The Persian Empire
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
Similar to the Roman Empire the Persian Empire stretched across vast lands without any serious rivalry. At the height of the empire it stretched across, not only, Asia, from the Aegean to the Indus River, but also included part of the continent of Africa. We get the word, Persia, from the Greek word Parsa meaning, “Above reproach”. The Persians unlike most other Empires would be ruled under a benevolent ruler. This would bring a large amount of cultural diffusion to the Empire. The empires history is separated into three historical periods: Old Persia (600-300 B.C.E), Middle Persia (300-800 B.C.E.) and modern Persia (800-Present). The height or the Empire was reached around 500 B.C.E. (Ancient and Medieval History Online.) The rise of the Persian Empire began with Cyrus II in the 6th century B.C.E. Cyrus was the first king to control such a large empire without any serious rivals, as mentioned before. The kings of Persia were from the Achaemenids family. Cyrus overthrew his king’s man, Astyages, king of the Medes, in 550 B.C.E., with the Median nobles. The median kingdom was founded by Deioces. The Medes’ kingdom stretched from the black sea to Afghanistan. Four years after his conquering of the Medes Cyrus claimed the title “king of Persia”. Later he also became Cyrus “The Great”. Cyrus immediately began to start his campaign of imperial expansion. The first kingdom he overtook was the Lydian kingdom in western Anatolia. He captured the Lydian king, Croesus, in 546 B.C.E. (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition) Most of the Greek cities in Anatolia surrendered after the Persian Empire laid siege on the cities. (Sacks, 2005.)
After conquering these cities, Cyrus began to focus on Babylon. The Babylonian king, Nabonidus, was not favored in Babylon. This made for a very quick and easy victory. Babylon fell in 539 B.C.E. and allowed Cyrus control over the whole Middle East. The People of the Persian Empire were very acceptant of Cyrus’
Similar to the Roman Empire the Persian Empire stretched across vast lands without any serious rivalry. At the height of the empire it stretched across, not only, Asia, from the Aegean to the Indus River, but also included part of the continent of Africa. We get the word, Persia, from the Greek word Parsa meaning, “Above reproach”. The Persians unlike most other Empires would be ruled under a benevolent ruler. This would bring a large amount of cultural diffusion to the Empire. The empires history is separated into three historical periods: Old Persia (600-300 B.C.E), Middle Persia (300-800 B.C.E.) and modern Persia (800-Present). The height or the Empire was reached around 500 B.C.E. (Ancient and Medieval History Online.) The rise of the Persian Empire began with Cyrus II in the 6th century B.C.E. Cyrus was the first king to control such a large empire without any serious rivals, as mentioned before. The kings of Persia were from the Achaemenids family. Cyrus overthrew his king’s man, Astyages, king of the Medes, in 550 B.C.E., with the Median nobles. The median kingdom was founded by Deioces. The Medes’ kingdom stretched from the black sea to Afghanistan. Four years after his conquering of the Medes Cyrus claimed the title “king of Persia”. Later he also became Cyrus “The Great”. Cyrus immediately began to start his campaign of imperial expansion. The first kingdom he overtook was the Lydian kingdom in western Anatolia. He captured the Lydian king, Croesus, in 546 B.C.E. (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition) Most of the Greek cities in Anatolia surrendered after the Persian Empire laid siege on the cities. (Sacks, 2005.)
After conquering these cities, Cyrus began to focus on Babylon. The Babylonian king, Nabonidus, was not favored in Babylon. This made for a very quick and easy victory. Babylon fell in 539 B.C.E. and allowed Cyrus control over the whole Middle East. The People of the Persian Empire were very acceptant of Cyrus’
Cited: Beck, Roger B. World History Patterns of Interaction. Evanston: McDougal Littell, 2007. Print *"British Museum - Cyrus Cylinder - translation." British Museum - Welcome to the British Museum "British Museum - Cyrus Cylinder." British Museum - Welcome to the British Museum. Web. Dec. 2009. . *Herodotus Karam, P. Andrew. "The Royal Road of Persia." Science and Its Times. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. Vol. 1: 2,000 B.C. to A.D. 699. Detroit: Gale, 2001. 371-373. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Gale. Vernon Hills High School. 11 Dec. 2009 . "Lydia, ancient country, Asia." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition. Columbia University Press. Web. 20 Nov. 2009. . "Persian Empire." Ancient and Medieval History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp? ItemID=WE49&iPin=CRC02046&SingleRecord=True (accessed October 2, 2009). "Persian Empire." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 2 Oct. 2009. .