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Persian Empire Large and In Charge Engineering an Empire: The Persians Part 1 watch from 5:45 Part 3 https://www.youtube.c https://www.youtube.com/watc om/watch?v=8aukC8 h?v=N5mwOovpetA GBEsU Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSm68TxRBRo Also called the Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BCE) The Persian empire stretched from Asia minor to the hindu kush mountains---about 2000 miles! Essential Question How did Persia govern its empire? The Persian empire ruled with tolerance and a wise government Cyrus the Great Cyrus the Great Persia’s first king Started his empire by conquering the Medes and the Babylonians. Cyrus presented himself as a liberator to those he conquered. Soldiers were not allowed to loot conquered towns or enslave people Honored local customs and religions Cyrus the Great wrote the Cyrus Cylinder: an ancient declaration of human rights - Clay - Symbol of Peace Cyrus’ Empire Darius the Great 522 b.c-428 b.c. Darius the Great Expanded the empire to its largest size Developed an Imperial Bureaucracy to govern his massive empire Started the use of standard money and the Royal Road Importance of the Helped Darius unite his empire Royal Road Increased trade Royal Road Imperial Bureaucracy In order to make ruling easier, Darius divided up the empire into 20 provinces Each province had a satrap (governor), army leader, and tax collector Each position was appointed by Darius Although the provinces were a part of the Persian empire, they were able to practice their own religion and speak their own language Satraps Satraps: governors of Persian provinces Were checked on by the “King’s eyes and ears” (inspectors) Governor McAuliffe: Virginia’s “satrap” Major difference: Appointed by the people, and not the president (king) The most important thing they have in common: Practiced tolerance Zoroastrianism https://www.youtube.c om/watch?v=a4ezRTvD rqw Zoroastrianism Persian Prophet Zoroaster founded Zoroastrianism Belief in 2 Spiritual armies led by: Ahura Mazda, the god of truth and light Ahriman, the god of evil and darkness Both armies are fighting for control of a person’s soul Followers controlled their fate by either choosing the side of goodness or the side evilness Had similar concepts to Judaism, Islam, Christianity Spreads to India which now has the largest group of practicing Zoroastrians.

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The Political Thought of Darius the Great (522- 486 B.C.), the Legislator of Achaemenid Empire (A Study Based on Achaemenid Inscriptions in Old Persian)
International Journal of Political Science ISSN: 2228-6217 Vol.3, No.6, Spring 2013, (pp.51-65) The Political Thought of Darius the Great (522- 486 B.C.), the Legislator of Achaemenid Empire (A Study Based on Achaemenid Inscriptions in Old Persian) Awat Abbasi* Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies Received: 5 Dec 2012 ; Accepted: 11 Feb 2013 Abstract: Darius offered the political order of “king of kings” to solve the political crisis of his era. He legitimized it based on an order of gods. In his belief, the nature of politics was based on a dualis- tic religious worldview that is the fight between true divinity and false divinity’s will and perfor- mance in the world. In addition, the chief true divinity’s law was introduced as the principle order in the world and eternal happiness in true divinity’s house. Therefore, it was considered as the pattern of political order following which was propagandized as the way to reach happiness in this world and salvation in next life. To protect this law, the chief true divinity bestowed the political power to the ruler. Therefore, what should be the political order and who should be the ruler, is justified in the context of the definitions of human, world, happiness and salvation. The sovereignty of the ruler and, therefore, the domination of the chief true divinity’s laws in politics were considered as justice. This definition of justice denied liberty and promoted absolutism. In justifying the ruler’s absolute power, even his laws and commands were considered as the dominant norms over the politics.
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The Multilingual Urban Environment of Achaemenid Sardis
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Barry Strauss
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The Persian Empire
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The Achaemenid Legacy in the Arsakid Period
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Ancient Persian Civilization
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Cyropaedia 8.7 and Anabasis 1.9 Paula Winsor Sage
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