Comparing Empires (Persia vs Rome)
Jacob Anderson
World Civ I
Empires
Persia & Rome
The foundations of an ancient empire are shaped by many characteristics originating in a civilization’s social, philosophical, and theological values. Collectively these will bring about an empire that has aspects which will classify them in distinctive ways. The aspects that will be compared between Persia and Rome are the motives for expansion, methods of expansion, the administration, the impact on those conquered and the original empire, and the reasons for the decline of each empire. When combined, these aspects predispose the individual overall shape of ancient Rome and Persia. Both empires began with conquering larger rulers and creating vast empires which had never been seen before, but as they grew, their ideologies on diversification differed because of the characteristics of their empires. The Persians mainly decided to let those which they conquered remain culturally unaltered allowing for more acceptance and acknowledgement of their ruling entity. On the other hand, the Romans aggressively attempted to Romanize the conquered, creating unease and tension. Ancient Persia started by taking over weakening rulers in their territories. The Persians were originally based in what is current day Iran as organized peoples under the control of early Mesopotamian rulers. The Medes were an early civilization that ruled the area where the Persians lived with a strong hand. During the sixth center B.C.E. the Babylonian and Assyrian empires weakened through small time wars and disagreements which allowed for an already restless new man to lead the first revolt. This man overthrew the ruling empire and became the new ruler; this man was known as Cyrus (Stearns, Herodotus and the Persian Empire, 40). Cyrus was a man of humble beginnings; he came from a mountain village and was known as “Cyrus the Sheppard” (Bentley and Ziegler, 161). Once the Persians overthrew their Mede rulers they mounted a massive
World Civ I
Empires
Persia & Rome
The foundations of an ancient empire are shaped by many characteristics originating in a civilization’s social, philosophical, and theological values. Collectively these will bring about an empire that has aspects which will classify them in distinctive ways. The aspects that will be compared between Persia and Rome are the motives for expansion, methods of expansion, the administration, the impact on those conquered and the original empire, and the reasons for the decline of each empire. When combined, these aspects predispose the individual overall shape of ancient Rome and Persia. Both empires began with conquering larger rulers and creating vast empires which had never been seen before, but as they grew, their ideologies on diversification differed because of the characteristics of their empires. The Persians mainly decided to let those which they conquered remain culturally unaltered allowing for more acceptance and acknowledgement of their ruling entity. On the other hand, the Romans aggressively attempted to Romanize the conquered, creating unease and tension. Ancient Persia started by taking over weakening rulers in their territories. The Persians were originally based in what is current day Iran as organized peoples under the control of early Mesopotamian rulers. The Medes were an early civilization that ruled the area where the Persians lived with a strong hand. During the sixth center B.C.E. the Babylonian and Assyrian empires weakened through small time wars and disagreements which allowed for an already restless new man to lead the first revolt. This man overthrew the ruling empire and became the new ruler; this man was known as Cyrus (Stearns, Herodotus and the Persian Empire, 40). Cyrus was a man of humble beginnings; he came from a mountain village and was known as “Cyrus the Sheppard” (Bentley and Ziegler, 161). Once the Persians overthrew their Mede rulers they mounted a massive