In any case the Bible is very clear that of all foreign rules, the Persian rule was the most tolerant (also in religion), lax and beneficial, not at least because of the federalism and authonomy granted by the Persian kings. Aramaeic even became the lingua franca of the Persian empire and Jews served as local sub-kings in Persia (even outside of Israel/Judea).
Very different from the murderous Assyrian and Babylonian enslavement and later the hated Greek and Roman yoke, against which the Jews rebelled.
It is interesting to note the very different perspectives on the Persians from Jewish/Biblical perspective on the one hand, and the Greek perception on the other.
Well, a conquerer is still a conquerer.
It’s like “oh, he was a NICE slave master.”
Could be; I always get Xerxes, Artaxerxes, and the various Dariuses mixed up.