The Persian Empire
The Persian Empire was a vast empire; it stretched from Egypt to Turkey past Mesopotamia to the Indus River. It was located in what is now Iran. Around the fifth century B.C.E. it had become the largest empire on Earth. Although the Persian Empire did well, due to some poor emperors decisions, it disappeared just as fast as it appeared. There were a lot of nomadic tribes that did not have a police force or law makers. But some tribes would collect different tribes all under one leadership. “The Medes were one such. They built a capital at Ecbatana (‘meeting place’) in the eastern Zagros from where they extended their power.” The king of Medes took over Nineveh, allowing them to move northwest. They later tried to battle the Lydian’s but
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a solar eclipse scared them into keeping the peace. The king Nineveh later died leaving the empire to his son Astyages.
Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great became king of Persis after defeating his predecessor, Astyages. Cyrus built a capital where he had won his victory, and named it Pasargadae, after his tribe. He started by leading an army against the Medes, conquering the Median Empire and obtaining Assyria with it. “The size of the Median Empire is not exactly known, but it seems to have included Cappadocia and Armenia in the west and Parthia, Aria and Hyrcania in the east.”
Due to the downfall of the Median Empire the Lydian’s went east running into the Persian military. They pulled back for the winter, thinking that they would continue in the spring. But Cyrus played dirty and followed them home; giving the Persian’s an opportunity to get to their capital, eventually falling after a two week siege. Since the Lydian’s were allies with the Egyptians and Babylonians, the Persians had to deal with them. Cyrus started a misleading campaign; to profit from the unpopular king, Nabonidus. He told the people of Babylon that they would be safer under his rule. Cyrus showed up and started preforming ceremonies that the other king did not perform, and gave back icons from churches that had been taken away. This allowed Cyrus to be able to claim the throne approved by the Babylonian gods. He made a treaty with them say that as long as they payed taxes; he would allow them to work and worship as they please.
In 539 B.C.E. they defeated the Babylonian army. He thought that partnerships were strengths and could help him gain other kingdoms. Cyrus died in 530 B.C.E. and his son Cambyses took the throne. Egypt was the only major power left, but in 525 B.C.E. Cyrus’s son Cambyses got control of the capital after a ten day siege. Cyrus unlike other kings was known to be merciful. He kept the previous ruler to ask for help on how to best run the area. Cyrus also released the Hebrew’s who had been captive for more than fifty years. Other conquerors would have enslaved them. “He also returned sacred items that were stolen and allowed them to rebuild temples. Also allowing them to live and worship as they chose.” Even after his death, his beneficiaries agreed to only intervene if affected their rules. Some even adopted their religious practices, and respected any traditions that their subjects may have. Instead of abolishing the other economies, they used them to their advantage and increased trading throughout the kingdom. They even made official money that was consistently used; they also made uniform laws and weight measurements. They then put taxes on agriculture, manufactured goods, and churches. Although none of the Persian people had to pay taxes. A few years later a civil war started when his attendant Gaumâta, revolted.
Then an emergency in the court caused Cambyses to go back to Persia, but he died on his way back and Darius the Great took the throne. After two uprisings in a year, many realms in the Persian Empire revolted. The most notable being “those of Phraortes of Media and Nidintu-Bêl of Babylonia.” After nineteen battles his reign in the empire was finally balanced, using roads for communication and developed a system of governors. Darius divided the empire into twenty regions which the satraps were in charge of. They were also given land to hostile leaders, in return for their devotion and military …show more content…
support.
He then took control of northwestern India, and started some major building projects. First he planned to build up the city with more noble buildings for the city of Susa. Then Darius planned a better design for the city of Persepolis. Even with all these modifications a vast majority of the empire was still farmers or craftsmen that were having a hard time getting by.
While Cyrus had helped build the mailing system, Darius made communicating across the empire easier. He established a road that was 1600 miles long that stretched from Sardis to Susa. Throughout the road there were many places to stay, which they could get new horses and supplies. “Old Persian language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of cuneiform.” The Persian Empire had become the largest empire thanks to Cyrus and Darius, ruling over the majority of the established world at that time. Darius died so his son Xerxes took the throne, this is when the kingdom stopped expanding. But Darius wanted the Greeks to abide by Persian rule; the Athenians refused and joined Greece in the Greco-Persian War that lasted into the first half of the fifth century. Persia made some breakthroughs and destroyed Athens in 480 B.C.E., but the Greeks had some major victories forcing the Persians to pull back. He overcame the Babylonian revolt, but the forces that he deserted were conquered. Xerxes was murdered and one of his sons, Artaxerxes I, took the throne. Under his administration, Egypt defiance was stopped and they put command posts up in Levant. After Artaxerxes I, came Darius II which the empire did good under his command. While Artaxerxes I and Darius II the empire stayed about the same, being the strongest power on Earth. But during the next king, Artaxerxes II’s, reign Egypt declared independence. A civil war began between Artaxerxes II and his brother Cyrus, who had a Greek mercenary army but was defeated. This battle was important in showing that the no other army compared to the Persian army.
Out of all the Persian kings, Artaxerxes II was on throne the longest, although little is known about him but, “Writing in the early second century A.D., Plutarch describes him as a sympathetic ruler and courageous warrior.” He was followed by Artaxerxes III, who regained control of Egypt thanks to the help of two generals. The Persians had tried multiple times before to get Egypt back and nothing worked until Artaxerxes III Ochus, Bagoas and Mentor of Rhodes forced the Pharaoh off the throne. But he too got assassinated and his son Artaxerxes VI took the throne and later was assassinated, and replaced with Darius III. There were many uprisings against him but he put an end to them quickly. He was later killed by Alexander of Macedon, or Alexander the Great in battle.
Alexander had to work for all the success he got, taking all of the territories by force. Following his death in Babylon, the empire was divided in three parts. “Macedonia was ruled by Antipater, Ptolemy reconstituted the Egyptian kingdom, and Seleucus ruled the Asian parts of Alexander's realms. In fact, the Seleucid Empire was a continuation of the Achaemenid Empire.”
Although they allowed those they conquered to practice any religion freely, the Persians had decided on one religion: Zoroastrianism.
It was created by the Persian prophet Zoroaster. “The Zoroastrian concept of God incorporates both monotheism and dualism. In his visions, Zarathustra was taken up to heaven, where Ahura Mazda revealed that he had an opponent, Aura Mainyu, the spirit and promoter of evil. Ahura Mazda charged Zarathustra with the task of inviting all human beings to choose between him (good) and Aura Mainyu (evil).” His beliefs were written in the Gathas, poems that are part of their religions most sacred book, the Avesta. “Zoroaster believed that people were training for a future life. He taught that the earthly world was torn by a constant struggle between good and
evil.”
He ultimately left the decision up to the people but he would say that their decision would affect the greater good. While arranging for the final judgement people had to choose between good and bad and good would overcome evil. After good won, everything would vanish. Ahura Mazda personified wisdom and goodness. Your actions in life determined where you went in the afterlife, so if you did good deeds it would count more than the bad ones and you would go to heaven. But if you did more bad deeds than good ones you would go to hell. There was also an in between for those who did both good and bad equally. The human faults aren’t balanced on the scales forever, hey can be taken off if you do confession. It also helped to shape other religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Zoroastrianism is still practiced in remote areas, and successfully in India.
a solar eclipse scared them into keeping the peace. The king Nineveh later died leaving the empire to his son Astyages.
Cyrus II or Cyrus the Great became king of Persis after defeating his predecessor, Astyages. Cyrus built a capital where he had won his victory, and named it Pasargadae, after his tribe. He started by leading an army against the Medes, conquering the Median Empire and obtaining Assyria with it. “The size of the Median Empire is not exactly known, but it seems to have included Cappadocia and Armenia in the west and Parthia, Aria and Hyrcania in the east.”
Due to the downfall of the Median Empire the Lydian’s went east running into the Persian military. They pulled back for the winter, thinking that they would continue in the spring. But Cyrus played dirty and followed them home; giving the Persian’s an opportunity to get to their capital, eventually falling after a two week siege. Since the Lydian’s were allies with the Egyptians and Babylonians, the Persians had to deal with them. Cyrus started a misleading campaign; to profit from the unpopular king, Nabonidus. He told the people of Babylon that they would be safer under his rule. Cyrus showed up and started preforming ceremonies that the other king did not perform, and gave back icons from churches that had been taken away. This allowed Cyrus to be able to claim the throne approved by the Babylonian gods. He made a treaty with them say that as long as they payed taxes; he would allow them to work and worship as they please.
In 539 B.C.E. they defeated the Babylonian army. He thought that partnerships were strengths and could help him gain other kingdoms. Cyrus died in 530 B.C.E. and his son Cambyses took the throne. Egypt was the only major power left, but in 525 B.C.E. Cyrus’s son Cambyses got control of the capital after a ten day siege. Cyrus unlike other kings was known to be merciful. He kept the previous ruler to ask for help on how to best run the area. Cyrus also released the Hebrew’s who had been captive for more than fifty years. Other conquerors would have enslaved them. “He also returned sacred items that were stolen and allowed them to rebuild temples. Also allowing them to live and worship as they chose.” Even after his death, his beneficiaries agreed to only intervene if affected their rules. Some even adopted their religious practices, and respected any traditions that their subjects may have. Instead of abolishing the other economies, they used them to their advantage and increased trading throughout the kingdom. They even made official money that was consistently used; they also made uniform laws and weight measurements. They then put taxes on agriculture, manufactured goods, and churches. Although none of the Persian people had to pay taxes. A few years later a civil war started when his attendant Gaumâta, revolted.
Then an emergency in the court caused Cambyses to go back to Persia, but he died on his way back and Darius the Great took the throne. After two uprisings in a year, many realms in the Persian Empire revolted. The most notable being “those of Phraortes of Media and Nidintu-Bêl of Babylonia.” After nineteen battles his reign in the empire was finally balanced, using roads for communication and developed a system of governors. Darius divided the empire into twenty regions which the satraps were in charge of. They were also given land to hostile leaders, in return for their devotion and military …show more content…
support.
He then took control of northwestern India, and started some major building projects. First he planned to build up the city with more noble buildings for the city of Susa. Then Darius planned a better design for the city of Persepolis. Even with all these modifications a vast majority of the empire was still farmers or craftsmen that were having a hard time getting by.
While Cyrus had helped build the mailing system, Darius made communicating across the empire easier. He established a road that was 1600 miles long that stretched from Sardis to Susa. Throughout the road there were many places to stay, which they could get new horses and supplies. “Old Persian language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of cuneiform.” The Persian Empire had become the largest empire thanks to Cyrus and Darius, ruling over the majority of the established world at that time. Darius died so his son Xerxes took the throne, this is when the kingdom stopped expanding. But Darius wanted the Greeks to abide by Persian rule; the Athenians refused and joined Greece in the Greco-Persian War that lasted into the first half of the fifth century. Persia made some breakthroughs and destroyed Athens in 480 B.C.E., but the Greeks had some major victories forcing the Persians to pull back. He overcame the Babylonian revolt, but the forces that he deserted were conquered. Xerxes was murdered and one of his sons, Artaxerxes I, took the throne. Under his administration, Egypt defiance was stopped and they put command posts up in Levant. After Artaxerxes I, came Darius II which the empire did good under his command. While Artaxerxes I and Darius II the empire stayed about the same, being the strongest power on Earth. But during the next king, Artaxerxes II’s, reign Egypt declared independence. A civil war began between Artaxerxes II and his brother Cyrus, who had a Greek mercenary army but was defeated. This battle was important in showing that the no other army compared to the Persian army.
Out of all the Persian kings, Artaxerxes II was on throne the longest, although little is known about him but, “Writing in the early second century A.D., Plutarch describes him as a sympathetic ruler and courageous warrior.” He was followed by Artaxerxes III, who regained control of Egypt thanks to the help of two generals. The Persians had tried multiple times before to get Egypt back and nothing worked until Artaxerxes III Ochus, Bagoas and Mentor of Rhodes forced the Pharaoh off the throne. But he too got assassinated and his son Artaxerxes VI took the throne and later was assassinated, and replaced with Darius III. There were many uprisings against him but he put an end to them quickly. He was later killed by Alexander of Macedon, or Alexander the Great in battle.
Alexander had to work for all the success he got, taking all of the territories by force. Following his death in Babylon, the empire was divided in three parts. “Macedonia was ruled by Antipater, Ptolemy reconstituted the Egyptian kingdom, and Seleucus ruled the Asian parts of Alexander's realms. In fact, the Seleucid Empire was a continuation of the Achaemenid Empire.”
Although they allowed those they conquered to practice any religion freely, the Persians had decided on one religion: Zoroastrianism.
It was created by the Persian prophet Zoroaster. “The Zoroastrian concept of God incorporates both monotheism and dualism. In his visions, Zarathustra was taken up to heaven, where Ahura Mazda revealed that he had an opponent, Aura Mainyu, the spirit and promoter of evil. Ahura Mazda charged Zarathustra with the task of inviting all human beings to choose between him (good) and Aura Mainyu (evil).” His beliefs were written in the Gathas, poems that are part of their religions most sacred book, the Avesta. “Zoroaster believed that people were training for a future life. He taught that the earthly world was torn by a constant struggle between good and
evil.”
He ultimately left the decision up to the people but he would say that their decision would affect the greater good. While arranging for the final judgement people had to choose between good and bad and good would overcome evil. After good won, everything would vanish. Ahura Mazda personified wisdom and goodness. Your actions in life determined where you went in the afterlife, so if you did good deeds it would count more than the bad ones and you would go to heaven. But if you did more bad deeds than good ones you would go to hell. There was also an in between for those who did both good and bad equally. The human faults aren’t balanced on the scales forever, hey can be taken off if you do confession. It also helped to shape other religions like Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Zoroastrianism is still practiced in remote areas, and successfully in India.