The Medes, under Astyages, have subdued the…

The Medes, under Astyages, have subdued the Persians and other Iranian tribes on the plateau.

According to Herodotus, Astyages chooses Cambyses, an early member of the Achaemenid dynasty, as a son-in-law because he considers him to pose no threat to the Medean throne.

Cambyses is apparently a great-grandson of the dynasty’s founder Achaemenes, grandson of Teispes of Anshan and son of Cyrus I of Anshan.

Anshan, the original capital of Elam in the third millennium BCE, captured by Teispes, is now a minor kingdom in the declining Elamite Empire.

Cambyses’ paternal uncle had reigned as Ariaramnes of Persia and his first cousin as Arsames of Persia.

According to Herodotus, Cambyses is "a man of good family and quiet habits".

Reigning from 580 under the overlordship of Astyages, he is reportedly married to Princess Mandane of Media, a daughter to Astyages and Princess Aryenis of Lydia, and reportedly a granddaughter to both Cyaxares of Media and Alyattes II of Lydia.