Ancient Greek accounts state that Persian boys were trained in riding, archery, hand-to-hand combat, and mounted combat. At the age of 20 they were eligible for military service.
The army consisted mainly of four types of units: spearmen for infantry shock combat; foot archers to act as skirmishers; light cavalry armed mainly with bows; and heavy cavalry that wore some armor and carried spears.
In the early years of the empire, the predominately Persian army was highly motivated and responsive on the battlefield, making it a dangerous foe. Bas-relief of Immortals from the Apadana, Persepolis The elite of the Persian army was the Ten Thousand Immortals, so called because the unit was always kept at a full strength of 10, men.
The loss of any man to death or incapacitation was immediately addressed by the promotion of a soldier from another unit. According to the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, the Immortals went to battle glittering with gold, and even took covered carriages filled with their women and servants on campaigns.
One thousand of the Immortals were the personal bodyguards of the king. In its later years, the ratio of Persians to provincial levies declined. A mixture of constituent peoples, weapons, and methods replaced the standardized, hardened army of well-trained Persians.
These troops lacked the discipline of the Persians and proved difficult to maneuver and employ on the battlefield. A recurring problem was court intrigue and ill-defined rules for succession.
The death of a king often triggered a scramble for the throne that exhausted the treasury, eroded morale, and loosened the governmental hold on the provinces. Wasteful spending led to inflation and unpopular tax increases. Disputes in the provinces, usually over taxes, were often settled brutally, further increasing dissatisfaction. Five of the six kings who followed Xerxes died: BCE were weak leaders who held the empire together only by increasingly harsh measures. The Greeks and Persians had been on a collision course for many years.
The two cultures came into conflict in BCE with the revolt of many Greek city-states in Ionia present-day Turkey against Persian control. Despite having what appeared to be overwhelming strength and economic resources, the Persians failed to defeat the allied Greek forces over the next 50 years of war on land and sea.
The Greeks, though victorious, were not capable immediately of carrying the war into Persia. Recurring revolts in outlying provinces, especially Parthia, Lydia, and Egypt, weakened the economy and military. Before the empire could dissolve from within, Alexander the Great dispatched it in an amazingly short period of time.
Antique illustration depicting the Persians crossing the Hellespont present-day Dardanelles by pontoon bridge in BCE The Persians are best remembered in the West as the antagonists in the dramatic Greco-Persian Wars, from which so much history has been preserved. The most famous events from this period are the bridging of the Hellespont, land battles at Marathon, Thermopylae, and Plataea, the great sea battle at Salamis, and the sacking of Athens.
Most of this history is biased, however, because we have mainly the Greek accounts to study. The Persians are also remembered in several Biblical accounts for the tolerance of their wise early kings and the decadence of their later courts. Cyrus the Great is remembered especially for freeing the Hebrews held prisoner in Babylon when he took that city and allowing them to return to Israel. Bas-relief depicting men bringing the gift of a Bactrian Camel to the King, Persepolis The greatest legacy of the Persians was the aggregation and mixture of various cultures under one rule.
Insiders unlock access to exclusive news, updates, and opportunities to provide feedback about future releases. Here are some of the perks:. Note: You need an Xbox Live account. Learn more. Briant, Pierre. Winona Lake, Ind. Visiting The Met? Fluted bowl. Vessel terminating in the forepart of a fantastic leonine creature. Relief: two servants bearing food and drink. London: I. Tauris, Related Essays Egypt in the Late Period ca. Babylon Classical Cyprus ca.
Ancient Greece, B. Central and North Asia, B. Cyrus the Great was recognized for achievements in human rights and politics, having influenced both Eastern and Western Civilization. The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay artifact, now broken into several fragments, that has been called the oldest-known charter of universal human rights and a symbol of his humanitarian rule.
The cylinder dates from the 6th century BCE, and was discovered in the ruins of Babylon in Mesopotamia, now Iraq, in The historical nature of the cylinder has been debated, with some scholars arguing that Cyrus did not make a specific decree, but rather that the cylinder articulated his general policy allowing exiles to return to their homelands and rebuild their temples.
In fact, the policies of Cyrus with respect to treatment of minority religions were well documented in Babylonian texts, as well as in Jewish sources. Cyrus was known to have an overall attitude of religious tolerance throughout the empire, although it has been debated whether this was by his own implementation or a continuation of Babylonian and Assyrian policies. Darius also sponsored work on construction projects throughout the empire, focusing on improvement of the cities of Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon, and various municipalities in Egypt.
When Darius moved his capital from Pasargadae to Persepolis, he revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage and introducing a regulated and sustainable tax system. This structure precisely tailored the taxes of each satrapy based on its projected productivity and economic potential. For example, Babylon was assessed for the highest amount of silver taxes, while Egypt owed grain in addition to silver taxes.
Persian reliefs in the city of Persepolis: Darius the Great moved the capital of the Achaemenid Empire to Persepolis c. He initiated several major architectural projects, including the construction of a palace and a treasure house. Sometime after his coronation, Darius ordered an inscription to be carved on a limestone cliff of Mount Behistun in modern Iran. The Behistun Inscription, the text of which Darius wrote, came to have great linguistic significance as a crucial clue in deciphering cuneiform script.
The inscription, which is approximately 15 meters high and 25 meters wide, includes three versions of the text in three different cuneiform languages: Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, which was a version of Akkadian. Researchers were able to compare the scripts and use it to help decipher ancient languages, in this way making the Behistun Inscription as valuable to cuneiform as the Rosetta Stone is to Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Behistun Inscription: A section of the Behistun Inscription on a limestone cliff of Mount Behistun in western Iran, which became a key in deciphering cuneiform script. Under the Achaemenids, trade was extensive and there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities in the far reaches of the empire. The satrapies were linked by a 2,kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch of which was the Royal Road, from Susa to Sardis.
The relays of mounted couriers could reach the most remote areas in 15 days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, royal inspectors regularly toured the empire and reported on local conditions using this route. Achaemenid golden bowl with lion imagery: Trade in the Achaemenid Empire was extensive. Embossed bas relief carvings of servants bringing gifts to the king on the sidewall of stairs in front of Tachara Palace, also known as the Palace of Darius, in Persepolis.
The Achaemenian palaces of Persepolis were built upon massive terraces. They were decorated with ornamental facades that included the long rock relief carvings for which the ancient Persians were famous.
Many people think of Persia as synonymous with Islam , though Islam only became the dominant religion in the Persian Empire after the Arab conquests of the seventh century.
The first Persian Empire was shaped by a different religion: Zoroastrianism. Named after the Persian prophet Zoroaster also known as Zarathustra , Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. Zoroaster, who likely lived sometime between and B. The Achaemenian kings were devout Zoroastrians. By most accounts, Cyrus the Great was a tolerant ruler who allowed his subjects to speak their own languages and practice their own religions.
Hebrew scriptures praise Cyrus the Great for freeing the Jewish people of Babylon from captivity and allowing them to return to Jerusalem. This period of time is sometimes called the Pax Persica, or Persian Peace. The Achaemenid dynasty finally fell to the invading armies of Alexander the Great of Macedon in B.
Subsequent rulers sought to restore the Persian Empire to its Achaemenian boundaries, though the empire never quite regained the enormous size it had achieved under Cyrus the Great. The Achaemenid Persian Empire B. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. The Byzantine Empire was a vast and powerful civilization with origins that can be traced to A.
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