The son of King Deioces and the second king of the united Median tribes. It remains somewhat unclear if Phraortes was a real person, as the Greek historian Herodotus is the principal surviving ancient source for him and Herodotus’s information about the early Medes was second - or thirdhand. It is therefore difficult to date Phraortes’ reign, if he did exist. Modern estimates include circa 675 to 653 b. c., circa 665 to 633 b. c., and circa 647 to 625 B. C. Herodotus said that Phraortes attacked the Assyrian city of Nineveh but failed to take it and died in the attempt. Phraortes’ son, Herodotus added, was Cyaxares II. Definitely a real person, Cyaxares established the short-lived Median Empire.
See Also: Cyaxares II; Deioces; Median Empire credit the Assyrians with instituting a post, which consisted of riders carrying messages from the king and/or his officials in the capital to the governors of imperial provinces. This system was the basis of a more sophisticated one established by the Persians in the wake of Assyria’s decline. According to the Greek historian Xenophon, the first Persian king, Cyrus II, established the system. other ancient sources claim that one of Cyrus’s successors, Darius I (reigned 522-486 b. c.), created the Persian royal post, called the Barid. Essential to the system were some long “royal roads,” including the one that stretched from Susa in southeastern Mesopotamia to Sardis in western Anatolia. Although the Persian post at first dealt only with official government mail, evidence suggests that over time the couriers carried limited amounts of business and personal correspondence as well, foreshadowing the more universal postal systems of the future.
See Also: Darius I; roads; Sardis
World History
