1. Persia Unites Many Lands The Persian Empire ruled with tolerance and a wise government

2. The Rise of Persia The Persians took a different approach, than the Assyrians, to building and maintaining their empire. Instead of using fear and cruelty, the Persians were tolerant diplomatic rulers.

4. Cyrus the Great Establishes an Empire In 550 BC, Cyrus, Persia’s king began his conquest of several neighboring kingdoms in what is present day Iran. Eventually the Persians extended their control in east to the Indus Valley and west to Anatolia.

5. Cyrus’s greatest legacy is in the governing of his empire. He showed great kindness and tolerance to the people of the conquered lands. He gave strict orders to his generals not to burn or pillage the cities that they conquered. He believed in honoring local customs and religions. Instead of destroying the local peoples temple, he himself knelt there and prayed. Subject people were given great freedom.

6. Cyrus’ Bloodless Conquest of Babylon Babylon opened its gates to Cyrus and surrendered without a drop of blood being shed. Cyrus then offered prayers to the Babylonian gods in thanks.

7. The Rebuilding of the Temple C yrus also allowed the Jews, exiled by the Assyrians, to return to Jerusalem to rebuild their temple. The Jews were allowed to resume their sacred rituals. The Jews were forever grateful to Cyrus, whom they considered one of God’s anointed ones

8. The Death of Cyrus Cyrus died in battle defending his empire from nomadic invaders from the east. He was buried in a simple tomb in Iran.

9. Cambyses and Darius When Cyrus died in 530 BC, his son Cambyses continued to extend the Persian Empire. He was not as kind as his father and relied on a heavy-handed approach to secure the empire. In his conquest of Egypt, he publicly scorned the Egyptian religion and ordered all images of the Egyptian gods to be destroyed.

10. Cambyses only ruled for 8 years before his death. Upon his death there was wide spread rebellion throughout the empire. Darius, a noble of the ruling dynasty, became king in 522 BC. His first job was to quiet the rebellions. Eventually he was able to establish a very efficient method of governing the vast empire that still allowed the people the freedom they had grown accustomed to under the rule of Cyrus.

11. Darius Extends the Empire Darius extended the empire into present day Afghanistan and farther into India. Eventually the empire covered 2,500 miles.

12. A New System of Government In order to govern these distant lands, Darius allowed provincial governors called “Satraps” to handle the affairs of the provinces. Darius still held absolute power despite regional administration. The people were allowed to practice their own religions, speak their native languages, and follow many of their own laws.

13. The Royal Road and Money In an attempt to tie the vast empire together, Darius ordered that a road system to be built to extend throughout the empire. This became known as the Royal Road. Darius also borrowed the idea of using a standardized coin currency throughout the empire. The Lydians of Anatolia were the first to come up with this idea. Barter was no longer the only way to conduct business