alexander's empire in 323 BC.16
The Persian figure, however, belongs to the reign of Darius I, not to Cyrus. When Cyrus died, Egypt was not yet Persian: his authority reached the borders of Egypt, and the country fell only to Cambyses in 525 BC. Cyrus therefore ruled less land than Alexander held in 323 BC, although these tables give no separate figure for 530 BC. The same estimates put the Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan at more than twice Alexander's size, as we show in Genghis Khan vs Alexander.17
Did Alexander conquer Cyrus's empire?
Yes. The empire Alexander invaded in 334 BC was the state Cyrus had founded, still ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty. After his victories at Issus in 333 BC and Gaugamela in 331 BC, he took Persepolis in 330 BC, and that summer Darius III, the last Achaemenid king, was murdered by his own satrap Bessus while fleeing.18
Alexander sent Darius's body to Persis for burial in the royal tombs, as earlier Persian kings had been buried. The battles that built and then ended this empire are gathered in the greatest battles of the Persian Empire.19
How did Alexander treat the tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae?
With respect. Arrian, drawing on Alexander's officer Aristobulus, says Alexander found the tomb broken into and robbed and ordered Aristobulus to restore it: to return the surviving remains to the coffin, replace the furnishings and wall up the door under the royal seal. The order dates from 324 BC.20
The damage was discovered on Alexander's second visit to Pasargadae, after his return from India. Arrian adds that Alexander had the Magi who guarded the tomb tortured to learn who was responsible, then released them when they admitted nothing. According to Plutarch, he put the culprit, a Macedonian of Pella named Polymachus, to death, had the tomb's inscription repeated in Greek and was moved by its words. According to Livius, archaeologists have found no trace of the repairs, so the restoration is known only from the literary sources.21
The verdict
Cyrus built; Alexander conquered. Cyrus created the template for the multi-ethnic world empire and a reputation for tolerance that outlived his dynasty by millennia. Alexander was the more dazzling soldier, undefeated and astonishingly young, but he destroyed more than he built, and what he won did not hold. As a founder Cyrus has few equals; as a conqueror Alexander stands almost alone. If one of the two must be called the greater, our choice is Cyrus: the state he founded lasted some two centuries, while Alexander's did not survive him intact.22
Three caveats apply. Cyrus's birth year is uncertain, and the ancient accounts of his death disagree: Herodotus has him killed in battle, while Xenophon has him die peacefully in his capital. The area figures are approximations drawn from historical atlases. And the two men faced different tasks: Cyrus assembled an empire out of the kingdoms of the 6th century BC, while Alexander took over that empire whole.23
Compare more in Napoleon vs Alexander and Alexander vs Caesar, or meet the field in the greatest military commanders. Alexander's victory at Gaugamela is one of the questions in the ancient battles quiz.
About this comparison
Each commander above has a full biography on this site, with its own sources. Judgments of who was "greater" are ours and openly a matter of debate; the facts and dates follow established histories. See our editorial policy.
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