`  Some sources:       I arrived here on a search for more background while reading ``History of the Persian Empire``, A.T. Olmstead, University of Chicago Press, 1945.  p. 65, in a chapter describing the new capital city of the new Persian Empire:   ``...along which he [Cyrus the Great] had watched the defeated Medes streaming back to Ecbatana.``  Olmstead cites Strabo (the ancient greek geographer) xv, 3. 8.   Olmstead devotes chapter 12 to ``The three capitals, Ebbatana, Babylon, and Susa``.  I'm no scholar and can't weigh in on this discussion beyond suggesting these sources.   john tucker dec 2011`