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You are a merchant who travels great distances with your camel caravan in order to sell and trade goods. Your life has become increasingly difficult because bandits and thieves plague the roads. They ambush and rob unwary travelers, particularly merchants selling their goods. There is a new military power expanding its empire throughout the region of your travels that is suppressing the worst outlaw bands. At the same that it is putting down the lawlessness and disorder, however, the military empire is imposing harsh laws and heavy taxes on the regions it conquers.

Questions Why might a merchant or other common person favor the establishment of a strong empire? Why might such a person oppose a strong empire? Why might a victorious army enslave a subject people? What advantage or abuses might a strong military power bring to the region?

Persian Empire

Location The Persians emerged from central Asia around 2000 BCE and migrated into present day Iran Stretching from Egypt and southeastern Europe all the way to the Indus River Spread 2,000 miles!

Wealth and Trading Opportunities The area had good farmland and was rich in such minerals as copper, lead, gold, and silver. The Persians joined with other forces to help defeat the Assyrians. About 550BC, they began conquest of their own

Persian Empire - Rulers Under the command of the following three rulers, the Persian Empire grew in size – stretching from Egypt and southeastern Europe all the way to the Indus River Cyrus Cambyses Darius

The Persian Empire The Persian Empire accepted the differences of many different people as rulers tried to govern wisely Persia built on earlier Central Asian and Mesopotamian civilizations to develop one of the largest empires in the ancient world Persians rulers governed their empire using : – Tolerance of conquered peoples – Development of an imperial bureaucracy – Zoroastrianism as a religion – Road System

Tolerance and wise government are characteristics of the most successful methods of rule. (Think back to the Assyrians)

Unification of Persia Cyrus the Great Leader of Persia beginning in 559 BCE Was a military genius Conquered the entire Fertile Crescent area

Establishment of Government Ruled with tolerance Displayed kindness toward conquered people Honored conquered people’s customs and religion

Cyrus the Great His troops rode swift ponies and used short bows that could be fired quickly Conquered a huge empire that stretched from the Indus Valley in India all the way through Mesopotamia to Turkey Cyrus made sure that his army did nothing to harm the people he conquered Allowed Hebrews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple there Generals enforced strict discipline against looting and burning

Persian Setback King Cambyses comes into power in 530 BCE Succeeds in conquering the Egyptian Empire Setback = failure in being tolerant to Egyptian culture

Results of Rule: Rules for only 8 years Empire breaks out in revolts due to lack of structure and tolerance

Darius I Darius I becomes the greatest ruler of Persia Rules over Persia from 522 to 486 BCE. First three years of rule were dedicated to putting down revolts. Continues to expand kingdom- only Greece escaped Persian control

Darius I Government Darius I created a well organized government Divided his kingdom into 20 provinces Provinces could speak their own language, practice their own religion, and form their own laws Provinces paid taxes to Darius.

Still the Boss Although tolerant of many groups in the empire, Darius still ruled with absolute power Each province was governed by a Satrap, or governor, appointed by Darius Bureaucratic style of government Loyalty would be checked using inspectors known as the “Kings Eyes and Ears”

Development of Trade Royal Road - Ran 1677 miles through the Kingdom. Improved communication, transportation, and control of the empire Standardized Money Metals coins that could be used anywhere in the Empire

The Royal Road “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”. ~Greek historian Herodotus, writing in 400BC about the Persian messengers on the Royal Road.

Royal Road

Thousands of years of war, conquest and famine in the Fertile Crescent gave rise to a question: Why should so much suffering and chaos exist in the world?

Persian Religion A Persian prophet, Zoroaster (600 BC), offered the people an answer to the question of why so much chaos and suffering – two spiritual armies fight for possession of a person’s soul Zoroastrianism is based on the belief that there are two opposing forces in the universe.

Light and darkness The god of truth and light, Ahura Mazda, leads one army. The god of evil and darkness, Ahirman, leads another army. Zoroaster preached that all souls would be judged by which side they had chosen Followers of Ahura Mazda would be lifted into paradise, while followers in Ahirman would suffer forever in a fiery pit People’s own choices controlled their fate

Ahura Mazda A Persian Prince in battle with an animal symbolizing Ahirman

Zoroastrianism and Other Faiths The Avesta became the holy writings of the Zoroastrian religion. The Zoroastrian religion developed ideas about heaven, hell and final judgment that were similar to the concepts of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Legacy of the Persian Empire Political order in southwest Asia with tolerance and good government. Respect of cultures helped to preserve their culture for the future. Cyrus’ dynasty lasted 200 years and helped to grow into a huge empire.