Persian+Empire

= = =Persian Empire =

//Persian Empire circa 500 BCE //

=Imperial Administration =

Founded by Cyrus the Great, the largest empire during its time was governed by four provinces each ruled a certain amount of regional autonomy under the satraps, or governors. These provisional vassals in turn were ruled under the emperor in Pasargadae. Under Darius the Great, the state capital was moved to Persepolis. This central administration was closer to the geographic center of the empire than the Persian homeland. Darius established a universal legal system, as well as a tax system tailored for each satrap based on productivity and economic potential of the province. The Persian Empire was tolerant of local religions, though Zoroastrianism was the state religion.

//Tomb of Cyrus the Great //

=Culture/Religion =

It is difficult to define the culture of the Persian Empire, because the empire encompassed multiple ethnic groups. This diversity affected the empire by injecting its influence within. For example, the iconic palaces and fortress-cities of the Persians that symbolized wealth and power were inspired and borrowed from the conquered Assyrians. Even though the Persian Empire had a low literacy rate and encompassed many languages, the Persians had a unifying high ethical standards. People were expected to keep promises and tell truths, and many Persians were sensitive to natural beauties. From Darius onwards, the official state religion was Zoroastrianism, though local religions were tolerated. Zoroastrianism joined with and influenced the Persian political ideology, as well as influencing the world’s first major monotheistic religion, Judaism, which in turn influenced two more major world religions, Christianity and Islam.

//The ruins of Tachar Palace in Persepolis //

=War and Defence =

The Persians had one of the best armies during their time. Cyrus built a strong land army, while Darius produced an excellent royal navy. Lydia, Anatolia, Neo-Babylon, Nubia, and Lybia were notable states that fell to the Persians. Through this expansion, Persia extended from Europe to the west until the Indus River to the east under Darius. Persia also took part in a series of wars with Greece, known as the Greco-Persian Wars, which lasted from 499 BCE to 479 BCE. Around the start of the wars, a huge Persian invasion of Greek was thwarted by a collaboration between the Greek states of Athens and Sparta between 500 and 449 BCE. Alexander the Great of the Greek state Macedonia defeated the Persians and looted their capital of Persepolis in 330 BCE.

=Important Cities =

The original capital city of the Persian Empire under Cyrus was Pasargadae with the most important monument being Cyrus’ tomb. Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire built by Darius the Great and completed by his son Xerxes the Great. An important city captured by Cyrus the great was Susa, which later became one of the four capitals of Persia under Cambyses II. Also captured by Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C.E, was the city of Babylon.

//Ruins of Persepolis //

=Social Structures =

With the majority of the Persians being of Iranian ethnicity, the Persian social structure mimicked the standards of society by having a strict patriarchal society in which the male head wielded absolute authority over his family. Some elite women were politically influential, despite the male absolutism. The Persian people were divided into three social classes: warriors, priests, and peasants (in descending importance). The warriors, with the king being the highest member, were part of the landowning aristocracy and enjoyed activities such as hunting, fighting, and gardening. The priests (Magi) would insure that sacrifices were properly performed by supervising them, and the peasants were mainly village-based farmers and shepherds.

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Economy =

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Persian Empire increasingly used minerals and crafted goods as its economic base, in place of agriculture. Many of the empire’s large construction projects used prisoners and slaves for labor. Persia’s control of rich agricultural areas of Mesopotamia and Anatolia boosted the empire’s economic status. Under Darius, systematized taxation, standardized weights, measures, and monetary units were put into place to encourage an improved economy. In the 4th century BCE though, political corruption caused economic decline.

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Food Production =

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Persian empire primarily relied on agricultural production and hunting reserves as sources to their food. The Persian control of agricultural areas such as Mesopotamia and Anatolia provided the empire with sustainable food.

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Technological Innovations & Achievements =

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Through multiple innovative strides, the Persian Empire solidified their hold and weight within the world. Through the design of specialized underground irrigation channels, they were able to provide for their crops in the arid heat of their demography. With elaborate royal roads for communication and connection, the Persian Empire was much more cohesive and tethered together better than anyone else at the time. Also, the Persian Empire wielded much more elaborate iron technology than any other culture.

=<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Demography =

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Persian Empire was centered in present day Iran and stretched into Southwest Asia. The empire bordered the Zagros Mountains to the west, the Caspian Sea to the north, and the Persian Gulf to the southwest.

//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The Naqsh-e Rustam, the location of the tombs of 4 Persian kings //

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">media type="youtube" key="8aukC8GBEsU" height="315" width="420"

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 19px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Works Cited

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">"Engineering an Empire - The Persians - Part 1of5 - YouTube." //YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.// Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aukC8GBEsU>.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ALL IMAGES RELEASED UNDER <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000099; font-family: Ubuntu; vertical-align: baseline;">[|Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License] <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Ubuntu; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">by Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. OR ARE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
 * <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> "Achaemenid Empire." //Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia//. Web. 07 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire>.