The Persian Empire

The Assyrians were brutal rulers The Persians based their empire on . But they also relied on a strong to back up their powers

Ancient Persia includes what is today . Ancient Iran had fertile and a wealth of . Copper Lead Gold Silver Lapis lazuli

In 550 BC , Persia’s king began to conquer several neighboring kingdoms Cyrus was a genius, leading his army from victory to victory between 550 BC and 539 BC

Cyrus’ toward conquered peoples revealed a wise and tolerant view of the empire. When Cyrus’ army captured a city, he would prevent them from .

Cyrus believed in honoring local instead of trying to destroy them. Cyrus allowed the to return to Jerusalem after the Babylonians had driven them out.

Cyrus died and his son expanded the empire by conquering Egypt around 522 BC seized the throne from Cambyses He brought peace and stability to the empire

He conquered present day and the . Darius’ only failure was his inability to conquer .

Darius divided his empire into 20 . Roughly similar to the homelands of the conquered people. People practiced their own and spoke their own .

Darius installed a governor called who ruled the provinces. There was also a leader and collector in each province

An excellent system of allowed Darius to communicate quickly with the most distant parts of the empire. helped hold the empire together.

A Persian prophet named tried to explain why chaos and suffering existed in the world.

He taught that earth is a battle ground and a great struggle is fought between . Zoroastrian religion teaches belief in one god called Ahura Mazda The god judged everyone on how well they fought the .

The Persian empire did not decline for .

How did Cyrus treat the people he conquered? Why do you think he took this approach? What did Zoroaster teach? What are the benefits to having an excellent system of roads?