Empires have dominated our globe for centuries on, yet no one has linked the connection between how these empires rise, and what causes their reign to end. Through collective studies, Day Of Empire author Amy Chua presents a persuasive theory which argues that hyper powers achieved their world dominance through tolerance of culture and religion, as well as the individuals residing in the conquered society, amassing their talents for the benefit of the Empire.
The Great Persian (Achaemenid) Empire
Amy Chua develops chapter one by introducing the reader to the Achaemenid Empire or Persian Empire, the first hyper power in history, ruling over one third of the world’s population, and a territory more vast than all known empires throughout history. Following the introduction to such an exquisitely large empire, Amy Chua suggests the Persian empire achieved their dominance and maintained it, with one critical strategy: Tolerance. The hearth of the Persian Empire can be derived from the tolerance of Cyrus the Great. Cyrus’ technique for expanding the empire was to conquer, but with peace. Rather than attacking and striking fear into the nearby lands and their residents, Cyrus tolerated the culture, belief and rituals of the residents, which built a favorism towards Cyrus, and an empire, built to last . Cyrus then, left the enormous empire he built to his son, Cambyses who after invading Egypt, continued his father’s policy and tolerated the customs and culture of the local residents. With Cambyses’ conquests of Phoenicia, Libya Egypt and many other cities, the Achaemenid Empire rose to the “worlds greatest naval power.” After the death of Cambyses, a relative named Darius, took over. Building on what Cambyses and Cyrus had accomplished, Darius expanded into India and Eastern Europe and introduced a system of currency, extended/improved communication systems, and formalized taxing. Throughout his ruling, Darius