“In winter, as you lie on a soft couch by the fire,

Full of good food, munching on nuts and drinking sweet wine,

Then you must ask questions such as these:

‘Where do you come from?  Tell me, what is your age?

How old were you when the Mede came?’” – Xenophanes of Colophon

The return of Harpagus to Anatolia signaled the end of Ionian Greek freedom.  After securing his third tyranny, Peisistratos brought stability and prosperity to Athens.  Fresh from a series of Eastern conquests, Cyrus II used propaganda and military might to overthrow Nabonidus and claim his third Near Eastern empire.