امپراتوری پارس

"The Persian Empire"

Images Collected from the Met Gallery. Images of Persian artifacts created during the Achaemenid Dynasty.

Pars = "Persian"

Map of Modern Day Iran from Google Maps. The province of Fars (where we get the name "Persian").

According to Joshua Mark, the Persian people were descendants of a certain group of people called the "Aryans" which means "noble" or "free". This word (contrary to what it often means today) was the distinguishment of class not of race (1). They were some of the earliest people in that region. The Persian people actually considered themselves to be Aryans, the name "Persian" was not given to them until later by Greek historians (2). The Greeks gave them this name because their first ruler (King Cyrus) came from the region of Fars (or Pars) near the modern-day Persian Gulf. In fact, most of what is known of the Persian Empire came from Greek accounts and Greek historians.

Before the Persian Empire was founded, the Medes ruled the region led by their king Astyages(3). In 550, as mentioned earlier, Cyrus the second rose up against the Median king (who also happened to be his grandfather) and defeated him, thus establishing what came to be known as the first dynasty of the Persian Empire: the Achaemenid Dynasty. This dynasty lasted for about 220 years and was perhaps the largest and greatest empire in all of history. At its height under King Darius the first, the population of the Persian empire was about 50,000,000 people which was about half of the world's population at the time. According to Sal from Khan Academy, "No empire in history, as far as we can tell, has ever had such a large fraction of the world's population under its control"(4).

These hyperlinks are additional sources that give examples of the art and architecture of the Achaemenid dynasty. These websites are not completely devoted to the time period of 550-330 B.C., but they are still very interesting and helpful.

Kings of the Achaemenid Dynasty

As the image above shows, there were many kings in the 220 years of the Achaemenid dynasty. Among the most famous were Cyrus the Great (who is one of the main focuses of this project), Cambyses, Darius the I, Artaxerxes the I, and Darius the III (under whose rule the empire fell).

This empire was divided into regions called Satrapies whose regional rulers (similar to a governor) were called Satraps. The ruler (or emperors) of this mighty empire were called Shahs or Shahanshahs which means "king of kings" (which is what Cyrus the Great went by)(5). Cyrus the Great conquered most of what is known as the Persian Empire, but perhaps his biggest military accomplishment was conquering Babylon in 539 B.C(6). Among other innovations and achievements, under King Cyrus, Persia saw progress in agricultural techniques, reorganization of the military, and freedom of religion and culture under the Persian Government. Those at World History write about Cyrus the Great: "By the time of his death in 530 B.C., the empire was the most powerful political entity in the region"(7). For as successful of a king as he was, however, Cyrus the Great was unable to take the mighty empire of Egypt. This feat was left to his son Cambyses. But the empire did not reach its peak until a distant cousin, Darius the Great, took the throne.

In addition to the growth of the empire, Darius the I was also responsible for a Persian postal system that reached across his empire and standardized a currency for his kingdom(8). But one of his most notable constructions was the Royal Road which stretched from Susa on the Tigris River to Smyrna on the Turkish coast. This road was an impressive 1,775 miles long. According to the website History of Information, this road was used to "facilitate rapid communication and intelligence gathering throughout the Persian Empire, the Royal Road was protected by Persian rulers and later used by the Romans"(9).

What is interesting about the kings of Persia, is that they were each unique and different from the other, and there were some that were good kings and rulers, and some that were not so great. But as World History says, Cyrus' "vision of a vast, all-inclusive Persian Empire was, more or less, maintained by his successors"(10). In addition to this, though there were weaknesses, plots, assassinations, and rebellions in the course of Persian history, as the Met Museum informs us: "[when Alexander the Great finally conquered Persia] the fact that [he] had to fight every inch of the way, taking every province by force, demonstrates the extraordinary solidarity of the Persian empire and that... [shows] it was certainly not in a state of decay"(11). This is an impressive consistency that was not always (or was very rarely) found in ancient empires. In fact, this consistency is perhaps one of the most impressive characteristics of the Achaemenid Empire and is a lesson to us today in a world torn by political, religious, economical, and power differences.

Image of the Royal Road taken from "HistoryofInformation.com".

Religion of Persia

King Cyrus, is credited with the spread of Zoroastrianism across his empire(12). This is because though there was freedom and tolerance of religion under the reign of King Cyrus, he himself was a follower of the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism.

What is Zoroastrianism? Some of the characteristics of this ancient religion are as follows:

  • monotheistic (having one god)

  • presence of the struggle between good vs. evil

  • founded by the prophet Zoroaster (or Zarathustra)

  • main god: Ahura Mazda who is believed to be the creator

  • Angra Mainyu: bad spirit who is believed to be the originator of death and destruction(13)

  • three fundamental "right actions" are central to Zoroastrianism beliefs: Good thinking, good speaking (good words), and good actions.

  • Zoroastrianism is still being practiced and there are followers in Iran today. However, due to the presence of Islam, followers of the belief are heavily persecuted by Shiite Muslims.

The Fall of the Empire

The Persian Empire finally came to an end under the conquest of Alexander the Great son of King Philip the II of Macedonia. Alexander fought three battles against the Persian army: the battles of Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela(14). The most decisive of the three battles was at Issus, which was the first battle that the Persian army had lost with their king (Darius III) present(15). In fact, King Darius had fled so hastily from the battle scene that he left his family members behind to be taken hostage by Alexander the Great. The Persian Empire was finally conquered in 331 B.C. after their defeat on the plains of Gaugamela(16). After this battle, "Persian morale was broken... and Alexander took no time in allowing it to recover"(17). He went on to claim the rest of the empire as his own. During his brief reign of this extensive kingdom (eight years) Alexander tried in vain to style his empire after the Persians. But his efforts were not sufficient enough to last beyond his death, after which it fell apart(18).

The unity and relative peace, prosperity, and consistency that were the hallmarks of the Persian empire for 200-some years, could not be replicated by Alexander for even such a short time as 8 years. He tried to copy what the Persians had done but was not successful in producing anything that lasted beyond his own death. This should lead us to ask the question: "why?" Why could Alexander not recreate an empire that was as established as the one that he had conquered? There are a lot of reasons why this is the case, to be sure, but perhaps it was the relative freedom that was allowed under the Persian Shahs, compared to that which was found under the military might of Greece. People were made to desire freedom and the ability to have their own choice. The rule of choice is far more powerful that of might and force which goes against this innate desire in each of us.