

The Neo-Babylonian Empire at the time of Cyrus’s Conquest with the locations of major battles. The original labels are French, but hopefully similar enough to figure out. Original by Zunkir, Wikimedia Commons via GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. Alterations by Trevor Culley, 2019.



In Babylon, October of 539 BCE began in the 17th year of the reign of Nabonidus, but it ended in the 1st year of Cyrus. In this episode Cyrus the Great carries out his final campaign against Babylon. Our sources tell us that after a few short battles, the greatest city of the ancient world through open its gates and the Persians won the day. Of course, ancient history is never quite that clean. This time, we explore Cyrus’s greatest conquest, and the troubled, but fascinating, reign of Babylon’s last king.

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