Cyrus the Younger

Cyrus the Younger (Old Persian: Kūruš; Ancient Greek: Kyros; died 401 BC), rarely called Cyrus III, was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC in battle during a failed attempt to oust his elder brother Artaxerxes II from the Persian throne.

The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of his Greek mercenaries is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of Stymphalus, was used by Ephorus. Further information is contained in the excerpts from Artaxerxes II's physician, Ctesias, by Photius; Plutarch’s Lives of Artaxerxes II and Lysander; and Thucydides's History of Peloponnesian War. These are the only early sources of information on Cyrus the Younger.