Description
The Median people were once the rulers of an expansive kingdom spanning central Persia to Asia Minor, seizing the opportunity to create a unified Median state after the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 605BC. The Median Kingdom endured until 505BC when the Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered its lands and formed the Achaemenid Empire. Under the Achaemenids, the Median people were considered prestige citizens, with equal status to their Persian kin. They held power as government officials, generals and as 'satraps' or governors. In battle, the Medes were known for the extraordinary agility of their horsemen, which they used against the crumbling Assyrian Empire, outmatching their enemy's skilled cavalry with superior mounted archers.
