00:00Who was the kindest ruler in the ancient world?
00:03It was not a king who built the biggest empire.
00:06It was a king who set people free.
00:09His name was Cyrus the Great.
00:12In 539 BC, Cyrus ruled Persia, the largest empire on earth.
00:18But he did not rule like other conquerors.
00:21When his army took Babylon, he did not burn the city.
00:25He did not destroy the population.
00:28Instead, he allowed exiled people to return home.
00:31He ended forced labor, and he declared that people had the right to choose their own religion.
00:37His decrees were carved onto a clay artifact known today as the Cyrus Cylinder.
00:43A copy sits at the United Nations, often celebrated as the world's first declaration of human rights.
00:50Cyrus proved that true power is not about how many you conquer.
00:54It is about how many you free.
