>>>”I can’t say what his motivation was, e.g., he didn’t like slavery because the nature of slavery or he didn’t like slavery because at the moment it didn’t aid him in expanding his empire.”<<<
All you have to do is look for a translation of Cyrus’ “human rights declaration”. It clarifies much about his motivation regarding slavery.
>>>”The thug comment was about a ruler that expanded an empire through conquest.”<<<
No doubt. What exactly did Alexander the Macedonian do? And, the Greek Seleucid Empire, thereafter, was atrocious to the Jews.
>>>”Empire builders have their intentions (power) come first.”<<<
Of course. No less expected, especially in those days. It’s also about how they manage their Empire.
>>>”Muslims use deception, in this case using history to distract for current issues.”<<<
Cyrus was not a muslim.
>>>”Ancient history has nothing to do with the situation between Iran and Israel today.”<<<
True. See: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3264711/posts?page=30#30
There is a meme out there that Cyrus and the Persians didn’t hold slaves. This is promoted by modern Iranian nationalists to make their ancestors look good, by modern standards.
It is of course nonsense, as all actual historians know. In fact, all Persians considered themselves the slaves of the King of Kings, and were proud of it. There were also a great many actual slaves in their empire, of the State, the King and individuals.
A very great deal of the antagonism between the Persians and Greeks was based on the refusal of the Greeks to accept becoming slaves of the King by submitting to his rule. This is blindingly obvious in Herodotus, Plutarch, etc. Herodotus has vivid description of the “netting” slave raids of the Persians. The army would join hands and march across an entire Greek island to make sure none of the inhabitants were able to escape them.
(Not that that the Greeks had anything against the institution of slavery, as such. They just objected to having it applied to them.)