Karl L. King composed the march “Cyrus the Great” (subtitled Persian March) as a tribute to his friend “Cy” Tremain. However, he likely drew musical inspiration from the titular emperor, who founded the Persian Empire around 550 BC. The march begins with an introductory brass fanfare leading into a descending low brass theme that recurs throughout the first strain. King made the somewhat less common choice to use the low brass section as the lead melodic voice for a muscular second strain. The t

Cyrus the Great died #onthisday in 530 BC. His Achaemenid empire, now often known as the Persian empire, stretched from South Asia to the Balkans. This object is known as the ‘Cyrus cylinder’ – it details his conquest of Babylon in 539 BC. Inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform, an ancient system of writing, the cylinder has sometimes been described as the 'first charter of human rights'. In fact it reflects a long tradition in Mesopotamia where, from as early as the third millennium BC, kings began