Empires of Ancient Persia

GRE AT E MPI RE S OF THE PAS T
EmpirEs of
AnciEnt pErsiA
Empire of Alexander the Great
Empire of Ancient Egypt
Empire of Ancient Greece
Empire of Ancient Rome
Empire of the Aztecs
Empire of the Incas
Empire of the Islamic World
Empire of the Mongols
Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia
Empires of Ancient Persia
Empires of Medieval West Africa
Empires of the Maya
MICHAEL BURGAN
THOMAS G. URBAN, HISTORICAL CONSULT ONSUL ONSUL AN TT T
EmpirEs of
AnciEnt pErsiA
Great Empires of the Past: Empires of Ancient Persia
Copyright 2010 Michael Burgan
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CONTENTS
Introduction 7
PART I HI STORY
CHAPTER 1 Te First Persian Empire 19
CHAPTER 2 Te Achaemenid Empire at Its Largest 35
CHAPTER 3 Te New Persian Empires 55
PART I I SOCI ETY AND CULTURE
CHAPTER 4 Politics and Society in the Persian Empires 75
CHAPTER 5 Living and Working in the Persian Empires 93
CHAPTER 6 Persian Art, Science, and Culture 111
Epilogue 127
Time Line 140
Glossary 141
Bibliography 143
Further Resources 147
Picture Credits 150
Index 151
About the Author 159
7
FOR ALMOST 1,200 YEARS, FROM 550 ... TO 651 .., THE
Persians dominated an area that stretched from the Black Sea (which is
north of modern Turkey and bordered by Eastern Europe) into Central
Asia. Throughout its long history, Persia had contact withand often
battledmany of the other great empires of the past.
The Persian homeland was centered in the southwest of modern-
day Iran, along the Zagros Mountains. From there, the Persians con-
quered the various kingdoms of Mesopotamia, in the region between
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq. They then spread
their influence over Egypt and the fringes of southern Europe. This
made them the first empire builders to control part of three continents.
To the east, Persian rule extended as far as India.
It is difficult to talk about one Persian Empire, because three dis-
tinct Persian peoples rose to power at different times. But they shared
a similar language and culture and ruled many of the same lands. The
Achaemenid dynasty created what is sometimes called the Persian
Empire. Their rule lasted from about 559 ... until 330 ..., when
Persia was conquered by Alexander the Great (356323 ...). Several
centuries later, the Parthians rose to power in the region. They were
followed by the Sassanians.
For centuries, historians in Europe and North America studied the
Persians mostly through the words of ancient Greek and Roman writ-
ers. Their writings provided important information on Persian history
and culture. But the ancient Greeks and Romans saw the Persians as
their enemies, and so their accounts of the Persians were not always
accurate.

introduction

This golden chariot (a
horse-drawn cart that
carries soldiers) is a
symbol of both the wealth
and power of the Persian
Empire.
E MP I R E S O F A N C I E N T P E R S I A
Starting in the 19th cen-
tury, archaeologists (scientists
who study ancient peoples
by studying the items they
left behind) began to trans-
late ancient Persian writings.
They also discovered new
sources of information from
lands that bordered Persia.
Although the Persians did not
write complete history books,
government records helped
present the Persians view of
their world. So did writings,
called inscriptions, carved into great monuments and tombs of the
empires leaders.
From both Western and Persian sources, a picture emerges of an
empire that allowed the local people in its distant regions to control
much of their own affairs. The Persians borrowed ideas from the people
they conquered and let them keep their local language and customs.
In his book The Histories, Greek historian Herodotus (ca. 484ca. 425
...) wrote, The Persians welcome foreign customs more than any
other people.
The lands the Persians controlled provided a great deal of wealth.
They used it to construct massive buildings and make great art. They
introduced the Persian language and culture in large parts of Central
Asia, and that influence remains today beyond the borders of Iran. And
some Persian words and concepts also entered Western culturecon-
nections to the present that will be explored throughout this book.
PEOPLE OF THE STEPPE
The Persians traced their roots to people who came out of the steppe,
a vast, flat, and mostly treeless area that stretches across Central Asia
into parts of Eastern Europe. The steppe people were great horse-
menhorses were first ridden by humans who lived on the steppe of
modern-day Ukraine more than 4,000 years ago.
The culture that developed in that part of the steppe eventually
spread eastward across Asia. Then, by about 1000 ..., some descen-
8
What Are Connections?
Throughout this book, and all the books in the Great
Empires of the Past series, there are Connections boxes.
They point out ideas, inventions, art, food, customs, and
more from this empire that are still part of the world today.
Nations and cultures in remote history can seem far away
from the present day, but these connections demonstrate
how our everyday lives have been shaped by the peoples
of the past.
CONNECTIONS
9
dants (relatives who trace their roots back to one person) of those
steppe dwellers called the Medes and Persians settled in southwest
Iran. They settled on a plateau (a high, flat area of land) near the Zagros
Mountains and the Persian Gulf. This region is in an area known as the
Near Eastpart of southwest Asia bordering the Mediterranean, Black,
and Caspian Seas, and the Persian Gulf.
I n t r o d u c t i o n
The clash between Persia
and Greece was recorded
by Greek historian
Herodotus.
10
Some of the worlds first great civilizations appeared in a part of the
Near East called the Fertile Crescent. This was a crescent, or arc-shaped,
area of land that began at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, ran
through Mesopotamia, and curved southward toward what is now Israel.
In the Fertile Crescent, farming first developed about 12,000 years ago.
When the Medes and Persians entered the Near East, the Fertile
Crescent was divided up into several small kingdoms. In northern
Mesopotamia, the Assyrians were the dominant military power. Over
the next several centuries, Assyria expanded its empire. During this
time, Media, the land of the Medes, grew stronger too. The two nations
clashed in the seventh century, and Media joined with Babylonia to
defeat the Assyrians.
Persia or Iran?
Most ancient Greek writ-
ers called the land of the
Achaemenid dynasty
Persai. This word came
from what the Achaeme-
nids themselves called
the regionParsua, or
Persis. Today, this part
of Iran is called Fars, and
that is the root of the
word Farsi, the modern Farsi Farsi
Persian language spoken
in Iran.
In English, Persai
became Persia, and
Western writers have
used that name to refer
to the home of the
ancient Persians and the
lands they conquered.
The ancient Persians,
however, usually called
their land Eire-An or Ir-
An, meaning Land of
the Aryans. The first
Persians were a people
who called themselves
Aryans, and came to
southwest Asia from the
northeast.
In 1935, the govern-
ment of Persia officially
changed the countrys
name to Iran. In this
book, Iran refers to the
modern country of that
name and Persia refers
to the ancient empire.
11
Babylonia had once been the dominant power in Mesopotamia,
hundreds of years before the Assyrians came to power. Now, for a time,
the Babylonians controlled the region again. The Medes, however, had
their own growing kingdom. They also had influence over some neigh-
boring states, including Persis, the land of the Persians.
THE RISE OF THE PERSIANS
In the middle of the sixth century ..., a Persian named Cyrus II
(ca. 585529 ...) became king in Anshan, the western part of Persis.
Through his mother, he may have been related to Astyages (r. 584550
...), the king of Media. But historians are not sure. Cyrus II united
all of Persis under his rule. This marked the beginning of the Achaeme-
nid dynasty. He then angered Astyages by refusing to accept Medean
influence over Persis.
Around 550 ..., Astyages launched an attack on Cyrus and his
troops. According to the Babylonian Chronicles, an ancient collection
of government records, Astyages men turned against their king, and
Cyrus won a quick and decisive victory. Soon he ruled over Media, too.
Other Persian tribes north of that kingdom also pledged their loyalty
to Cyrus.
The new, united Persian-Median state was stronger than it had
been when the two groups were separate. Drawing on this strength,
Cyrus began a long career of conquest. He defeated Lydia, in what is
now western Turkey, and then conquered Babylonia and neighboring
lands to the west.
Cyrus also turned to the east and won battles across Central Asia,
bringing the borders of his new empire to what is now Tajikistan. In
529 ..., Cyrus died in battle. Future historians called him Cyrus the
Great, in honor of his achievements. As modern historian Maria Bro-
sius writes in The Persians, Under the leadership of a single king, the
Persians had become the dominant power of the known world.
Cambyses II (d. 522 ...), Cyruss son, became the next king of
the Persians. He continued to expand his fathers empire. Cambyses
won control of Egypt and Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea.
When he died, a nobleman named Darius (ca. 550486 ...) claimed
the throne. So did a supposed brother of Cambyses named Bardiya (d.
ca. 525 ...). Darius and his supporters defeated Bardiya, and Darius
became ruler of the Persians.
Persian Names
The names used for Per-
sian leaders in most his-
tory books actually come
from Greek and Latin
writers. Cyrus, for exam-
ple is the Latin version of
the Greek name Kouros
which came from the Old
Persian name Kurush.
Other well-known Per-
sian names have gone
through similar changes.
Darius, the name of sev-
eral important Persian
kings, is the Latin version
of the Greek name for the
Old Persian Darayavaush.
Xerxes is the Greek name
for two leaders known in
Old Persian as Krshayar-
sha. Throughout this
book, the more common
Latin and Greek versions
of Persian names have
been used.
12
Under Darius, the Persian Empire expanded even more. Darius
pushed across Central Asia and into northwestern India. He also invaded
Europe, entering Scythia, which was the home of another Aryan people.
(Scythia was a region north of the Black Sea in modern-day Ukraine and
Russia). This region did not come under Persian control, but Thrace and
Macedonia did. (These lands were southwest of Scythia in what is now
Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria, and western Turkey.)
WARS AND DEFEAT
The Greek city-states in Lydia had become part of the empire in 546
.., and they rose in rebellion in 499 ... (City-states are indepen-
dent political units consisting of a city and the surrounding countryside
that comes under its rule.) Greek settlers had come to the region several
hundred years before, and they wanted their independence from Persian
rule. At the time, Greece was made up of independent city-states scat-
tered across the Aegean Sea. Citizens of Athens and other city-states sup-
ported their fellow Greeks. Darius defeated the rebels, and then turned to
attack Greece itself.
Greece and Persia already
competed to control trade in
the region. Now, the Persian
invasion in 490 ... brought
the two great powers into direct
military conflict. The Greeks
united to defeat the Persians
twice over the next decade. But
kings after Darius would con-
tinue to try to weaken Greek
power.
During the fourth century
..., Persias rulers dealt with
various regional rebellions.
The empire was divided into
regions called satrapies. Egypt
was one satrapy that success-
fully won its independence for
a time. The residents of other
satrapies, including Phoenicia
Stan in Central Asia
Several of the countries of Central Asia have names that
end in stan. Some examples are Afghanistan and Pakistan.
This suffix has its roots in Persian and means place of. So
the name of the people who lived in a region was added to
stan when the area was named. For example, Kazakhstan is
the place where the Kazakh people live.
For a time, the Persians called what are now India and
Pakistan Hindustan, meaning it was the place of the people
who followed the Hindu religion.
The world map gained a number of new stans after the
breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. Many Central Asian
peoples who had been part of the Soviet Republics gained
their independence when the Soviet Union collapsed.
These new nations include Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and TT
Turkmenistan.
CONNECTIONS
13
(along the Mediterranean coast of the Fertile Crescent) also rebelled.
Ending these rebellions cost the government money and soldiers.
The Achaemenids also had their own squabbles, and members of
the royal family or their aides sometime battled each other for control.
Darius III (d. 330 ...) came to power in 336 ..., after some royal
infighting. He turned out to be the last Achaemenid king.
The clash between Persia and Greece was
first recorded in The Histories (sometimes
called The Persian Wars) by Herodotus
(ca. 484ca. 425 B.C.E.). This Greek writer has
been called the Father of History, because
he was the first known historian. He traveled
through many of the lands he described in
his book.
To write The Histories, Herodotus used
facts that he gathered on his own, plus
stories he heard from people he met. To
write about Persia, Herodotus recounts
information dating back to the founding of
the Persian Empire, not merely from the time
of the war with Greece.
Some historians have criticized him
for including myths (traditional stories,
sometimes involving gods or magic), or
not clearly separating the myths from the
facts. Herodotus was also influenced by
the general Greek idea that Persians were
strange and uncivilized. This is a part of his
description of their customs.
It is the Persian custom to regard a
persons birthday as the most important
day of the year for him. They consider
it their duty to serve larger quantities at
dinner on their birthday than they do on
any other day. Well-off Persians serve an
ox, a horse, a camel, or a donkey, roasted
whole in an oven. Poor Persians serve
some smaller creature from their flocks.
They do not eat many main courses as a
rule, but they eat a lot of extra courses,
and not all together. . . .
They are extremely fond of wine, and
they are not supposed to vomit or urinate
when anyone else can see them. Although
they have to be careful about all that, it is
usual for them to be drunk when they
are debating the most important issues.
However, any decision they reach is put
to them again on the next day, when they
are sober, by the head of the household
where the debate takes place. If they still
approve of it when they are sober, it is
adopted, but otherwise they forget about
it. And any issues they debate when sober
are reconsidered when they are drunk.
Herodotuss The Histories gives a
colorful view of the ancient world, but one
that must be balanced with modern research
to get a true picture.
(Source: Herodotus. The Histories. Translated
by Robin Waterfield. Oxford, U.K.: Oxford
University Press, 1998.)
The Father of History
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
14
A Greek and Macedonian force led by Alexander the Great invaded
Central Asia in 334 ... Within three years, Darius was dead and Alex-
ander ruled the Persian Empirethough only briefly. Alexander died
in 323 ..., and Mesopotamia, Persia, and most of Central Asia came
under the control of one of his generals, Seleucus (ca. 358281 ...).
Seleucus was the founder of the Seleucid dynasty, which ruled parts of
the old Persian Empire for the next several hundred years.
PARTHIAN PERSIA
To the Persians, the Greeks were outsiders, not their true rulers. This
included Seleucus. As a result, some regions began to break away from
Seleucid rule. One of these was Parthia, a region east of Media and
Persis along the Caspian Sea. The Parni, an Aryan tribe with roots in
Central Asia, had come to the region around 300 ... By 247 ...,
a Parni named Arsaces (r. ca. 248211 ...) ruled part of the satrapy,
and he took full control within a decade. This marked the start of the
Parthian Empire.
Over the next several decades, Arsaces and the rulers after him
took more Seleucid lands, building a new Persian Empire. The Par-
thians traded with China to the east; Asian goods going to Europe
went through their lands. The Parthians also came into conflict
with the Roman Empire, which had become the dominant power
in Europe. The two empires fought for control of Mesopotamia and
neighboring lands.
The Parthian rulers saw themselves as carrying on the rule of the
Achaemenids. They wanted to assert Parthias power over traditional
Persian lands. The Roman historian Tacitus (ca. 56ca. 120 ..)
wrote in The Annals that Parthian ruler Arabians II (d. ca. 40 ..) . . .
insisted on the ancient boundaries of Persia and Macedonia, and inti-
mated [hinted] . . . that he meant to seize on the country [that had been]
possessed by Cyrus and afterwards by Alexander.
The Roman Empire fought several fierce battles against the Par-
thians, from the 1st century ... into the 3rd century .. These wars
were broken by short periods of peace, and then the fighting would
begin again. Several times, the Romans captured the Parthian capital
of Ctesiphon, but were then driven out. The rivalry between Persia and
Rome would continue even after a new Persian dynasty forced the Par-
thians from power.
Satraps and
Satrapies
A Persian satrapy was
headed by a person
called a satrap, a kind of
governor. The two words
came from the Old Per-
sian word xsacapavan (or
khshatrapavan), which
means defender of the
kingdom. A satrap had a
good deal of control over
his province, but the land
still came under the rule
of the Persian king.
15
THE SASSANIAN EMPIRE AND COLLAPSE
A local king ruled Persis, although he pledged his loyalty to the Par-
thian king. Around 200 .., a member of a local noble family named
Papak (d. ca. 212 ..) overthrew the local king. Papak then took
control of the district of Istakhr, near Persepolis, the ruined ancient
capital of Persis. Soon after he died, Papaks son Ardashir (d. 241 ..)
made himself king of the district. He began to seize control of neigh-
boring territory.
Parthian officials saw Ardashir gain more and more power, and
they prepared to stop him. King Artabanus IV (d. 224 ..) led his
army to Media in 224 .., where they battled Ardashir and his men.
Ardashir killed the king and declared himself the new ruler of Parthia.
His ruling family became known as the Sassanian dynasty, after the
name of the man he claimed was his grandfather, Sassan.
Ardashir fought for several years to gain control of Parthia. Then
his successors (the rulers who came after him) tried to retake lands that
had been conquered centuries before by Cyrus and Darius. The Sas-
sanians claimed a direct family link to the Achaemenid Persians of old,
through Sassan. And, like the Parthians, the Sassanians fought several
major wars with the Roman Empire in Mesopotamia, Armenia, and
along the Mediterranean coast.
The struggle between the Romans and the Persians went on for
several hundred years. It continued even after the western half of the
Roman Empire split from the eastern half in 395 .. At times, the
Sassanians also battled other neighboring peoples, such as the Arabs,
Hephthalites, and Turks.
But the Persians of the Sassanian Empire were not just fighters.
Their kings promoted the arts and education. They made Zoroastrian-
ism the official religion of the empire, helping to spread its influence in
the Near East and Central Asia. This religion had its roots in Persia and
had been practiced by both Achaemenids and Parthians. But Zoroas-
trian priests now had more influence than ever before.
By the early 600s, the Sassanians were taking lands from the
Romans along the Aegean and Mediterranean Seaslands the ancient
Persians had also conquered. But by the middle of the seventh century,
the Sassanian Empire was crushed by a new powerthe Arabs of Saudi
Arabia. These Arabs built their own empire that stretched from North
Africa to Central Asia, and included southern Spain.
The Sassanian
Dynasty
Persian and Arab
sources are not clear
about the ties between
Sassan and Ardashir,
although most say Sas-
san was Ardashirs
grandfather. Not much is
known about Sassan. He
seems to have been the
chief priest at a temple
dedicated to the Persian
prophet Zoroaster. One
Persian source said he
had family ties to the
Achaemenid royal family.
Most likely, this claim
was made to tie Ardashir
to that great Persian
dynasty.
In modern times, one
historian has suggested
that Sassan could have
been the name of another
god worshipped in
the ancient Near East.
Whatever the truth about
Sassan and his roots,
his name lives on in the
name of one of the great
empires of the ancient
world.
16
In the former Sassanian lands, the Persian influence remained
strong. Persians also traveled throughout the new Islamic Empire,
working for the Arabs. Others became refugees who fled to India and
Byzantium (the eastern half of the old Roman Empire).
Today, Iran (and, to some extent, Iraq) holds some of the great
examples of Persian art and architecture. Even beyond the ancient bor-
ders of the empire, Persian influence thrives. The ancient Persian reli-
gion, Zoroastrianism, is still followed today. The Persians helped make
chess popular across Asia and Europe. And English speakers use words
with their Persian roots, such as bazaar, bazaar bazaar orange, and lemon. The history
of the three Persian Empires is the history of a people who still have an
impact on todays world.
The Roman Empire
fought with the Parthians
several times. This Roman
monument was built after
the end of the Parthian
wars to honor the victories
of Emperor Lucius Verus,
who commanded the
Roman forces.
THE FIRST PERSIAN EMPIRE
THE ACHAEMENID EMPIRE AT ITS LARGEST
THE NEW PERSIAN EMPIRES
HISTORY
P A R T I
THE AGRICULTURAL LIFE THAT DEVELOPED IN THE FERTILE
Crescent brought great changes to human society. The peoples of south-
west Asia began to produce enough food to support larger populations.
The food included products from domesticated animals, such as cattle,
goats, and sheep. Within societies, some people developed specific roles
as priests, leaders, or artisans (specialists in a particular craft).
A number of early city-states developed in Mesopotamia, along
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and farther east toward the Zagros
Mountains. Sumer was one of the most important. The Sumerians built
huge temples, traded with other regions, and developed the first writing
system, called cuneiform.
Around 2250 ..., the Akkadians became a major force in Meso-
potamia. They created what has been called the regions first empire. It
is thought that the Akkadians originally formed a part of the Sumerian
civilization; however, they spoke a Semitic language that differed from
Sumerian. By defeating the Sumerians, neighboring people called the
Elamites, and other city-states, the Akkadians controlled a band of land
that stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. Their
capital, Akkad, was just south of modern-day Baghdad.
When their empire fell, around 2125 ..., independent city-states
appeared again. One of them, Ur, managed to extend its control beyond
the Zagros Mountains.
Around 2000 ..., the Babylonians emerged as a power and built
a kingdom in the region. Babylon competed with Assyria for influence
in Mesopotamia, and by about 1000 ... Assyria was the regions
thE first
pErsiAn EmpirE
19

Aristocrats of the
Achaemenid court are
shown in this relief
carving, which once
decorated a palace
staircase.
C H A P T E R 1
20
main power. Around that time, a new people began to appear on the
fringes of the Fertile Crescentthe Aryans.
THE MEDES AND THE PERSIANS
The Aryans first arose north and east of the Caspian Sea, in what is now
western Kazakhstan. In their language, the root of their name means
noble. The Aryans traced their origins to earlier people known today as
the Proto-Indo-Europeans. They first appeared either in Anatolia (most
of modern Turkey, also called Asia Minor), or a region bordering south-
ern Ukraine and Russia. From these Indo-Europeans came a group of
languages that includes Persian, English, and most European languages.
The Aryans spread out across the steppe of Central Asia. Some
headed north into Russia and others reached India. The Aryans relied
on horses for transportation and in warfare. They, or people related to
them, built the first battle chariots (horse-drawn carts that carry sol-
diers). The Aryans, with their horses and other grazing animals, were
nomadspeople who move from place to place with no permanent
home.
Some Aryans reached southwest Asia around 1500 ... and settled
in what is now Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. They blended in with the local
people. The second wave of Aryans came around 1000 ... and included
the Medes and the Persians. Their language and culture slowly spread in
the region of the Zagros Mountains, replacing the native culture.
The Medes settled in what is now northwest Iran. The city of
Ecbatana (modern Hamadan) was in the center of the Median home-
land. The Persians founded Persis in southwest Iran, close to the Per-
sian Gulf.
Both tribes came into contact with various peoples who already
lived on and around the Iranian Plateau. The most important, espe-
cially for the Persians, were the Elamites. Their kingdom of Elam was
centuries old, and the Elamites had their own cuneiform for their lan-
guage. Their cities included Susa and Anshan. These remained impor-
tant urban centers under later Persian rule.
In the years after the arrival of the Medes and Persians, the Assyr-
ians extended their direct control over more of the Near East. Their
empire grew to include Syria and Babyloniathe city of Babylon and
the lands around it. The Assyrians were the first to write about the
Cuneiform and
the Persians
The word cuneiform
comes from the Latin
word cuneus, which
means wedge. Sume-
rian writers called
scribes used a wedge-
shaped device to press
the lines and triangular
shapes of their language
into clay. Different pat-
terns of triangles and
lines stood for different
words, creating what is
called a scriptsimilar
to an alphabet. The
Elamites, Assyrians,
and Babylonians also
used a cuneiform script
to write, each in their
own language. In their
cuneiform writings, the
Persians used Akka-
dian (the language of
the Babylonians) and
Elamite, as well as their
own language. Western
scholars first translated
the Persian cuneiform in
the 19th century, helping
them learn more about
the history of the Persian
Empire.
21
Medes, during the ninth cen-
tury ...
Writing about 400 years
later, Greek historian Herodo-
tus explained what he knew
about the rise of Media as
a kingdom. In The Histo-
ries, he tells of Deioces (r.
699647 ...), a judge who
won the respect of his fellow
citizens. To bring order to the
Medes, the people decided
to choose a king. Herodo-
tus wrote, Deioces was so
much in everyones mouth
[spoken about], that all ended
by agreeing that he should be
their king.
Modern historians do not know if Herodotuss report is true. If it
is, the Medes might have united to resist Assyrian attacks. Starting
in the ninth century ..., the Assyrians conducted raids into both
Media and Persis. For a time, the Assyrians controlled land east of
Media and founded a city they called Tah-a-Ran. (Today that city is
Tehran, the capital of Iran.) The Assyrians also battled Medes who
fought on foot in the mountains.
The Assyrians forced the Medes to pay tribute (money or goods
paid to a foreign ruler to prevent an invasion or show obedience). This
included horses, sheep, and camels. And, in a common Assyrian prac-
tice, a group of Medes were sent out of their homeland in the seventh
century ... and forced to live in Assyria. The Medes had to work
for the Assyrians and had no contact with their homeland.
RISE OF A NEW NATION
In the first decades of the seventh century, nomads from the north
called Scythians (sometimes written as Saka) and Cimmerians attacked
Assyria and Media. The Scythians were the stronger of the two groups,
and for a time, they controlled Media.
T h e F i r s t P e r s i a n E mp i r e
Persian and Median
soldiers are shown here,
symbolizing the two
peoples who together
formed the Persian Empire.
22
The Medes, however, still
kept their own kingCyaxares
(d. ca. 585 ...), the grand-
son of Deioces. The Scythians
and Medes spoke a similar
language, and the Medes had
the Scythians teach their boys
how to shoot a bow and arrow.
Relations between the Scyth-
ians and Medes improved so
much that they fought as allies
against Assyria.
The Babylonians rebelled
against Assyrian rule in 626
... Ten years later, the Baby-
lonians had secured control
of their homeland and then
invaded Assyria. Medes then
joined the war. They invaded
the Assyrian city of Ashur (Ash
Sharqat in modern-day Iraq), and the Scythians soon fought along side
them. In 612 ..., the allies took over the Assyrian capital of Nineveh.
Some accounts say the invaders directed the waters of a nearby river
toward Nineveh, and this rushing force of nature helped take down the
citys outer walls and gate. According to the Babylonian Chronicles, the
Medes and their allies carried off the vast booty [wealth] of the city
and the temple and turned the city into a ruin heap.
In ancient Persis, the first soldiers were farmers who stepped up
to fight when their tribe or kingdom faced attack. As an army, these
soldiers were called kara. In Media, Cyaxares created a full-time
army, called a spada. He likely imitated some of the organization of
the Assyrian army, while also drawing on the strengths of the Medes
as skilled horsemen. Herodotus wrote in The Histories that Cyaxares
was the first Median ruler to separate the army into units of spear-
bearers, archers, and cavalry. Before this they were all mixed up . . .
together. (Archers fight with a bow and arrow and cavalry soldiers
fight on horseback.)
With the end of the Assyrian Empire, Babylonia and Media divided
up its lands. Media received the old Assyrian homeland, centered in
Kurdish Fighters
The descendants of the Medes in northern Iran include the
Kurds. Today they are spread out over a region that includes TT
parts of Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, and smaller parts of Syria and
Armeniaall of which was once part of the Persian Empire.
Many Kurds want to create their own nation, and fighters
known as peshmerga have often carried out this war for
independence.
In the Iraq War, the peshmerga helped U.S. troops battle
forces loyal to the government of Saddam Hussein. The
name of these fighters means those who face death. In his
book Shadows in the Desert, historian Kaveh Farrokh sug-
gests that the ancient Medes who fought in the mountains
of Kurdistan against the Assyrians were the ancestors of the
peshmerga in spirit and purpose.
CONNECTIONS
23
present-day Iraq, and nearby territory. In the decades that followed,
Cyaxares expanded his kingdom to the north, into the Caucasus Moun-
tains between the Caspian and Black Seas.
The Medes also turned to the west, pushing into Anatolia, where
the kingdom of Lydia was the dominant power. A peace treaty of 585
... ended the war, giving Cyaxares control of eastern Anatolia. To
seal the peace, he arranged a marriage between his son Astyages (r. ca.
584550 ...) and the daughter of the Lydian king.
Astyages became king of Media the next year, and he turned his
armies toward the east. The Medes invaded the lands of Persian-speak-
ing people in what is now eastern Iran. Then they continued into what
is now Afghanistan. Even if the Medes did not directly control the lands
they invaded, they at least influenced the local rulers. One of these par-
tially independent states the Medes influenced was Persis.
THE BIRTH OF THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
While the Medes were creating an empire, the Persians were gaining
influence in their region. After the destruction of the Elamite capital
of Susa in the 640s ..., Persiss neighbor Elam came under Assyr-
ian control. Farther west was a second Elamite capital called Anshan.
The city and surrounding region was soon ruled by a Persian dynasty
founded by Teispes (r. ca. 635610 ...). Teispes was the son of Ach-
aemenes (dates unknown), whose name served as the dynastic name
the Achaemenids.
Teispess grandson, Cambyses I (r. ca. 585559 ...), later agreed
to an alliance with Media. But the Medes were clearly the stronger of
the two groups.
Some time around 575 ..., Cambyses had a son, Cyrus. According
to a few ancient sources, Cyruss mother was the daughter of Astyages of
Media. This establishes a family link between the two Persian kingdoms
of Persis and Media. Some modern historians, however, doubt this claim
is true.
Several ancient historians offered different stories about Cyruss
birth and childhood. In one version, his grandfather Astyages had a
dream that suggested a grandson of his would become king. To pre-
vent this, Astyages ordered that the newborn Cyrus be killed. But the
Median official given the job could not bring himself to kill the baby,
and instead gave him to a poor shepherd to raise.
24
In another story, Cyrus was actually the son of poor farmers. But
he managed to find work with the Median rulers and became a favorite
because of his great skill. Some modern historians point out that simi-
lar tales had been told about Near Eastern rulers before Cyrus. Ancient
historians most likely took the basic structure of those earlier legends
and adapted them for Cyrus, without any knowledge of the true facts of
his early life.
Historians know that Cyrus took the throne in Anshan when he
was still a teenager, in 559 ... He soon began one of the greatest
series of conquests in world history.
By this time, Persis was actually divided into two smaller kingdoms.
Cyrus began his military feats by uniting all of Persis under his rule.
Then, some time around 550 ..., he went to war with Media.
Details of the cause of the war are not clear. Astyages might have struck
first, seeking to prevent Cyrus from becoming more powerful. Or Cyrus
might have wanted to gain control of the Median kings territory.
In any event, some of the Median forces left Astyages to fight for
Persis. They handed their king over to Cyrus. According to the Baby-
lonian Chronicles, Cyrus then entered the Median capital of Ecbatana
To build his new capital of TT Pasargadae, Cyrus
relied on skilled workers from Lydia and
other neighboring lands. The results of their
hard work are mostly gone today. Only the
remains of a few buildings still stand in what
was once a great city.
In the early 1960s, archaeologists start-
ing digging at the site in southern Iran. They
uncovered stone monuments, pottery, and
jewels. In 2004, the United Nations Educa-
tional, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) named Pasargadae a World Heri-
tage Site. This means the ruins of the ancient
Persian city are a unique part of world history
and culture.
The ruins, however, now face possible dam-
age. Ignoring the pleas of some archaeologists,
in 2007 the government of Iran built a dam
across a nearby river. The resulting reservoir
threatened to wipe out an ancient road that once
linked Pasargadae with the second Persian cap-
ital of Susa. The water could also destroy other
ancient sites nearby. Some archaeologists fear
that increased moisture in the air because of the
dam could also harm Pasargadae, though oth-
ers believe this is not a threat.
CONNECTIONS
Remains of an Ancient Capital
25
and seized silver, gold, other
valuables of the country . . . and
brought [them] to Anshan.
Cyrus was now the king
of a united Persia, and he built
a new capital city called Pas-
argadae. Other Persian-speak-
ing tribes of the region also
accepted Cyrus as their king,
and he was sometimes called
the Great King. To modern
historians, he is known as
Cyrus the Great, the founder of
the first Persian Empire.
After Cyrus united Media
with the two kingdoms of Per-
sis, he replaced the kara he
had used with a professional
army. This force grew in size as
the now-united Persians con-
quered new lands and added new soldiers from those lands. Cyrus next
looked northward and captured Urartu, a kingdom located near Lake
Van, in what is now Turkey.
By around 547 ..., the Persians growing power worried Croesus
(d. 546 ...), the king of Lydia. Croesus took an army across the bor-
der between his nation and Media. The Lydian forces included Greeks
who lived in Lydia along the Aegean Sea. Croesuss and Cyruss armies
clashed near Cappadocia, in todays central Turkey.
Neither side won a clear victory, and Croesus pulled his troops back
to Sardis, his capital in western Turkey. The Lydian king also sent some
of his troops home for the winter. This proved to be a deadly mistake.
Rather than pull back after the fighting at Cappadocia, Cyrus followed
his enemy westward.
Croesus saw Cyrus getting ready for an attack, and quickly called
for help from his allies, Egypt and Babylonia. But they could not
respond in time. As part of his force, Cyrus had soldiers on camels
who led the attack. In The Histories, Herodotus explained the purpose
of this strategy: The horse fears the camel and cannot abide the sight
As Rich as Croesus
The name of the ancient king of Lydia sometimes appears in
modern conversations. If someone calls a person as rich as
Croesus, that person is very rich indeed, because Croesus
was believed to be one of the wealthiest rulers of the Near
East. Greeks who visited his capital of Sardis returned with
tales of his wealth and the silver coins he minted.
Croesus is also remembered for asking the god Apollo
whether he would defeat the Persians if he attacked them.
The priest speaking for the god replied that Croesus would
destroy a mighty empire (as Herodotus wrote in The Histo-
ries). Croesus assumed this meant he would beat the Per-
sians. Instead, Cyrus won, and the great empire destroyed
was Croesuss. The story is still told today to suggest the
dangers of being too sure of oneself.
CONNECTIONS
26
or the smell of it. . . . Indeed, as soon as the battle was joined, the very
moment the horses smelled the camels and saw them, they bolted back;
and down went all hope for Croesus.
The Persians then began a siege of Sardis, which lasted two weeks.
(A siege means cutting off a town or fort from the outside so it cannot
receive supplies and citizens cannot escape.) The siege forced Croesus
to surrender, and Cyrus added Lydia to his empire. It took several
years, however, for Persian generals to end rebellions in the region.
ON TO BABYLONIA
In the years that followed, Cyrus turned his attention to Babylonia.
This would be his next military target, so he tried to win allies in the
In 538 B.C.E., Cyrus had scribes (people
whose job is to write down all important
records) write a description of his new
government on a cylinder made out of
clay. This Cyrus Cylinder was discovered
by archaeologists in the 19th century. It
offers some of the few documented clues
about Cyruss reign in Babylonia. The Cyrus
Cylinder contains the only known words
of Cyrus the Great. It was written in the
Akkadian language. The cuneiform script
covers a cylinder about 10 inches long and
5 inches wide. After describing the state
of Babylonia under King Nabonidus, Cyrus
spoke to the Babylonians:
I am Cyrus, king of the world, great
king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king
of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four
quarters . . . When I entered Babylon in
a peaceful manner, I took up my lordly
abode [home] in the royal palace amidst
rejoicing and happiness . . . Marduk, the
great lord, established as his fate for me .
. . who loves Babylon, and I daily attended
to his worship. . . . I sought the welfare
of the city of Babylon and all its sacred
centers. As for the citizens of Babylon,
[upon whom] he [Nabonidus] imposed
I Am King of the World
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
The Cyrus Cylinder was written in 538
B.C.E. and explains Cyruss history and the
government he established.
27
region. The ruler, Nabonidus (r. 556539 ...), had angered some of
the Babylonian priests by turning away from the local god Marduk and
accepting a new, foreign god. Cyrus received promises of support from
some of these priests. A Babylonian general named Ugbaru (d. 538
...) also promised to help Cyrus.
In 539 ..., Cyrus made his move into Babylon. The Babylonian
Chronicles describes how his forces killed many Babylonians in Opis,
along the Tigris River. Then he turned on the city of Sippar, where
Nabonidus was staying. The Chronicles say, The 15th day, Sippar was
seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The 16th day, Gobryas [Ugbaru],
the governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon with-
out battle. Afterwards, Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he
returned there.
a corve which was not the gods wish
and not befitting them, I relieved their
wariness and freed them from their
service. Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced
over [my good] deeds.
He sent gracious blessing upon me,
Cyrus, the king who worships him, and
upon Cambyses, the son who is [my]
offspring, and upon all my army. . . .
Corve means forced labor or slavery,
so Cyrus was noting that he freed the
Babylonians from slavery. He went on to
describe his other good deeds:
I returned the images of the gods, who
had resided there [in Babylon], to their
places and I let them dwell in eternal
abodes. I gathered all their inhabitants
and returned to them their dwellings.
This part means Cyrus restored the
old Babylonian gods that Nabonidus had
ignored. He also let the foreigners who had
been forcibly taken to Babylon return to their
homes. This included tens of thousands
of Jews, who had been forced from their
homeland and sent to Babylon earlier in the
6th century B.C.E.
To some modern observers, Cyrus
was a great champion of human rights. He
ended slavery and let everyone worship as
they chose. The Cyrus Cylinder has been
called the first document that spells out the
protection of human rights. Because of this,
the United Nations has a copy of it in its
New York headquarters. Some historians,
however, point out that many Near Eastern
kings before Cyrus began their rule by
pointing out the ways they helped their
citizens.
(Source: Cyrus Cylinder (2). Livius: Articles on
Ancient History. Available online. URL: http://
www.livius.org/ct-cz/cyrus_I/cyrus_cylinder2.
html. Accessed February 15, 2008.)
28
Cyrus waited several weeks
before entering the city of Babylon,
the capital of the country. When
he finally arrived, he claimed the
title of king of Babylonia and said
the god Marduk had blessed his
victory. This connection to the
local god made it easier for the
Babylonians to accept Cyrus as
their ruler.
With the victory in Babylo-
nia, Cyrus also won the loyalty of
Syria, Palestine, and Phoenicia
all located along the Mediterra-
nean Sea. The Phoenicians were
particularly well known for their
skills as sailors and shipbuilders,
so for the first time the Persians had a navy.
Cyrus did not make great changes in how the Babylonians ran their
affairs. Local people remained in charge of the government, under the
control of a Persian satrap. Cyrus let the people worship any god they
chose. The pattern of giving conquered people a good deal of freedom
would continue under other Persian rulers.
After his victory in Babylonia, Cyrus turned his attention to
the east. He may have already fought in eastern Iran and Central
Asia, in the years before his Babylonian conquest. Details of his
military actions in the east are hard to find. But it seems certain that
he expanded the territory of the old Median Empire in the region
beyond the Oxus River (now called the Amu Darya). This region was
called Transoxiana, and included parts of what are now Afghanistan,
Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.
Along the Jaxartes River (now called the Syr Darya), Cyrus founded
a new city, Cyropolis, most likely in what is now Tajikistan. Near there,
according to Herodotus, the Persians fought in 530 ... against the
Massagetae, who were a Scythian people. Cyrus had his men build
boats to form a bridge across the Jaxartes River. On the other side,
the Persians battled forces led by Massagetae Queen Tomyris (dates
unknown). Cyrus had earlier kidnapped her son, who killed himself
while in Persian hands.
Cyrus the Greats tomb
can still be seen today in
Pasargadae, Iran.
29
In this battle with Tomyris, Cyrus was killed. His body was brought
back to Pasargadae, where it was placed in a tomb that still stands today
in the ruins of Pasargadae.
ON TO EGYPT
With the death of Cyrus, his oldest son, Cambyses, became the Great
King. When he was alive, Cyrus had already given his son control of
Babylonia. It was clear that he intended for Cambyses to one day rule
the whole empire. Cambyses ended the military action in the east.
Upon returning to Persia, he made plans to invade the only other Near
Eastern empire remainingEgypt.
The preparations for this invasion took four years. Cambyses
strengthened the Phoenician navy, so it could battle the Egyptians at
sea. Greek soldiers from Anatolia also joined the Persian army, and
the island of Cyprus aided Cambyses. To prepare for his land invasion,
Cambyses made a deal with Arabs who lived along the Sinai Desert.
The Arabs agreed to provide water to the Persians as they marched
across the hot sands on their way to Egypt. Camels would carry animal
skins filled with the water.
Just as his father had done before attacking Babylon, Cambyses also
won allies among his enemys people. He convinced a Greek general
to turn against his master, the Egyptian pharaoh (king) Amasis (r. ca.
569525 ...). The general and his Greek troops were mercenaries
(professional soldiers who fought for anyone who was willing to pay
them). Cambyses also seemed to earn the support of Egyptian priests
who opposed their pharaoh.
In 525 ..., while both sides were still preparing for war, Ama-
sis died. His son Psamtile III (r. 525 ...) then took control. But his
rule did not last long. The Persians soon reached Egypt. They won
a major battle outside Pelusium, near where the Nile River enters
the Mediterranean. No details of the battle survive, but Herodotus
wrote, The battle was very fierce; many fell on both sides, and at
last the Egyptians were defeated. The Greek historian said that,
decades after the battle, he saw the piles of bones left by the dead
soldiers.
With this loss, the pharaoh retreated to Memphis. Cambyses and
his men were in pursuit. After a siege of the city, Cambyses defeated
Psamtile and won control of Egypt. As he began his rule, a former
Cats as Weapons
According to some leg-
ends, Persian king Cam-
byses and his men were
able to take the town of
Pelusium in Egypt with-
out using their weapons.
They used cats instead.
To the ancient Egyptians,
cats were protected
animals, since they were
sacred to their goddess
Bastet. The story goes
that Cambyses released
a number of cats into the
town before his troops
entered. Another version
says that he had his men
march with the cats in
front of them. In either
case, the Egyptians
refused to attack the
Persians because they
were afraid of killing the
cats, giving the Persians
an easy victory. This
story is sometimes cred-
ited to Herodotus, but it
does not appear in The
Histories.
30
Egyptian admiral and the pharaohs personal doctor, Wedjahor-Resne
(dates unknown), helped Cambyses behave like a true Egyptian king.
The Egyptians accepted Cambyses as the first pharaoh in a new
ruling dynasty. But soon many priests turned against his rule. This is
because Cambyses lowered the taxes collected to support the priests
and the temples of the gods. That meant the priests had to do more for
themselves.
Despite Wedjahor-Resnes praise, Cambyses is not portrayed well
in most ancient history books. The priests anger, as well as the Greek
attitude that Persians were generally uncivilized, may have influenced
what they wrote. Herodotus portrayed Cambyses as ruthless, and per-
haps even crazy, when he ruled the Egyptians. Modern historians take
a more balanced view. Kaveh Farrokh wrote in Shadows of the Desert
that Cambyses, like his father, respected conquered peoples and their
customs.
According to Herodotus, Cambyses sent
50,000 troops to Siwa Oasis (an area with
water in the middle of a desert) in Egypt,
perhaps to visit an oracle there. (An oracle
was a priest or priestess who was said to
be able to communicate with the gods and
deliver messages from them.) On the way,
a giant sandstorm buried the soldiers, and
they were never heard from again.
This lost army has long intrigued schol-
ars and explorers, who wonder if it really
existed. And if it did, where are its remains
buried? In 1935, a Hungarian explorer named
Laszlo Almasy (18951951) tried to find Cam-
byses army. He was convinced it had taken
a route northward from another oasis in the
desert. Almasy failed to find any traces of the
Persians, but others continued to search the
region.
In 2000, a team of Egyptian scientists
was in the desert near Siwa looking for oil.
They found bits of cloth, metal, and bones,
and some people thought they were left
by the lost army. Egyptian archaeologists
explored the site, but no new findings have
been reported. Still, that does not stop peo-
ple, including tourists, from looking for the
lost army.
The Lost Army
31
INTRIGUE FOR THE THRONE
For several years, Cambyses tried to spread his control over more of
North Africa. He took control of Libya without a fight, because the
Libyans agreed to accept his rule. Persian troops fought in Ethiopia,
gaining some lands there.
In 522 ..., as Cambyses was finally going back to Persia, he
died. (Herodotus claimed he accidentally stabbed himself with his own
sword while getting on his horse.) Cambyses had no sons, so when he
died, there was great confusion about who would rule next. The events
surrounding this succession make one of the greatest mysteries in
ancient Persian history.
Cambyses had a brother named Bardiya, known as Smerdis to the
Greeks. By some accounts, Cambyses was returning to Persia because
his brother had rebelled and claimed the kingship for himself. Other
sources say Cambyses had secretly killed Bardiya several years earlier,
before the invasion of Egypt. Still, someone named Bardiya was calling
himself the true king of Persia. Who was it?
A Persian nobleman named Darius claimed he knew the answer.
The man who called himself Bardiya was actually a magusa priest
in the Zoroastrian religion. Darius said this mans real name was
Gaumata, and he was said to look just like Bardiya. Since Bardiya had
been murdered secretly, the Persians did not know he was not really
Cambyses brother.
Most modern historians doubt this version of events. Most believe
Bardiya was not murdered and did lead a rebellion to seize the crown
from his brother. Or, Bardiya might have rightfully taken the throne
after he learned of Cambyses death. Since the king had no sons,
Bardiya was next in line to be king. By some accounts, the Medes in
particular accepted Bardiya. And the people in foreign lands under Per-
sian control welcomed the tax cuts that he ordered.
In any event, Darius used his version of the truth to explain his
actions. As he later wrote (quoted by Maria Brosius in The Persians),
No one dared say anything about Gaumata the magus until I came.
With help from six other Persian nobles, Darius killed Bardiya at either
Susa or in a part of Media called Nisaia in 522 ...
After taking power, Darius returned lands that he claimed Bardiya
had taken from the people and restored temples the false king had
32
destroyed. He also gave himself the title King of Kingswhich was
used by future Persian rulers.
Darius was the son of a satrap who ruled in Parthia. Before his
attack on Bardiya, he had served in Egypt as a spear-carrier for Cam-
bysesa kind of personal guard for the king. This position meant he
was probably a well-respected nobleman. But Darius was not a member
of the royal family and had no direct ties to the former rulers of either
Media or Persis. Still, Darius claimed he was entitled to be king because
he had distant ties to Achaemenes, the founder of the first Persian rul-
ing dynasty.
Most historians believe Darius did not have ties to Achaemenes,
and that this legendary first Persian king may not have even existed.
Darius might have created him to support his claim that he had a right
to rule Persia. If that is true, the Achaemenid Empire, one of the worlds
greatest empires ever, was named for a man who never lived!
Darius recorded his version of history on
the face of a steep mountain along the road
between Babylon and Ectabana. The moun-
tain is near the town of Behistun in modern
Iran, and the writings on it are called the
Behistun inscription. Darius had workers
carve the story into the rocky cliff, along
with a relief showing him defeating the false
Bardiya. (A relief is a sculpture created by
carving away the surrounding rock or other
material to leave an image that rises off the
background.)
The words are written in Elamite, Akka-
dian, and Old Persian. Darius claimed that
he had scribes create the first cuneiform ver-
sion of Old Persian just for this inscription.
The text of the inscription was also written
on scrolls in Aramaic, a common language
throughout the Near East at the time. Pieces
of these scrolls have been found in Iraq and
Egypt.
In the inscription, Darius claimed that
Ahura Mazda, the Persian god, had chosen
him to be king. The false Bardiya had not
only tried to destroy the legal ruling dynasty,
but he also ruled harshly. Darius wrote (as
quoted at Livius.org), The people feared
him exceedingly, for he slew [killed] many
who had known the real Smerdis [Bardiya].
For this reason did he slay them, that they
may not know that I am not Smerdis, the son
of Cyrus.
The Behistun Inscription
33
REBELS IN THE KINGDOM
In the years to come, with the help of the six nobles who supported him,
Darius expanded the empire he now ruled. First, however, Darius had
to end several rebellions that broke out after he took power. Several reb-
els claimed to be king, and people in the distant reaches of the empire
thought the troubles in the Persian heartland would offer a chance to
win their independence.
The unrest spread farther out, beyond Mesopotamia and Media.
Eventually it reached Persis and regions to the north and westArme-
nia, Bactria, and Parthia. Darius himself led troops against the rebels,
while his father and some of the six trusted nobles led other armies.
Tens of thousands of rebels were killed or taken prisoner.
Finally, just a little more than a year after coming to power, Darius
and his supporters ended the various rebellions. Darius would now
begin a career that would lead to his being known through history as
Darius the Great.
35
DARIUS PROVED HIS SKILLS AS A MILITARY LEADER BY BY BY
defeating the rebels within his growing empire. In the decades to come,
he would show his talents as a political leader as well. Cyrus the Great
founded the Persian Empire, but Darius the Great strengthened it and
expanded it. Under Darius, the Persians created a strong central gov-
ernment that lasted for more than 150 years.
Darius seems to have paid more attention to affairs in the prov-
inces than Cyrus and Cambyses had. He turned to experts in the
various satrapies for advice. In a few places, he also made sure that local
laws were written down, and he encouraged quarreling groups within
the empire to settle their differences with treaties rather than violence.
Darius also introduced the first Persian coins, which were used
throughout the empire. The new gold coin was the daric and the silver
coin was the sigloi. They replaced the old coins from Lydia, which had
been used for decades.
A GREAT BUILDER
Like most rulers, Darius wanted concrete signs of his greatness and
power. He began several huge building projects. One was in Susa and
another was in a new capital city called Persepolis. Susa, the old capital
of the kingdom of Elam, had been destroyed by the Assyrians during
the 640s ... Darius built a new palace there, called the Apadana,
or Audience Hall. Susa was his first capital and it seemed to be his
favorite. Herodotus wrote about it, and it is also mentioned in the Bible,
while neither text mentions Persepolis.
thE AchAEmEnid
EmpirE At its LArgEst

Darius built several huge
buildings, including a
palace at Persepolis. This
relief from the palace
shows him on his throne.
C H A P T E R 2
36
From Susa, Darius improved the Royal Road that ran to Sardis in
Lydia. Several roads connected key cities in the empire, and Darius
built a series of posts along the roads where riders could rest and
change horses during their journey.
Starting around 518 ..., Darius built his capital at Persepolis.
He had his workers build a huge, flat stone surface about 45 feet above
the plain. Large steps led up to this plateau. On it, Darius built a grand
palace and other buildings. At the great hall, called the Apadana, stone
columns as tall as a modern five-story building towered over Darius
and the guests he welcomed. Work on the buildings at Persepolis con-
tinued long after his death.
NEW CONQUESTS
Darius was not merely a great builder. Like both Cyrus and Cambyses
before him, the new Great King sought to expand his empire. Around
520 ..., he launched an invasion against a Scythian tribe known as
the pointed-hood Scyths, because of the tall caps they wore. They
lived east of the Caspian Sea in what is now Turkmenistan.
Some historians suggest these Scyths had helped some of the reb-
els in the Central Asian satrapies who had challenged Dariuss rise to
the throne. Rather than attack his enemy head on, Darius used boats to
bring his troops across the southeast corner of the Caspian Sea. Darius
claims to have killed many of the Scyths, including their chief. He then
appointed another man their chief to gain control of the province.
Around 518 ..., Darius pushed the empire farther eastward
by taking land in India. There are no details of the battles he fought
there or of the exact borders of the Indian Empire. But Persian influ-
ence extended to the Indus River, in what is now Pakistan. The region
became a rich source of gold for the Persian Empire.
After spending time in the east, Darius turned his attention toward
Europe. In 513 ..., he gathered an army of as many as 150,000 men.
He also relied on a navy of 600 ships, sailed by Greeks from Persian
lands in western Turkey. To enter Europe, Darius linked these boats
together to form a floating bridge. The bridge let his land forces cross
the Bosporus, the narrow waterway that separates Europe from Asia
south of the Black Sea.
The Persians entered Thrace, where the people accepted Persian rule
rather than fight. To the west, Macedonia also came under Persian con-
The Eyes of the King
Communication was
often slow and difficult in
ancient times, and Darius
and the Persian satraps
could not have direct
knowledge of everything
that happened in the
empire. To keep track of
his citizens, Darius hired
special inspectors. The
Greeks referred to them
as the Kings Eyes, or
Eyes and Ears. These
inspectors were some-
what like spies, keeping
track of events in the
kingdom and then report-
ing back to Darius. The
use of these informers
seems to date back to
the Median kings of old.
The Kings Eyes made
sure tributes were col-
lected, and they watched
for any signs of rebellion
in the satrapies. The
Greeks later borrowed
this government role for
themselves, calling the
informers overseers.
37
trol. Darius then headed north
and crossed the Danube River,
in modern-day Romania, on
his way to fight the Scyths.
Herodotus says the Scyths
were outmatched by the larger
Persian army, so they used
a scorched earth approach.
They retreated, destroying
crops and closing wells, so the
Persians would not have food
and water as they marched.
Since the Scyths were
nomads, they were used
to moving constantly. But
Darius grew tired of chas-
ing them, especially since his
men lacked food and water.
He returned to his bridge
at the Bosporus and went home. He left the general Megabazus (dates
unknown) in charge of the Persian troops that remained in Thrace.
THE GREEKS REBEL
For more than a decade, Darius kept his troops home and life in the
empire was fairly peaceful. But in 499 ..., trouble erupted in Asia
Minor. Aristagoras (d. 497 ...), the ruler of the Greek city-state of
Miletus, encouraged several other Greek city-states that were under
Persian rule to rebel. He also sought aid from Athens, one of the major
Greek city-states on the mainland of Europe, as well as the smaller city-
state of Eretria.
In 498 ..., the Greek rebels attacked Sardis, the most impor-
tant city in the region. For the next six years, Darius worked to regain
control. In some cases, he won back their loyalty without a fight. But in
Miletus and other city-states, the Persians had to restore their control
on the battlefield.
When the fighting ended, Darius punished the mainland Greeks
who had aided the rebels. The Persians had become more active in
the area around the Mediterranean Sea. The major Greek city-states,
T h e A c h a e me n i d E mp i r e a t I t s L a r g e s t
The ruins of the palace of
Persepolis, built by Darius
and Xerxes.
38
particularly Athens, were natural rivals for Persia if the Great King
wanted to expand his presence in the Aegean and Mediterranean
Seas. Darius wanted to show the Athenians they should not interfere
in Persian affairs or challenge his power.
In 490 ..., a Persian army invaded independent Greece. The
soldiers destroyed buildings on the island of Naxos, then headed for
To build his new palace in Susa, Darius
brought in supplies and workers from across
his empire. An inscription he left on this palace
describes how he built the royal palace and
imported products from all over his empire.
This palace which I built at Susa, from afar
its ornamentation was brought. Downward
the earth was dug, until I reached rock in
the earth. When the excavation had been
made, then rubble was packed down,
some 40 cubits in depth, another part 20
cubits in depth. On that rubble the palace
was constructed. . . .
The cedar timber, this was brought
from a mountain named Lebanon. The
Assyrian people brought it to Babylon;
from Babylon the Carians and the Greeks
brought it to Susa. . . .
The gold was brought from Lydia and
from Bactria, which here was wrought.
The precious stone lapis lazuli and
carnelian which was wrought here, this
was brought from Sogdia. The precious
stone turquoise, this was brought from
Chorasmia, which was wrought here.
The silver and the ebony were brought
from Egypt. The ornamentation with
which the wall was adorned, that from
Greece was brought. The ivory which was
wrought here, was brought from Nubia
and from India and from Arachosia.
The stone columns which were here
wrought, a village named Abiradu, in
Elamfrom there were brought. The
stone-cutters who wrought the stone,
those were Greeks and Lydians.
The goldsmiths who wrought the gold,
those were Medes and Egyptians. The
men who wrought the wood, those were
Lydians and Egyptians. The men who
wrought the baked brick, those were
Babylonians. The men who adorned the
wall, those were Medes and Egyptians.
Darius the King says: At Susa a very
excellent work was ordered, a very excellent
work was brought to completion. . . .
A cubit is a unit of measurement about
equal to the length of a persons forearm.
Wrought means worked or manufactured
using hand tools.
(Source: Darius building inscription from Susa.
Livius: Articles on Ancient History. Available
online. URL: http://www.livius.org/da-dd/
darius/darius_i_t03.html. Accessed June 25,
2008.)
Building the Susa Palace
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
39
the city-state of Eritrea. After six days of fighting, local people who
opposed their rulers opened the gates of their city to let in the invading
Persians. Many residents of Eritrea were forced to go to the Persian city
of Elam as punishment for resisting the Persian conquest.
Then the Persians turned south, toward Athens. They landed
outside the main city at the Bay of Marathon. From there, some
20,000 troops marched to a nearby plain. For several days, the Per-
sian and Athenian armies watched each other across the plain of
Marathon. When the fighting began, Persian arrows rained down on
Greek infantry (soldiers who fight on foot). The infantry, however,
known as hoplites, stood close to one another with their shields
locked together. This formation (called a phalanx) kept most of the
arrows from hitting the Greek soldiers. The Greeks were able to get
close to the invading Persians and use their greater skill in hand-to-
hand combat.
Herodotus wrote in The Histories that these Athenians were the
first to charge their enemy at a run and the first to face the sight of
the Median dress and the men who wore it. For till then, the Greeks
were terrified even to hear the names of the Medes. But the Athenians
fought bravely and forced the Persians to retreat. As the Persians fled
back to their ships, the Greeks followed them and continued fighting,
leading to even more deaths.
In The Persian Empire, Lindsay Allen writes that compared to
other battles, the Persian loss at Marathon was not a major one. But
for the Greeks, Allen says, the encounters effect on Greek ideas about
their own identity, distinct from the peoples of Asia, was enormous.
The Greeks began to see themselves as the defenders of freedom and
democracy. For them, the Persians represented the harsh rule of kings.
An idea of the West (Greece, and later, Rome) and the East (Persia)
as opposing cultures grew out of the battles between the Greeks and
Persians.
XERXES AND THE GREEKS
In 486 ..., Darius the Great died and his son Xerxes (ca. 519465
...) became the King of Kings. According to inscriptions he left at
Persepolis (quoted in Allens The Persian Empire), Xerxes had several
brothers, [But] thus was the desire of Ahuramazda [the Persian god]:
Darius, my father, made me the greatest after himself.
Scythian Heavy
Cavalry
Either the pointed-hood
Scyths or other related
peoples of the steppes
were among the first
fighters to develop what
is called heavy cavalry.
Riders wore heavy suits
of armor and helmets
and fought with lances
(long, pointed weap-
ons) and swords. Light
cavalry used less armor
and were better suited
for scouting missions of
raids, but not for going
into battle against large
armies. The Persians
adopted the heavy cav-
alry for their armies, and
the Greeks and Romans
later learned from the
Persians the value of
these well-protected
riders. Heavy cavalry
was a feature of Western
warfare until the 18th
century.
40
Like his father, Xerxes added new buildings in Persepolis. He
also faced revolts in Egypt and Babylonia soon after taking power. He
crushed them both. But for the first years of his rule, Xerxes had one
main goal: invade Greece to punish the Athenians for their victory at
the Battle of Marathon.
Xerxes made careful plans for this invasion. Food was collected
and left in several spots in Thrace, so his advancing troops would not
go hungry. His engineers built another floating bridge to connect Asia
and Europe, this time at the Hellespont, near the Aegean Sea. Xerxes
also assembled a navy of more than 1,200 war ships, and perhaps 3,000
more vessels helped carry troops and supplies. His army numbered
around 100,000 soldiers. By comparison, only 20,000 to 30,000 had
taken part in the first invasion of Greece in 490 ...
Xerxes massive army was an international force. Parthians, Scyths,
Bactrians, and others from the steppe joined the Medes and Persians as
the main cavalry force. They fought with lances, bows and arrows, and
To prepare for his invasion of Greece, Xerxes
had workers dig a canal near Mount Athos,
which sits on a peninsula (an area of land
surrounded by water on three sides) south
of Macedonia. During the 490 B.C.E. invasion,
Persian ships had trouble going around the
peninsula, and Xerxes did not want a repeat
of those difficulties. The canal would elimi-
nate the need to go around.
Herodotus wrote that men from many
nations were forced to dig the canal, which
was about 1.25 miles long. In recent times,
some historians doubted the canal was real
or that it really cut all the way across the
peninsula.
In 2001, a team of researchers proved that
the canal did exist, that it crossed the entire
peninsula, and that it was wide enough to let
two ships pass. No remains of the canal are
visible today, but technology used to find
underground resources such as petroleum
and minerals allowed researchers to map the
canals location.
They believe the canal was built solely for
Xerxes invasion and was not used again. At
their Web site, The Canal of Xerxes in North-
ern Greece, the researchers wrote that this
lack of later use suggests that Xerxes built
the canal as much for prestige and a show of
strength as for its purely functional role.
Uncovering Xerxes Canal
41
swords. The infantry included Lyd-
ians, Egyptians, Assyrians, and Bab-
ylonians. Their weapons included a
variety of bows, swords, and spears.
Some Libyan forces rode in chariots,
while a few Arabs launched arrows
while riding camels. At sea, Phoeni-
cians sailed the ships, with Persians
or Medes in command.
For this invasion, Xerxes led
the troops himself. In the Persian
tradition, the Great King com-
manded his forces from a central
point on the battlefield, surrounded
by 10,000 royal guards carrying
spears. These special soldiers were
the best in the army, and traveled
with their own wagons that carried their women and supplies.
Before setting out on his march to Greece, Xerxes had issued an
order. He demanded that the Greek city-states send him earth and
watera sign of their loyalty to him. But Athens and Sparta refused to
accept Xerxes power, and they prepared for war.
THE SECOND GREEK-PERSIAN WAR
The first battle in 480 ... was located at Thermopylae, a pass along
the shore of the Gulf of Malis so narrow that only one chariot could
pass through at a time. On the southern side of the track stood the
cliffs, while on the north side was the gulf. Greek troops waited there to
stop the Persians from advancing toward Athens.
The defenders included 300 of the best Spartan warriors, led by their
king, Leonidas (d. 480 ...). For the first attack, Xerxes sent several
thousand soldiers into the region. But the narrow space between the
water and the mountains prevented them from using their advantage in
manpower. The Greeks also had longer spears and could easily stab the
Persians. Even the Persian royal guards could not beat the Greeks.
Several days passed, and a Greek traitor finally told Xerxes about a
secret path his men could use to surround the defenders at Thermopy-
lae. Following this advice, the Persians advanced. The Greeks realized
This silver and gold bowl
shows archers who may
have been members of the
royal guard known as the
Immortals.
42
the Persians would soon be marching on the Greek city-states to the
south. They left to protect the rest of Greece.
Leonidas stayed behind with his Spartans and some soldiers
from other city-states. Their task was to hold the Persians off while
the Greeks got ready to defend their homelands. Leonidas was greatly
outnumbered and all his soldiers were eventually slaughtered. But not
before they made a heroic stand and held the Persians off for two days.
While the Persians were at Thermopylae, their navy was fight-
ing a Greek fleet. The two navies met at Artemisium, off the island of
Euboea in the Aegean Sea. Neither side won a clear victory, but a storm
destroyed many Persian ships.
Back on land, the victory at Thermopylae gave the Persians an easy
route through Attica to Athens. Most of the citizens there had already
fled the city. The Persians then advanced on the Acropolisa hill
where the main temples in the city stood. They defeated the Athenian
troops defending the temples. They also stole many art treasures from
the buildings on the Acropolis and from other temples in the city. Then
the Persians burned buildings in the almost-empty city.
Modern historians have suggested that destroying Athens did not
serve a military purpose. Xerxes simply wanted to punish the Athenians
for their refusal to accept Persian dominance. However, it is important to
remember that looting and burning a conquered city was a common prac-
tice in the world at that time. Xerxes did punish the Athenians, but he also
ensured that they would have a lasting hatred for the Persian invaders.
The Persians lost the next major battle of the war, a naval conflict
near Salamis. This island, west of Athens, was close to the Greek main-
land. The Greeks tricked the Persian ships into entering the narrow
strait (a narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies of water)
between the island and the mainland. They were then able to destroy a
large portion of the Persian fleet.
Xerxes thought about waging one more naval battle, but rejected
the idea. He wanted the remaining ships to return safely to Asia Minor
so he could use them again. As the Great King prepared to return to
Sardis by land, he left the general Mardonius (d. 479 ...) in charge of
10,000 top troops.
Mardonius and his men stayed among their Greek allies in Thes-
saly. The Persian general tried to improve relations with the Athenians
by offering to rebuild the temples the Persians had destroyed. The
Athenians refused, and they prepared for another battle. In 479 ...,
The Immortals
According to Herodotus,
the 10,000 royal guards
were called the Immor-
tals, because as soon as
one was killed, he was
immediately replaced by
another soldier. However,
of the ancient historians
who wrote about Persia,
only Herodotus referred
to them as the Immortals.
One historian suggests
Herodotus may have con-
fused the Persian word
for immortals with the
word for companions.
Later Greek historians,
writing after the reign
of Alexander the Great,
describe an elite Persian
army unit called the
Apple Bearers. They car-
ried spears with a metal
apple (or pomegranate)
attached to the end of the
handle, to help balance
the weight of the spear.
The Apple Bearers and
the Immortals were most
likely the same unit.
43
Athens, Sparta, and their allies defeated Mardoniuss army at Plataea,
near the border of Attica. The key to the Greek victory was unity. The
Greeks were not a united nation, and each city-state functioned inde-
pendently. But when they were faced with a common threat, they were
able to fight together.
Plataea marked the largest battle the Persians fought on land in
Europe. It was also their last on the continent. After the Greek victory,
Xerxes and his successors never tried to conquer European lands again.
TROUBLE AT HOME
One reason Xerxes returned home in 479 ... may have been to
end another rebellion in Babylonia. In general, however, the empire
remained mostly peaceful during and after the Greek war. Xerxes used
The Persians did not leave many records
of their battles. Or if they did, they have
not survived. So the details of the Greek-
Persian war come mostly from Herodotus,
who recorded this description of the fighting
at Thermopylae.
Now they joined the battle outside of the
narrows, and many of the barbarians fell;
for behind their regiments their captains
with whips in their hands flogged on
every man of them, pressing them ever
forward. Many of them, too, fell into
the sea and were drowned, and even
more were trampled to death by their
comrades . . . the Greeks, knowing that
their own death was coming to them
from the men who had circled the
mountain, put forth the very utmost
strength against the barbarians; they
fought in a frenzy, with no regard to their
lives.
Most of them had already had their spears
broken by now, and they were butchering
Persians with their swords. And in this
struggle fell Leonidas, having proved
himself a right good man, and with him
other famous Spartans. . . . On the Persian
side . . . there fell, among many other
distinguished men, two sons of Darius. . . .
Herodotus clearly favors the Greeks in his
account. For example, he refers to the Persians
as barbarians, which means uncivilized
people. He also says the Persian soldiers
were whipped by their captains to force them
to fightimplying that they were cowards.
A Persian description of this battle would
probably have told a very different story.
(Source: Herodotus. The History. Translated by
David Greene. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press, 1987.)
The Battle of Thermopylae
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
44
the vast riches he gathered from his subjects to build new palaces in
Persepolis and the other imperial capitals, and the government seems
to have run smoothly. But despite the calm in the empire, trouble
stirred close to home for Xerxes. The Great King died in 465 ...,
probably killed by one of his own sons.
The Greek author Ctesias (fifth century ...) claimed that a Per-
sian noble teamed with a palace advisor to kill Xerxes. The killers then
blamed the murder on one of the kings sons, Darius, who had already
been picked by Xerxes to be the next king. Another of the royal sons,
Artaxerxes I (r. 465425 ...), then killed Darius for his supposed
crime and became king. Artaxerxes then learned about the two men
who had killed his father and executed them. Many modern historians
do not accept this version of events, but they believe some kind of palace
rivalry and murder led to Artaxerxes becoming his fathers successor.
The Greek historian Plutarch (ca. 46120 ..), in his Lives, called
Artaxerxes, [A]among all the kings of Persia the most remarkable for
a gentle and noble spirit. When he first came to the throne, Artax-
Under the Persian king
Xerxes, the Achaemenid
Empire stretched across
the Middle East and into
Egypt.
45
erxes faced several rebellions. One in Bactria ended quickly. But in
Egypt, fighting dragged on for several years. The rebels there had
help from Athens in the form of 200 warships. Artaxerxes sent a large
army to destroy the fleet of ships, and Egypt was once again firmly
under Persian control.
Athens involvement in Egypt came after the Athenians had cre-
ated their own empire in the Aegean. They were the strongest of a
group of allied city-states. Athens tried to gain territory by taking it
away from Persia. When Xerxes was king, the Athenians had attacked
Persian posts in Asia Minor. They destroyed ships and took riches
back to Athens. The growing strength of Athens posed a danger to the
Persians in the western part of their empire.
But instead of fighting each other again, the two powers tried to
work out an arrangement. According to the Treaty of Callias, signed
some time around 449 ..., Persia agreed to stay out of the Aegean
Sea and Athens recognized Persian control over the lands of Asia
Susa is the setting for the Book of Esther,
from the Old Testament of the Bible, and
Xerxes is one of the major players. The
events described in the Book of Esther take
place primarily in Shushan, which is the capi-
tal of King Ahasueruss empire. Shushan is
the Hebrew form of Susa and Ahasueruss
name in Greek is Xerxes.
According to the story, Ahasuerus argued
with his first wife and decided to take another
one. He married a Jewish woman named
Esther, who kept her religion a secret from
him. After Esther had been queen for sev-
eral years, Ahasuerus appointed the Per-
sian Haman to be his prime minister. Haman
ordered that everyone should bow to him,
but Esthers cousin Mordecai refused
because it was against Jewish law. As pun-
ishment, Haman decided to kill all the Jews
in Shushan.
Mordecai told Esther about Hamans plan.
Like all queens of Persia, she was not allowed
to see Ahasuerus unless he called for her.
But, risking death, she went to the Great King.
She revealed that she was Jewish and asked
him to spare her people. Ahasuerus agreed.
Haman was killed and Mordecai became an
official in Ahasueruss court
Ahasuerus/Xerxes was certainly a real
person, and there are Persian stories about a
Jewish queen of Persia. Still, some historians
are not sure the story is true. Nevertheless,
today Jews celebrate the holiday of Purim to
honor Esther and Mordecai.
CONNECTIONS
The Book of Esther
46
In this silver statue, a
Persian official wears
the typical clothes of a
traveler.
47
Minor. The Greek city-states and Asia Minor would be free to run
their own affairs.
Modern historian A. R. Burns, in the Cambridge History of Iran,
writes that the two peoples, Greek and Persians, were also getting to
know each other as human beings. Herodotus, for example, tried to
understand Persian culture and habits, and the Persians must have
learned about Greek customs, religion, and culture.
TAKING SIDES IN GREECE
Toward the end of Artaxerxes rule, the Greeks actually saw Persia as a
potential ally. Sparta and Athens were now rivals in a struggle to con-
trol Greece, and each wanted to win the support of Persia. The conflict
between Sparta and Athens lasted from about 431 to 404 ... and is
known as the Peloponnesian War. Artaxerxes, however, did not choose
sides and he died in 424 ...
His son Xerxes II (d. 424 ...) became the next Great King. But
within 45 days he was killed by his half-brother, who was then killed by
another half-brother, Nochus (d. 404 ...). Nochus declared himself
king and took the name Darius II. During his reign, Persia became
heavily involved in Greek affairs.
At first, Darius renewed the old treaty with Athens. But around 420
..., the Athenians angered the Great King by supporting a rebellion in
Lydia led by the satrap, Pissouthnes (d. after 420 ...). A Persian general
named Tissaphernes (d. 395 ...) seems to have bribed the Athenians
so they would drop their support of Pissouthnes, and the rebellion ended.
Darius then had Pissouthnes executed.
In the years to come, Athens continued to support other rebels in
the Persian Empire. In the meantime, Sparta was gaining the advantage
in the Peloponnesian War. But it still needed help. The Athenian activi-
ties in Lydia may have convinced Darius that he could not trust them.
Whatever the reason, Darius decided to help Sparta.
In 413412 ..., Tissaphernes led diplomatic talks with Sparta.
At the same time, he tried to see if he could make a better deal with the
Athenians, but they refused. Tissaphernes ended up signing the first
recorded treaty between Sparta and Persia.
Thucydides, in The History of the Peloponnesian War, recorded
three different versions of the treaty. The last is the one both sides
48
totally accepted. In part, it said, The Spartans and their allies shall not
go against the Kings Country [Persia] with any hostile intent; not shall
the King [Darius II] go against the country of the Spartans and their
allies with any hostile intent. If any Persian satraps attacked the Spar-
tans, Darius was supposed to stop them. Tissaphernes also agreed to
pay for local ships to help the Spartans, until Darius could send another
fleet. And Tissaphernes and the Spartans would have to agree on any
treaty to end the war with Athens.
Tissaphernes failed to deliver the Persian navy he promised.
The Spartans soon learned they could not trust him. Darius wanted
stronger aid for his new allies, so in 407 ... he sent his son Cyrus
the Younger (ca. 424401 ...) to Asia Minor to direct the Persian
effort. Cyrus, by some accounts, was just 16 years old at the time.
But he had already proven himself to be a skilled soldier. Cyrus also
offered some of his personal wealth to help the Spartans fund their
war against Athens. With the increased Persian aid, the Spartans and
their allies won the war.
CIVIL WAR IN PERSIA
By 404 ..., Cyrus was back in Susa, standing at his fathers bed as he
lay dying. Darius had already named Cyruss older brother, Artaxerxes
II (r. 404358 ...), as the next Great King. Tissaphernes told Artax-
erxes that Cyrus wanted to kill him so he could become king. The two
sons mother then stepped in, asking Artaxerxes to pardon his brother.
The new Great King did forgive Cyrus, and Cyrus went back to his
satrapy in Asia Minor. The younger brother, however, was soon plan-
ning a rebellion.
In Sardis, Cyrus began recruiting an army. This included 14,000
Greek mercenaries who had sharpened their skills during the Pelopon-
nesian War. With the peace in Greece, these soldiers were now avail-
able to fight for Cyrus in Asia.
Cyrus said he needed an army to fight a mountain tribe in his
satrapy, but Tissaphernes knew he was lying. He and others advised
Artaxerxes to build an army to fight his brother. The king, however,
acted slowly. Plutarch, in his Lives, wrote that one advisor told the
king he ought not to avoid the conflict, nor to abandon Media, Baby-
lon, and even Susa, and hide himself in Persis, when all the while he
had an army many times over more numerous than his enemies.
Thucydides and
the Persians
Modern historians
consider Thucydides to
be more accurate than
Herodotus in recording
ancient events. His only
known work is History of
the Peloponnesian War.
For a time, Thucydides
commanded Athenian
troops during that war.
He only wrote about a
small part of the Persian
Empire and how their
actions related to Greek
affairs. But Thucydides
offered details that were
lacking in Persian and
other sources of the era.
He is still read today by
historians and teachers
looking to understand
the meeting of Persian
and Greek cultures in the
fifth century B.C.E. His
work is taught at military
colleges and to students
of modern international
relations.
49
Finally, in 401 ..., Artaxerxes sent a force westward to meet his
brother.
Meanwhile, Cyrus had marched his men across Turkey toward
Mesopotamia. Most of his troops had not been told they were about to
fight the forces of the Great King of Persia. As they marched, however,
they realized Cyruss plan and were not happy. Many of the mercenaries
wanted to go home.
Cyrus needed to win their support. The Greek mercenary and
historian Xenophon (ca. 431ca. 352 ...) wrote in Anabasis (a book
about Cyruss expeditions), Cyrus promised to give them all half as
much they had been getting beforefrom one gold daric a month to
one and a half. However, he still refused to admit that he planned to
fight his brother the king.
The men marched on for several more weeks, and finally met Artax-
erxes army. The battle took place near the Euphrates River at a place
Xenophon was one of the mercenaries Cyrus
hired for his rebel army. He wrote a book
about his experience that is commonly called
Anabasis (it is also sometimes translated as
The Expedition of Cyrus or The Persian Expe-
dition). It provides an eyewitness account of
the march into Mesopotamia. But today, the
book is best known for the story it tells after
Cyruss loss at Cunaxa.
Xenophon was one of the generals who
led the surviving 10,000 Greeks through the
mountains of Asia Minor on their way back
home. This story of the Ten Thousand has
been called one of the greatest adventures
recorded in ancient times. The Greeks bat-
tled local people, difficult climate, and harsh
weather on their way to the Black Sea and
the Greek mainland. Hundreds of years later,
the Romans marveled at the march of the
Ten Thousand, and modern scholars still do.
Anabasis is a Greek word that means
march up country. The word is sometimes
used today in English, too, to describe any
long, difficult military march or retreat. Xeno-
phons tale has also inspired several modern
fictional works. These include the 1979 movie
The Warriors, which sets the tale among rival
street gangs in New York City. Several novels
have been written on the topic that have the
title The Ten Thousand. These include one in
2001 by Michael Curtis Ford and one in 2008
by Paul Kearney.
Xenophon and the Ten Thousand
50
called Cunaxa, about 70 miles north of Babylon, in modern-day Iraq.
Cyrus had about 30,000 menabout half as many as the kings army.
Artaxerxes commanded his troops, surrounded by the royal
guards. Cyrus and his men were able to break through the royal guards,
and the two brothers fought one another. According to Plutarch (who
was citing another historian), Cyrus first wounded Artaxerxes horse,
but the king quickly found another. Cyrus then attacked again, knock-
ing the king to the ground.
Cyrus then charged his older brother, but Artaxerxes and his men
threw javelins (light spears) at him. Another version says Cyrus fell dur-
ing the fight and smashed his head on a rock. In either case, Artaxerxes
defeated his brother and ended the rebellion. According to Xenophon
in Anabasis, the Persians lost a great leader that day at Cunaxa. He said
of Cyrus, Of all the successors of Cyrus the [Great], no Persian was a
more natural leader and none more deserved to rule.
MORE REBELLIONS
Since the time of Darius the Great, the borders of the Persian Empire had
remained fairly stable. Rebellions broke out, but the Great Kings were
always able to stop them or work out arrangements with the local rulers.
Artaxerxes, though, faced huge challenges after his defeat of Cyrus.
Just a year after his victory, Persia was once again fighting the Spartans
in Asia Minor. The Persians were able to drive out the Spartans. In 386
..., in an agreement that came to be known as the Kings Peace, the
Spartans and other Greeks once again pledged to stay out of Asia Minor.
Egypt had also been in rebellion for several years and the rebellion
did not end well. In 385 ..., Artaxerxes sent a force to regain control,
but the Egyptians defeated it. More than a decade later, the Great King
tried again to conquer the Egyptians, and again he failed. The Egyp-
tians now had full independence from Persia.
In what is now northern Iran, a people called the Cadusians also
troubled Artaxerxes. These nomads lived in the Elburz Mountains,
south of the Caspian Sea. From the time of Darius the Great, they had
occasionally resisted Persian rule. Artaxerxes personally led an expedi-
tion against them into the mountains.
Then, in 368 ..., the first of several western satraps declared
their independence from Persia. Sometimes they had the support of
the Spartans and other Greeks. Artaxerxes was able to end the various
rebellions, but the Persians were relying more than ever on Greek mer-
51
cenaries to fight their battles. This made them vulnerable, for they had
plenty of enemies in Egypt and the Aegean looking to weaken them.
As the Great King grew old, he knew his sons were competing to be
his successor. Each had the support of different nobles. Artaxerxes died
in 359 ... His oldest son, Darius, should have been the next king, but
he was killed by his brother Ochos, who took the name Artaxerxes III
(d. 338 ...). According to Plutarch (writing in Lives), the new Persian
ruler was hot and violent and outdid all his predecessors in blood-
thirstiness and cruelty. He proved this by having a role in the death of
two other brothers to secure his place as king.
Like his father, Artaxerxes III faced rebellions in Asia Minor.
These he crushed. He also sent troops to Egypt in about 353 ... to try
to bring it back into the Persian Empire. This effort failed. Then several
more revolts broke out in Phoenicia, along the Mediterranean coast.
Artaxerxes ended these. Then, once again, he sent troops into Egypt
in 343 ..., leading them himself. This time, his soldiers defeated the
Egyptians. Egypt was once again part of the Persian Empire.
THREAT FROM THE WEST
Artaxerxes III died in 338 ... Diodorus of Sicily, who wrote in the first
century ..., says a palace advisor killed the king and most of his family,
then arranged for a surviving son to rule as Artaxerxes IV (d. 336 ...).
Some modern historians, however, question this claim. There is a Baby-
lonian source that suggests Artaxerxes died of natural causes.
His successor, however, was clearly the victim of a palace coup (a
quick and violent takeover) in 336 ... With his death, Codommanus
emerged as the new Great King. He was a distant Achaemenid family
member. The new king took the name Darius III (d. 330 ...).
By this time, Persia faced a new threat from the Greek world. Mace-
donia had thrown off Persian rule decades before. It was now a growing
kingdom ruled by a strong king, Philip II (382336 ...).
In 340 ..., Philip had attacked the city of Perinthos (modern-day
Marmara Ereglisi), near the Hellespont. The Greek city was an ally of
Athens, which was resisting Philips efforts to take over all of Greece.
Artaxerxes sent forces to fight him, and Athens also joined the war
against Macedonia. The two allies defeated the Macedonians.
However, Philip soon brought the Greek city-states under Mace-
donian rule. For some time, Philip had been preparing for an attack on
the Persian Empire. The Persians had invaded Greece 150 years earlier,
52
causing much destruction. They still ruled several eastern Greek cities.
Philip considered his neighbor to be a constant threat to the Greeks.
In 337 ..., the Greeks under Philip agreed to declare war on the
Persians.
Philip was the supreme commander of the combined Greek and
Macedonian forces. He sent about 10,000 soldiers to attack the coast of
Asia Minor in the spring of 336 ... His plan was to join this force and
lead the charge into Persia. But before he could do so, he was murdered.
Leading the invasion of Persia now fell to Philips son, Alexander.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
It took Alexander two years to gain complete control of his own empire
in Greece, but by 334 ..., at the age of 22, he was ready.
Alexander and some 37,000 troops crossed the Hellespont and
landed in Asia Minor. They joined up with an advance force of Mace-
donians that Philip had sent before he died. As they marched, a Greek
mercenary named Memnon began preparing the Persian forces. The
two armies met at the Granicus River.
Although the Greeks were outnumbered, they excelled in hand-to-
hand combat. Alexander was also a brilliant general. He soon defeated
the Persians. By some accounts, several thousand Persians died, includ-
ing three members of Dariuss family. Alexander lost only 100 men.
Alexander then marched south down the Aegean coast of Asia
Minor, then headed east. Meanwhile, Darius began to gather a huge
army and prepared to meet the Greeks. The Great King himself led
this force, which numbered more than 100,000 soldiers. Coming from
Babylon, the Persians met the Greeks in 333 ... at a town called Issus
(a coastal plain between what is now Turkey and Syria).
Darius ignored the advice of some of his advisors, who wanted to
fight the Greeks in an open plain. With plenty of room, Darius could
use his larger army and skilled cavalry to his advantage. But when the
battle came, the Persians were hemmed in by the sea and mountains
and lost their advantage. Darius, surrounded by his royal guards, fought
bravely. But he realized he could not defeat Alexander and retreated.
In the confusion of the battle, members of the Persian royal family
were taken prisoner by the Greeks. Darius wrote to Alexander, asking
for their return. Alexander refused and told Darius he now considered
himself the king of all Asia. The Greeks were not even close to the Per-
sian heartland, but Alexanders words would soon be true. He turned his
53
forces south, conquering Phoenicia and Egypt,
then headed for Mesopotamia.
Darius saw his opponents strength. He
wrote Alexander a second time, offering
money for the safe return of his family. He
also said he would let the Macedonian king
rule all the land up to the Euphrates River,
and Darius would rule east of it. Alexan-
der rejected this proposal. Darius then built
another massive army, knowing time was
running out to save his empire.
In October 331 ..., the two armies
met at Gaugamela, near the city of Arbil in
what is now Iraq. Once again, the Greek and
Macedonians proved their skill. According
to the Greek historian Arrian (ca. 86160
..) in his Anabasis of Alexander, Darius
fled early in the battle, leaving behind riches
and weapons. He then marched through
the mountains of Armenia towards Media .
. because he thought Alexander would take
the road to Susa and Babylon . . . [which]
appeared to be the prizes of the war.
The Great King was right. Alexander went to those two cities, tak-
ing the wealth stored in them. Alexander proclaimed himself the king
of Persia. He then marched to Persepolis, where he destroyed the royal
buildings begun by Darius the Great almost 200 years earlier. Alex-
ander said this destruction was revenge for the Persian destruction in
Athens in 480 ...
In the Elburz Mountains, Darius tried to raise an army to fight
Alexander one more time. The eastern satraps, however, saw how weak
Darius was. In 330 ... one of them, Bessus (d. 329 ...), the satrap
of Bactria, killed the Great King. Alexander had been chasing Darius
for a long time, but when he finally caught up with him, the Persian
king was dead.
Bessus proclaimed himself the king of Persia, but Alexander the
Great, the Macedonian, was the true king now. Other satraps came over
to his side. Alexander continued pushing eastward until he reached
India. The Achaemenid dynasty had ended, and so had the first great
Persian Empire.
Alexander the Great
conquered the Persian
Empire and put an end to
the Achaemenid dynasty.
55
ALEXANDER THE GREAT DIED IN 323 ... WITH NO CLEAR
successor. His generals spent the next 40 years fighting among them-
selves. Alexanders huge empire soon split into smaller kingdoms.
A Macedonian general named Seleucus took control of the cen-
tral part of the old empire. He set up a capital, Seleucia, near Babylon,
and ruled lands that stretched from Asia Minor through present-day
Afghanistan. But he was murdered before he could achieve his ambi-
tion of grabbing the throne of Macedon as well. His kingdom was con-
tinued by his successors. At its largest, the Seleucid Empire stretched
from the Aegean Sea to Central Asia.
Seleucus and the kings who came after him kept many local Persian
officials in place. They also continued to control their empire by break-
ing it up into satraps. The Seleucids established many Greek settlements
throughout their lands. Some of the Persian officials became Hellenized,
meaning they adopted the language and culture of the Greeks. (The term
comes from Hellas, the word the ancient Greeks used to mean the entire
Greek world; this is also what Greeks today call their nation.) But most
people continued to speak Persian, Aramaic, and other languages of the
old empire, and they kept their old ways of life.
The Seleucid Empire lasted more than 240 years. But it continually
lost territory over the years because of wars and rebellions. The Seleu-
cid rulers often battled invading nomadic tribes. They also fought in
Egypt, which was ruled by another Hellenistic dynasty, the Ptolemaic
dynasty. In 246 ..., another war with Egypt enabled Greek generals
to seize power in the Persian satraps of Bactria and Parthia. The Greek
Bactrians ruled their own wealthy kingdom for more than 100 years.
thE nEw
pErsiAn EmpirEs
C H A P T E R 3

A Parthian horseman.
The Parthian Empire
arose in Persia about a
century after the defeat
of the Achaemenids.
56
The Parthians gradually captured all the Seleucid territories east of
Syria. Parthia eventually became the heart of a new Persian Empire.
THE RISE OF PARTHIA
Just before the revolts in Bactria and Parthia, a nomadic tribe from
central Asia called the Parni had settled in Parthia. They spoke a
form of Persian. They also shared the nomadic culture of the other
people who had come before them to the Iranian Plateau. The Parni
settled around the city of Asaak (near the modern Iranian city of
Kuchan). They adopted the local form of Persian spoken in Parthia,
and later became known as Parthians. Details about the Parthians
are scarce, partly because they left fewer inscriptions than the Ach-
aemenids did.
The Parni set up their own local kingdom, and around 247 ...
Arsaces (r. 247217 ...) became the king. He founded the Arsacid
dynasty. Its descendants would become the rulers of the Parthian
Empire. The Roman historian Justin (third century ..) wrote in his
Epitome of the Philippic History that Arsaces was a man of uncertain
origin, but of undisputed bravery. The details of his life and rise to
power are not clear. But it seems Arsaces led a revolt against the local
Coins minted by the
Parthian kings offer some
of the best historical
evidence of their reigns.
This is a silver coin
showing Mithridates I.
57
satrap, who had already begun his own revolt against the Seleucids.
Arsaces defeated the satrap. This gave him control over all of Parthia.
He then moved west and took control of the neighboring satrap, Hyrca-
nia. For a time, the Seleucids gained the upper hand, forcing Arsaces to
flee Parthia. But he regrouped his forces and won back the territory.
Under Mithridates I (r. 171138 ...), Parthia emerged as a true
power. Mithridates took the throne in 171 ..., and within several
years had expanded his empire into parts of Bactria. Around 148 ...,
he pushed westward and took Media and then advanced on Babylo-
nia. As his empire grew, however, Mithridates struggled to control it.
When nomads struck from the northeast, he had to send troops there
to protect his borders. This gave the Seleucids the chance to retake
Mesopotamia.
LOOKING BACK, MOVING FORWARD
Mithridates died in 138 ... His successors would continue to strug-
gle with the same problems he had faced: nomads on one side and the
Seleucids on the other. Scyths who were forced out of their lands by
Central Asian nomads rampaged across Parthia. At one major battle
around 128 ... they defeated the Parthians.
The Seleucids also made one last attempt to regain Babylonia. The
Arsacids, however, asserted their control there. They were also finally
able to coexist with the Scyths. The Scyths eventually settled in lands
near modern-day Pakistan and became known as the Indo-Parthians.
In 123 ..., Mithridates II (r. ca. 12387 ...) came to power.
He was the first Arsacid king to make a link between his familys rule
and the Achaemenids of old. Mithridates took the title Great King, and
he left carvings documenting his deeds at Behistun, just as Darius the
Great had done four centuries earlier. But Mithridates, and the Arsac-
ids who followed him, never built a strong central government the way
Darius and his successors had. Local rulers throughout the Parthian
Empire had a great deal of freedom, and nobles had a say in choosing
the new kings.
Mithridates II strengthened Parthias rule on both its eastern
and western borders. His conquests extended Parthian power north
and west of Babyloniaparts of Mesopotamia it had not controlled
before. He founded the city of Ctesiphon, near Babylon, and within
several decades it became the new Parthian capital. This location in
T h e N e w P e r s i a n E mp i r e s
History Through
Coins
Coins minted by the Par-
thian kings offers some
of the best historical
evidence of their reigns.
The coins help historians
learn the names and
dates of the rulers. The
coins also have images
of the kings faces. Par-
thian coins are still being
uncovered by archaeolo-
gists working in Iran and
neighboring countries.
They offer new clues
about the empires his-
tory. The coins are also
popular with collectors,
which has led to some
modern criminals creat-
ing counterfeit coins. In
2001, a coin expert in
England declared that
some gold and silver
coins said to be from Par-
thia were actually fake.
58
Mesopotamia helped link the Parthians to the great empires of the
past. Ctesiphon was also a safer spot than the old capital in Hyrcania,
which nomads could easily raid. The Great King also strengthened
ties with the Indo-Parthians, giving Parthia influence east of its own
boundaries.
Around 97 ..., Mithridates II took control of Armenia, which
had been mostly independent under the Seleucids. The Great King had
already kidnapped an Armenian prince, Tigranes (ca. 14055 ...).
Now Mithridates II had him installed as king of Armenia.
Tigranes was the son-in-law of Mithridates VI Eupator (ca. 13263
...). Mithridates VI Eupator ruled Pontus, a kingdom in Asia Minor
south of the Black Sea. (The name Eupator is Greek for of a good
father.) After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, that region had kept
some of its Persian culture, and also blended it with Hellenic culture.
Parthian kings were able
to strengthen the borders
of the empire and move
further into Mesopotamia.
Parthia and China also
began a trade route that
became known as the Silk
Road.
59
Mithridates II married a daughter of Tigranes, which cemented
his alliance with Armenia. Then, to strengthen himself even further,
he formed an alliance with Tigranes father-in-law, Mithridates VI
Eupator.
Around the same time, the Romans and Parthians made their first
diplomatic contact. By now Rome had replaced Greece as the dominant
power in the Mediterranean. In 96 ..., the Roman general Sulla
(13878 ...) was in Asia Minor fighting the Pontians. A Parthian
diplomat met Sulla at the Euphrates River. The two men talked, and
most likely reached an agreement that the Euphrates River would be the
line that divided their political interests.
But according to Plutarch in his Lives, Sulla treated the Parthians
with vulgarity and ill-timed arrogance. Sulla gave the diplomat the
same status as the leader of Cappadocia, which was a small kingdom
in Asia Minor. Mithridates II believed a Parthian should have received
better treatment, and took Sullas action as an insult. He executed the
diplomat for tolerating it. In the years to come, Rome and Parthia
were destined to clash over lands they both wanted to controlMeso-
potamia and Armenia.
After Mithridates II died in ca. 87 ..., several kings who were
not Arsacids managed to rule Parthia for a time. The Arsacids returned
to power in 70 ..., when Phraates III (r. 7057 ...) took the throne.
By this time, both Armenia and Pontus were in conflict with Rome. In
69 ..., Mithridates VI Eupator and Tigranes asked Phraates to help
them battle the Romans. At the same time, the Romans told Phraates to
stay out of the conflict. Phraates remained neutral, and Rome defeated
Mithridates VI Eupator and Tigranes.
THE BATTLE OF CARRHAE
At this time, the Roman general in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia
was Lucullus (ca. 117ca. 56 ...). After his defeat of Armenia and
Pontus, he thought about breaking the old agreement that Rome
would not cross the Euphrates River. As Plutarch writes in his Lives,
the general was drawn to the idea of making his way, unvanquished
[undefeated] and victorious, through three of the greatest empires
under the sun. His troops, however, refused to go farther east. War
with Parthia would have to wait.
Meeting the Chinese
The rise of Parthia as
an Asian power drew
the attention of another
empireChina. In 121
B.C.E., a Chinese diplomat
visited Mithridates II to
establish ties between
the two empires. A Chi-
nese official wrote (as
quoted by Maria Brosius
in The Persians) that the
Great King ordered [a
general] to take a force
of 20,000 cavalry and
welcome them at the
eastern frontier. Mithri-
dates then sent his own
diplomats to China, who
brought ostrich eggs as
a gift. These ties led to
trade between Parthia
and China, and eventu-
ally opened a trade route
known as the Silk Road
that stretched from
China all the way to
Europe.
60
In 66 ..., Pompey (106
48 ...), another Roman gen-
eral, sent troops east across the
Euphrates River. King Phraates
asked the Romans to obey
their agreement not to cross,
and diplomacy ended the prob-
lem. Still, as modern historians
Beate Dignas and Engelbert
Winter write in Rome and Per-
sia in Late Antiquity, Rome . . . sia in Late Antiquity sia in Late Antiquity
was convinced of its political,
military cultural superiority
over the East.
A few years later, the
Arsacids of Parthia had family
struggles for power that mir-
rored the conflicts the Ach-
aemenids sometimes faced.
Around 57 ..., Phraates
sons Orodes II (r. ca. 5738
...) and Mithridates III (d.
55 ...) killed their father.
The two brothers then battled
one another for power. Orodes
forces were finally able to capture Mithridates in 55 ... Justin wrote
that Mithridates trusted his brother would treat him well. Instead,
Orodes, contemplating him rather as an enemy than a brother, ordered
him to be put to death before his face.
By this time, a Roman army led by Crassus (ca. 11553 ...) was
on its way from Syria. Crassus may have heard reports of Mithridates
early success and wanted to help him fight his brother. Or perhaps he
thought the rebellion put Orodes in a weak position and he would not
be able to defend his kingdom. In either case, Crassus wanted to invade
Parthia for the glory and wealth it would bring him.
Crassus began his attack in 54 ... by crossing the Euphrates River
and taking control of lands in northern Mesopotamia. He returned to
Syria for the winter to gather more troops, then headed back to Babylon
and the nearby Seleucia in the spring of 53 ... Crassus was confident
An Ancient Medicine
Mithridates VI Eupator enters the pages of Persian history
because of his ties to Parthia and his conflicts with the
Roman Empire. The king is also known for creating an anti-
dotea drug that stops the effects of a poison. The king
feared that his enemies would try to kill him with poison,
so he experimented with different herbs, seeds, and other
substances that could work as antidotes. He tested the poi-
sons and possible antidotes on prisoners and slaves before
finding one combination that seemed to work. It was later
called mithridatum in his honor.
The drug was used for almost 2,000 years, and was
also known as theriac. It was made up of various herbal
substances mixed with honey. Various formulas emerged,
based on what was available in each region where the drug
was made. Greek physician Galen (129200 C.E.) devoted a
whole book to theriac. One of his patients, Roman emperor
Marcus Aurelius (121180 C.E.), took it regularly. Eventually,
theriac formulas found their way to China. Pharmacists
throughout Europe sold it as late as the 1880s.
CONNECTIONS
61
he could take Babylon and the nearby city of Seleucia. But a Parthian
diplomat warned him not to be so sure. As quoted by the ancient
Roman historian Cassius Dio (ca. 150ca. 235 ..) in his Roman His-
tory, the Parthian held out the palm of his hand and said, Sooner will tory tory
hair grow here than you shall reach Seleucia.
While Crassus built his army and prepared to cross the Euphrates
again, Orodes assembled his own forces. As in the days of the Achae-
menids, the cavalry was the heart of the Persian army. Light cavalry
with archers rode into battle first,
followed by the heavily armored
cavalry that rode with long lances.
Their horses wore armor too
plates of bronze and steel. When
the Roman soldiers heard about
the Parthians heavy armor and
powerful weapons, Plutarch said
in his Lives that they lost their
courage: [N]ow, contrary to their
hopes, they were led to expect a
struggle and great peril.
The Parthians relied mostly
on their cavalry, trying to
avoid hand-to-hand combat. The
Romans, like the Greeks before
them, counted on their infantry
and close combat to defeat their
enemies. One Parthian battle
tactic was to have the light cav-
alry pull away from the enemy,
as if they were leaving the battle.
Then, the archers would fire as
they rode away, giving the enemy
no chance to return fire. The
Parthians may have adapted this
tactic from the Medes or Scyths,
and it became known as a Par-
thian shot.
In 53 ..., Orodes led his
army against the Romans. The
62
two armies met near the city of Carrhae (also known as Haran), in what
is now southeast Turkey. Orodes had 1,000 heavy cavalry and 9,000
archers on horses. Behind them, 1,000 camels carried extra arrows and
other supplies. His men faced up to 42,000 Roman soldiers, and were
Here is a Roman and a Greek view of the Battle
of Carrhae (fought in 53 B.C.E.). The first is by
Cassius Dio, from his Roman History, written
in the early third century C.E. He describes the
deadly effects of the Parthian archers. (Mortal
means deadly. Here, the word missiles means
the arrows the Parthians shot.)
The missiles falling thick upon them [the
Romans] from all sides at once struck
down many by a mortal blow, rendered
many useless for battle, and caused
distress to all. They flew into their eyes
and pierced their hands and all the other
parts of their body and, penetrating their
armor, deprived them of their protection
and compelled them to expose themselves
to each new missile. Thus, while a man
was guarding against arrows or pulling out
one that had stuck fast he received more
wounds, one after another. Consequently
it was impracticable for them to move, and
impracticable to remain at rest. Neither
course afforded them safety. . . .
In this selection from Lives (written about
75 C.E.), Greek historian Plutarch describes
Roman efforts to fight back against the
Parthians. (The Gauls were natives of what
is now France, and they had already come
under Roman control. Publius was the son
of Roman general Crassus.)
Publius himself, accordingly, cheered
on his cavalry, made a vigorous charge
with them, and closed with the enemy.
But his struggle was an unequal one
both offensively and defensively, for his
thrusting was done with small and feeble
spears against breastplates [armor] of
raw hide and steel, whereas the thrusts of
the enemy were made with pikes against
the lightly equipped and unprotected
bodies of the Gauls. . . . For they laid hold
of the long spears of the Parthians, and
grappling with the men, pushed them
from their horses, hard as it was to move
them owing to the weight of their armor;
and many of the Gauls [got off] their own
horses, and crawling under those of the
enemy, stabbed them in the belly. These
would rear up in their anguish, and die
trampling on riders and foemen [enemy
soldiers]. . . .
(Sources: Cassius Dio, Roman History. Lacus
Curtius. Available online. URL: http://
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/
Texts/Cassius_Dio/home.html. Accessed
February 12, 2008; Plutarch, Lives. Lacus
Curtius. Available online. URL: http://
penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/
Texts/Plutarch/Lives/home.html. Accessed
March 2, 2008.)
No Escape
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
63
heavily outnumbered. But the Romans proved to be no match for the
Persian archers and cavalry.
As night fell, the surviving Romans left their camp to seek shelter
behind the city walls of Carrhae. After spending one night there, they
began to retreat. About half the Roman soldiers had been killed in
the fighting, and the Parthians took another 10,000 prisoner. Modern
historian A. D. H. Bivar, writing in the Cambridge History of Iran, says
the defeat showed Parthia as a world power equal, if not superior,
to Rome. With the victory, the Euphrates River was now the firm
boundary between the Roman and Persian worlds. Armenia again
promised its loyalty to the Parthians.
MORE CONFLICTS WITH ROME
The Battle of Carrhae was part of a centuries-long struggle between
the Romans and Persians to control Mesopotamia, Armenia, Syria,
and nearby lands. After the victory at Carrhae, Orodes sent troops into
Syria, but this and another invasion in 38 ... did not give the Parthi-
ans control of the region.
The next Great King, Phraates IV (r. 382 ...), soon faced
another Roman invasion. This one was led by Mark Antony (ca. 8330
...). As many as 100,000 Romans, foreign allies, and mercenaries
marched through Armenia and entered Media. Phraates was able to
destroy some of the machinery the Romans used to attack towns, such as
battering rams (heavy objects swung or rammed against a door or wall
to break it down), catapults (large machines used to hurl heavy objects at
an enemy), and towers placed against city walls so soldiers could attack.
Antonys Armenian allies deserted him, and the Parthians eventually
drove him off. A treaty in 20 ... once again set the Euphrates River as
the boundary between the Roman and Parthian Empires.
With peace at handat least for a timethe Arsacids faced troubles
in their own court. Around 10 ..., Phraates IV sent four of his sons to
live in Rome. The Great King may have wanted to protect the boys from
any possible violence at the royal court. Perhaps the move indicated his
desire for good relations with Rome. They were treated well at the court
of Augustus (63 ...14 ..), the first Roman emperor. Some Romans,
however, thought the arrival of the princes was a sign that the Parthians
were bowing to Roman power. They considered the sons to be hostages.
Phraates had a son with a woman who was an Italian slave and had
been a gift from Rome. He chose this son, Phraates V (r. 2 ...4 ..)
Defeated by Illness
When the Romans cap-
tured Ctesiphon in 164,
illness played a part
in finally driving them
out. A deadly disease,
perhaps smallpox, had
spread to Babylonia from
the east. The Roman
soldiers were likely
first exposed to it in the
town of Seleucia, and it
quickly spread among
the army. Although it
struck the Parthians too,
the Romans had less
natural resistance to the
disease, and they died
in large numbers. The
losses played a part in
Romes decision to leave
Parthia. The soldiers then
carried the sickness back
with them to Rome, kill-
ing many more people.
64
as his successor. The Parthian nobles
disliked having a king with a foreign
parent, and they grew angrier when
Phraates V married his own mother.
In 4 .., the nobles killed the king and
backed Orodes III (r. 47) as the new
ruler.
One of the other sons, Vonones
(r. ca. 7ca. 12), then came back from
Rome to rule Parthia. To the Persians,
however, he seemed too Roman and
had lost his ties to Persian culture, so
the nobles forced him from power.
After several years of turmoil, Arta-
banus II (r. ca. 1138) took power. Rome
and Parthia had peaceful relations for
most of his rule. Under Vologeses I
(r. 51ca. 77), who took the throne in
51, Persia reasserted its control over
Armenia. This led to another war with
Rome. In 63, the two empires agreed to
share control over Armenia. This peace
lasted for more than 50 years.
But Rome still wanted to expand to the east by taking over Par-
thian territory. In 114 the Roman emperor Trajan (ca. 53117) invaded
Armenia. From there he turned south and entered Babylonia. He took
the Persian capital of Ctesiphon without a fight; the Great King Osroes
(r. ca. 108ca. 137) had already fled.
Trajan reached the shores of the Persian Gulf, and perhaps thought
of going even farther, but trouble was stirring behind him. The people
of the conquered lands were rising up against the Romans. In 117, while
on his way back to Rome, Trajan died.
His successor, Hadrian (76138), gave back most of the Persian
lands Rome had just conquered. He realized it would be too hard to
control lands so far from the center of Roman power. Still, Rome had
gained influence in Armenia at Parthias expense, and it kept some land
in northern Mesopotamia.
Two more times during the second century Roman troops stormed
Ctesiphon: in 164 and 198. Each time they withdrew, but only after
Fighting with the Romans,
led by Emperor Trajan,
weakened the Parthians.
Eventually, they were
replaced by another
powerful Persian dynasty,
the Sassanians.
65
either damaging royal palaces or looting the government treasury. Par-
thia had some successes of its own, invading Roman lands in Syria and
Asia Minor. But the Parthians could never hold their gains.
Parthias last great military triumph against Rome came in 217. The
year before, the Roman emperor Caracalla (188217) invaded Parthia.
According to Dignas and Winter in Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity, Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity Rome and Persia in Late Antiquity
the emperor was guided by the idea that he would become the suc-
cessor of Alexander the Great. Instead, he was murdered. The new
emperor, Macrinus (ca. 164218), led the invasion.
The Parthian king Artabanus IV (r. 213224) led an army that met
the Romans at Nisibis (modern Nuysabin, in southeastern Turkey).
According to the Greek historian Herodian (ca. 170ca. 240), in his
History of the Roman Empire, the Persians used camels as well as horses
in their cavalry and fought bravely. After two days of fighting, the
battlefield was littered with bodies from both sides. Herodian wrote,
[T]he Parthians . . . stood their ground and renewed the struggle after
they had carried off their dead and buried them. Finally, Macrinus
asked for peace and agreed to give Artabanus money and gifts.
ONE EMPIRE FALLS, ANOTHER RISES
ened Arsacid power in Parthia. Local nobles amassed great wealth
and land. Officials called shahrdars (similar to mayors) and shahryars
(governors) had almost total
control over the lands they
governed. The Parthians had
also let separate kingdoms
exist within their empire, and
one of these proved fatal to
Parthian rule.
In Istakhr, the capital of
the kingdom of Persis, a local
ruler named Papak came to
power around 205. After his
death, his son Ardashir took
control and began to extend
his rule throughout Persis.
Ardashir was the grandson of
Shahs Today
In Persian, shah means king. The word serves as the root
for shahrdar and shahrdar shahrdar shahryar, the titles of the officials who shahryar shahryar
began to assert their power at the end of Parthian rule. As
recently as the 1970s, the leader of Iran was known as the
shah. Today in TT Iran and other countries where Persians
once lived, Shahryar is sometimes used as a first name. Shahryar Shahryar
Shah, Shahrdar, and Shahryar appear as family names as Shahryar Shahryar
well. For example, in the early 2000s, Ishaq Shahryar was
Afghanistans ambassador to the United States.
CONNECTIONS
66
a Zoroastrian priest named Sassan, and this name was used for the
dynasty Ardashir founded.
From Persis, Ardashir and his armies began to attack other small
kingdoms in the region. Ardashir also built a new city, which he named
for himself. This activity caught the attention of the Parthian king,
Artabanus IV. In 224 he led his soldiers into battle against Ardashir and
the Sassanians.
A rock relief carved at Firuzabad, in south central Iran, shows
Artabanus and Ardashir fighting a duel on horseback. Each king has a
lance. Ardashir killed the Parthian king, then led his army westward
to claim control of Parthia. Fighting went on for several years, because
some Parthian leaders resisted Ardashir. But by 226, the Sassanians
controlled the Parthian capital of Ctesiphon and Ardashir referred to
himself as the King of Kings.
The Sassanians did not have much direct knowledge of the first
great Persian Empire established by the Achaemenids. But they knew
that Persis had been the home of the Achaemenids, and the Sassa-
nians saw themselves as part
of a great Persian tradition.
They began to call their lands
Eranshahr, or Empire of the
Aryans, to strengthen that link
to the past.
That link to the past led
Ardashir into conflict with the
Roman Empire. The Roman
historian Herodian wrote that
the Sassanian king wanted to
take back all the lands that had
once been under Persian rule.
In his History of the Roman
Empire, Herodian said the
Roman emperor Severus Alex-
ander (ca. 208235) warned
Ardashir that he would find
fighting against the Romans
not the same thing as fighting
with his barbarian kinsmen
and neighbors. The emperors
The First Joust
In his book Shadows in the Desert, modern historian
Kaveh Farrokh says the lance duel between Artabanus
and Ardashir was the first of its kind. In ancient times,
great warriors were known to fight one-on-one. The Sas-
sanians, however, seem to have created rules for this kind
of warfare, which they always fought on horseback with
lances. The winning soldier won not just for himself, but
for his army. The forces on both sides accepted that the
winner of the duel was the winner of the whole battle.
These rules also applied later to lance duels, called
jousts, between Sassanians and Romans. Jousting
remained a part of combat in Asia and Europe for centu-
ries, and was later turned into a sport. Instead of trying to
kill an opponent, riders simply showed their skills with a
lance on horseback. Jousting matches are still held today,
and jousting is the official state sport of Maryland.
CONNECTIONS
67
warning did not frighten Ardashir,
and he launched a series of raids
on Roman lands.
Rome responded with an
invasion in 231. The Romans won
some early victories, but they were
stopped from taking Ctesiphon in
233. The Romans did take back the
lands Ardashir had taken. Then
they withdrew, claiming they had
won the conflict. Modern his-
torians think neither side won,
because neither side gained new
territory.
Within several years, however,
the Sassanians had captured sev-
eral Roman cities in Mesopota-
mia. Ardashirs successor, Shapur
I (r. ca. 241ca. 272), extended the
gains even farther west. Rome won
back some of these cities, then
tried once again to take Ctesiphon. Shapur successfully defended the
Sassanian capital.
In an inscription he had carved in rock at Naqsh-e Rostam, near
Persepolis (and quoted by Maria Brosius in The Persians), Shapur
said, a great frontal battled occurred . . . and the Roman force was
destroyed. The war ended with Rome paying money to Shapur and giv-
ing up control of some lands in Armenia.
Peace never lasted long between Shapur and the Romans. In 252
.. they were fighting each other in Syria. The next year they fought in
Turkey. Ancient records report that tens of thousands of soldiers were
killed or captured in single battles. For the Sassanians, the Roman pris-
oners included one emperor, Valerian (d. ca. 260), who was captured at
Edessa and died shortly after. More important to the Sassanians were
Roman engineers and scholars, who were sent to live in Persis and other
areas. They brought Roman skills and knowledge to Persian lands.
Shapur died around 272 .. Several of his sons served as king after
him. One of them, Narseh (r. 293302), launched an invasion against the
part of Armenia that was under Roman control. By 298 .., however,
Shapur I, the Sassanian
king, successfully battled
the Romans. He built
a large tomb complex
for himself at Naqsh-e
Rostam, near Persepolis.
This carving from Naqsh-e
Rostam shows the defeated
Roman emperor Valerian
kneeling at Shapurs feet.
68
the Romans had the upper hand and managed to capture Narsehs wife,
sisters, and children. To end the war, Narseh agreed to give the land back
to Rome in exchange for his family.
RELIGION AND WAR
The two rival empires managed to stay at peace for almost 40 years.
When the fighting began again, religion was partly to blame. In 313 the
Roman emperor Constantine (ca. 285337) formally established free-
dom and toleration for all religions, including Christianity. Christians
in Persia felt new ties to the Roman Empire and its Christian emperor.
Shapur II (r. 309379), the Sassanian king at the time, began to suspect
the Christians in his empire might not be loyal to Persia.
Decades earlier, Shapur I had generally allowed religious freedom.
So had the Achaemenids and Parthians before him. Zoroastrianism was
the official state religion, but other faiths were accepted. These included
Christianity, which arose in Roman lands during the first century, and
Manichaeism, which developed in Persia during the third century.
For a time under Shapur Is sons, Zoroastrian priests tried to
weaken other religions. Under Shapur II, though, things became much
worse. Persian Christians were targeted for arrest or death, since they
were seen as possible enemies of the state.
Constantine was preparing to battle the Persians when he died in
337. With the Roman emperors death, Shapur invaded Armenia. This
sparked another decades-long series of wars with Rome. Under the
emperor Julian (r. 361363), Rome invaded Babylonia in 362 and tried
once again to take Ctesiphon. The attack failed and Julian was killed. The
Romans agreed to give back the lands they had won under Constantine.
The reign of Shapur II marked the greatest extent of Sassanian
power. He ruled for 70 yearslonger than any other Sassanian king. He
strengthened the power of the central government. He built forts and
defensive walls along the edges of the empire, and brought distant lands
under his direct control. The king made laws and oversaw the bureau-
cracy (the layers of officials that keep any government running). Still,
the nobles and the Zoroastrian priests did play a part in Sassanian gov-
ernments. A king needed their approval when choosing his successor.
For a time after Shapur II died, the nobles asserted some of their
power. They helped force the end of the rule of Ardashir II (r. 379383).
He was replaced by Shapur III (r. 383388) who was forced out in 388.
Bahram IV (r. 388399) took his place.
New Inscriptions
Linked to Old
Shapur I tried to make a
direct link to the Persian
kings of old with his
inscriptions at Naqsh-e
Rostam, near Persepolis.
The writings were near
the tombs of some of
the first Achaemenid
rulers, including Darius
the Great. Shapur wrote
in three languages, just
as Darius did with the
inscriptions he left at
Behistun. But Shapur
used Middle Persian,
Greek, and Parthian.
Darius had used Old
Persian, Akkadian, and
Elamite. Also like Darius
before him, Shapur
claimed to have received
authority from the god
Ahura Mazda. Shapur
went even farther, how-
ever, claiming he and his
family traced their roots
to ancient gods. Shapur
said he wrote down his
deeds (as translated by
R. N. Frye in The History
of Ancient Iran) so that
whoever comes after us
may know this fame,
heroism, and power of
us.
69
While the Sassanians
struggled to find a suitable
ruler, they managed to keep
peace with Rome. Both the
Romans and the Sassanians
had new worries: They faced
attacks by various tribes on
their frontiers.
The Roman Empire was
now split into two halves. The
eastern half, which bordered
Persian lands, was called
Byzantium or the Byzantine
Empire. Sassanian kings con-
tinued to persecute Christians
in their lands, and some fled
to Byzantium for safety. In
421, the Sassanian king Bah-
ram V (r. 421439) demanded that the Byzantine emperor send these
Christians back to Persia. When he refused, Bahram started a war. It
lasted only one year, but it signaled more conflict to come between
Persia and Byzantium.
Religion also fueled more fighting with Armenia, where Chris-
tianity was the official religion. In 449, Yazdagird II (r. 439457) of
Persia called on his Christian subjects in Armenia to convert to Zoro-
astrianism. Many Christians then rebelled, and they asked Byzantium
for help. The Romans, however, were too busy fighting the Huns and
other invaders to send troops. In 451, the Armenians suffered a ter-
rible loss against the Persians at the town of Avarayr, and many Chris-
tian priests and nobles were taken prisoner.
DECADES OF TROUBLE
Starting in the 440s, a Central Asian people called the Kidarites
appeared on Persias eastern borders. They joined the Hephthalites, or
White Huns, as potential enemies. Yazdagird built forts along the bor-
der and pushed back the Kidarites.
But during the reign of King Peroz (r. 459484), the Sassanians
fought a series of wars with both the Kidarites and Hephthalites.
Peroz was captured by the Hepthalites in 465, and later lost his life
Armenian National Pride
Although the Armenian Christians lost the Battle of Ava-
rayr in 451, some of them continued to battle the Persians.
They worked in small groups, hit important targets, then
ran to the safety of the mountains. In 484, the Persians
signed a peace treaty and let the Armenians worship as
they wished.
To Armenians today, the Battle of Avarayr is a symbol of
their peoples courage in fighting for their faith. Vardanants
Day (named for Vardan Mamikonyan, an Armenian military
commander killed in the Battle of Avarayr), an important
national holiday, commemorates the bravery of these fight-
ers and the sacrifices they made.
CONNECTIONS
70
battling them. In the last decades of the fifth century, the Hephtha-
lites had enough influence in Persia to play a role in choosing its
new kings.
The constant invasions from Central Asian nomads were both a
curse and a blessing. The Byzantine Empire was also being frequently
invaded. Otherwise, they might have attacked Persia from the west and
brought down the Sassanian Empire.
This gold, crystal, and
garnet dish shows Khosrow,
the last Sassanian king.
71
Peroz died in 484 and the Sassanians faced a new threat at home.
A Persian named Mazdak (fifth century) had developed a new religion.
Mazdak called for all wealth to be shared by everyone and said all Persians
were equal. These ideas threatened the Zoroastrian priests, the nobles,
and the wealthy, who did not want to give up their riches or power.
King Kavad (r. 488496 and 499531), however, supported Mazdak.
The king saw some benefit to himself if the nobles and the priests lost
some of their influence. Those powerful groups then forced Kavad from
the throne in 496. But he returned three years later with an army and took
back the kingship. In the years to come, Kavad turned against the follow-
ers of Mazdak, believing they threatened social order in the empire.
Kavad ruled for more than 30 years. During that time he battled
the Byzantine Empire several times, as well as nomads to the north of
his empire. His son Khosrow I (r. 531579) took over in 531 and contin-
ued the wars with Byzantium. Khosrow is best remembered today for
changes he made in the empire. He improved how taxes were collected
and rewarded government officials for good service. He also improved
communications and roads and began new building projects. Khosrow
also supported the arts and education. He was considered the last great
Sassanian king and was given the name of Anushirvanhe of the
immortal soul.
THE END OF THE EMPIRE
During Khosrows reign, a new Central Asian power emergedthe
Turks. The king had a son whose mother was a Turkish princessa
relationship meant to create a link between the Persians and the Turks.
The Turks helped the Sassanians fight the Hephthalites in 560. But in
the years that followed, the Turks made trade deals with the Romans
and became an enemy of Persia.
Khosrows half-Turkish son, Hormizd IV (r. 579590), was king
when the Persians and Turks clashed in 589. Hormizds son, Khosrow II
(r. 590628), ruled when the Sassanians made some of their last major
military gains. Persia once again conquered Syria and part of Egypt,
and took Byzantine lands almost up to Constantinople.
In the end, however, neither the Turks nor the Byzantines posed the
greatest danger to Persia. For several centuries, the Sassanians had dealt
with tribes living across the Persian Gulf, on the Arabian Peninsula. At
times, the Persians and Arabs battled each other. Other times, the two
peoples were allies.
72
By the 630s, Arabs who had converted to the new religion of Islam
became a major military power in southwest Asia. From their home-
land in what is now Saudi Arabia, they began to conquer surrounding
lands so they could spread Islam. They attacked Byzantine lands first,
then moved into Persia.
In 637, Arabs seized the Sassanian capital of Ctesiphon. They
kept moving eastward, taking Persian lands. In 651, Yazdagird III (r.
633651), the last Sassanian king, was killed. The Arabs continued to
invade land that had once been under Persian control. They took over
Afghanistan and finally reached India in the early 700s. With the rise of
this new Arab Islamic Empire, the last Persian Empire was gone.
The influential Sassanian
Empire dominated the
Middle East and parts of
southwestern Central Asia.
The empire eventually fell
to the Arabs in the seventh
century, who moved
eastward into Persian
lands.
P A R T I I
POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRES
LIVING AND WORKING IN THE PERSIAN EMPIRES
PERSIAN ART, SCIENCE, AND CULTURE
SOCIETY AND
CULTURE
75
poLitics And sociEty
in thE pErsiAn EmpirEs
WITH PERSIA ERSIA ERSIAS THREE DISTINCT RULING DYNASTIES
stretching out over so many centuries, it is difficult to talk about one
particular society or form of government. But some features do appear
in all three dynasties.
All of the Persian kings were supreme rulers, although they relied
on nobles for advice. In later times, the nobles played a larger role
because they sometimes chose the kings. In the distant provinces of the
empire, local rulers had some freedom to run their own affairs, but they
would be punished for obvious disloyalty.
Women, at least in the royal families, played a greater role in soci-
ety than women in most other cultures of the time did. And in the
small villages and towns of the empire, the affairs of the rulers rarely
touched peoples daily livesexcept during times of war. These Per-
sians simply farmed or made goods, trying to live as best they could on
small incomes.
THE ACHAEMENID KINGS
When the first Persian Empire arose the Near East was dominated by
kings. Some ruled cities and the surrounding areas, as Cyrus the Great
did in Anshan. These kings usually owed loyalty to more powerful
kings. The stronger kings sometimes collected tribute from neighbor-
ing lands and they expected military help from the lesser kings when
they asked for it.
None of the earlier empires in the Near East matched the size of
the one built by Cyrus and his successors. The Achaemenid kings had

The impression from a
cylinder seal shows Darius
the Great on a chariot,
hunting lions. The king
and the nobles considered
hunting to be a grand
social event.
C H A P T E R 4
76
complete power over the lands
they ruled. They made and car-
ried out the laws and directed
the military.
The kings claimed this
absolute control because they
believed they were chosen by
the god Ahura Mazda to rule
Persia and other lands. In this,
the Persians followed a long
tradition in the Near Eastear-
lier kings also said they were
chosen by gods to rule. Given
the kings special relationship
with Ahura Mazda, disobeying
them was not only a crime, it
was a sin against the supreme
god.
Kingship was not auto-
matically passed from father
to son. The ruling king chose
his successor while he was still
alive. This was often, but not
always, the oldest son. The
Achaemenids had several
wives, primarily so they could
make sure they had sons who
reached adulthood and were
worthy to serve as king. How-
ever, princes and others who were close to the royal family might kill
chosen successors so they or someone they supported could take the
throne.
When one king died, his successors first job was to oversee the
funeral. During a kings reign, a sacred fire burned at temples. The
flames represented Gods blessing for the king. When a king died, the
fires were put out. Then new fires were lit in honor of the new king. The
new kings duty was to show his military skill, live a moral life (a life
in which one chooses to act correctly), and make sure his people were
treated well.
In this inscription found at Behistun, Darius described
how he ruled, suggesting a model for other kings to
follow.
I am of such a sort that I am a friend to right, I am not a
friend to wrong. It is not my desire that the weak man
should have wrong done to him by the mighty; nor is
it my desire that the mighty should have wrong done
to him by the weak.
What is right, that is my desire. I am not a friend to the
man who is a follower of lies. I am not hot-tempered.
What things develop in my anger, I hold firmly under
control by my own thinking. I am firmly ruling over my
own [impulses]. . . .
It is not my desire that a man should do harm; nor
indeed is that my desire, if he should do harm he
should not be punished. . . .
Despite what he says in this inscription, Darius had
the power to kill those he thought had done harm.
Herodotus recorded that Darius ordered the death of
several people the king thought had disobeyed him or
challenged his rule.
(Source: Wiesehofer, Josef. Ancient Persia: From 550 BC to
650 AD, New edition. London: I. B. Tauris, 2007.)
How a King Behaves
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
77
LIFE AT COURT
The relatives and descendants of the six men who helped Darius gain
power formed the Persian nobility (the upper class of society). These
nobles could see the Great King almost any time, unless he was alone
with one of his wives. They also acted as his advisors. Some nobles
served as court judges, deciding cases brought to the king. However, the
king could overrule their decisions.
The nobles probably wore special clothing or jewelry so others could
easily identify them. Even on long marches and in battle, the Persian
nobles wore their finest robes and jewelry. The wives of the Achaemenid
kings were usually chosen from among the daughters of these nobles.
Sons of noble families gained influence by marrying girls from the royal
family.
P o l i t i c s a n d S o c i e t y i n t h e P e r s i a n E mp i r e s
Two Achaemenid nobles
exchange a sign of
friendship.
78
The Persians had other privileged classes known as the Kings
Benefactors (people who help others in some way) and the Kings
Friends. The king gave these titles to men or groups of men who showed
particular loyalty or bravery on the battlefield. The king might give the
Friends and Benefactors gifts and invite them to eat with him. For most
residents of the empire, though, meeting the Great King was a rare and
special occasion.
The men who earned the kings rewards were not always wealthy
and powerful. Plutarch, in his Lives, said that King Artaxerxes made a
poor, obscure man . . . a rich and honorable person because the man
gave the king a bottle of water during a battle.
Anytime two people of different social classes met, the Persians
had special greetings. A person of lower rank would bow, kneel, or fall
to the floor in front of the person of higher rank. Two people of equal
rank might kiss each other on the lips when meeting. If one person
was just slightly higher in rank, he would offer his cheek for the other
person to kiss.
The boys and young men of the Persian court were trained to be
military commanders. They learned to hunt with a bow and arrow
while riding a horse, since those skills would also be useful on the
battlefield. They also received moral teachings about telling the truth
and doing what was right.
The hunt was more than a way to educate young men. The king
and the nobles used hunting as a grand social event. Hunting skills were
valued almost as much as battlefield heroics. Many scenes of Persian art
show the kings with the animals they killed during a hunt.
WOMEN AT THE COURT
The Persians seem to have given women a greater role at court than
many other ancient peoples. Although women in the Achaemenid
dynasty did not rule, they could influence the kings decisions.
The mother of the king and his main wife were the two most impor-
tant women in the royal family. They could see the king whenever they
wanted. They were also able to eat with him, which was a rare honor.
Even at banquets, the king ate in a separate room, away from the guests.
The kings mother and the queen kept watch over the royal family.
If they thought one of their relatives had been mistreated, they could
ask the king to punish the offender. They could also ask the king to
have mercy on a noble who might have done something wrong.
Becoming King
After Darius, the Ach-
aemenids had a special
ceremony for crowning
a new king. The succes-
sor put on clothes once
worn by Cyrus the Great,
ate figs, and drank sour
milk. The sour milk, one
historian thinks, may
have been used to sug-
gest the Persians roots
as nomads. The new king
then put on a royal robe
with long sleeves and
took several items that
represented his power.
These were a special
headdress, a long rod
called a staff, a lotus
flower, and shoes that
made him appear taller
than he was.
79
These women and other royal women also had a great deal of
independence. Some noble women were educated, and their studies
might include horseback riding and archery, just like the education
of the young men.
They owned land and kept the money their farms produced.
These lands could be far beyond the Persian homeland of Persis.
Herodotus, in The Histories, said one city in Egypt was especially
assigned to the wife of the reigning king . . . for the provision of her
shoes.
The noble women traveled without their husbandsthough with
servantsto visit the land they owned. They also sometimes joined
their husbands trips, even into battle. The Greek historians recount
examples of these noble women being captured after the battles
between Alexander the Great and Darius III in the 330s ...
The women traveled in carriages, with the queen and the kings
mother riding first in the line. They brought with them furniture and
fine clothes, and camels carried their food. The women who traveled
with the king and his nobles also included concubines who had chil-
dren with the kings even though they were not married to them.
On the left is a cylinder
seal from the Achaemenid
dynasty and on the right is
the impression it makes. It
shows a scene of the queen
or possibly a goddess.
80
LOCAL RULE
Because the empire was so big, the Achaemenid kings had to rely on loyal
governors, called satraps, to carry out imperial rule. The title came from
an Old Persian word meaning protector of the kingdom. The province
they ruled was a satrapy. Some local rulers in the provinces were also
called kings.
With his conquest of Babylonia, Cyrus set the pattern later kings
would follow. He kept the local bureaucracy already in place and put a
Persian in charge as the satrap. The satrap might be a family member or
a trusted noble. He might be a general rather than a civil (not military
or religious) official. Cyrus also kept the local laws and system of courts
in most conquered lands.
The number of satrapies varied over time. Darius the Great cre-
ated 20 satrapies across the empire. Each satrapy had to raise a certain
amount of taxes or tribute for the king. This could be paid in coins or
in the form of horses and other goods. The satraps also had to raise
armies in their lands when the
king ordered. They also settled
disputes that arose within their
lands.
The satraps recreated life
at the kings court, though on
a smaller scale. They held ban-
quets, hunted, and gave gifts.
Some passed their jobs on to their
sons, as the kings did. And they
relied on relatives as advisors.
Their capital cities, like the kings
capitals, were centers of com-
merce and politics. Soldiers lived
in the capitals, and food and other
goods were stored there.
The exact amount of freedom
they had to run the satrapy is not
known. In the end, they served at
the kings pleasure and could be
removed at any time. Through-
out Persian history, satraps often
81
tried to assert their independence by rebelling. Most rebellions
were crushed by the central government. But satraps who followed
royal orders and guaranteed the king received his taxes were not at
risk.
Along the Mediterranean coast, in Asia Minor and Phoeni-
cia, some cities were independent of the satrapies, as long as they
remained loyal to the king. And in some mountain regions, nomads
remained largely independent of direct government rule.
Because the empire was
so big, the Achaemenid
kings had to rely on loyal
governors such as this one,
called satraps, to rule for
them.
82
To defend the empire and make it easy to communicate with
the satraps, the Persian kings built an impressive road system. These
roads made it easier for troops and supplies to move quickly around
the empire. About every 15 miles along these roads, the government
built inns where government officials and ordinary travelers could rest.
Warehouses that held food and supplies for troops also dotted major
highways.
Travelers and goods could also travel by ship. Ships regularly
ran along the empires main riversthe Tigris, Euphrates, and Oxus.
Ships also sailed on the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean and Caspian
Seas.
The Persians could communicate over long distances using fire.
The fires were lit on tall towers or peaks, spaced so that each tower
could be seen from the next tower. Lighting one or more fires sent
a certain message, such as announcing the advancement of enemy
troops.
The Persians were also said to have loud voices, and some were trained
to shout messages over long distances. This method worked particularly
well in the mountains, where a voice would bounce off rock walls.
THE CLASSES BELOW THE NOBLES
The Persian royal family, nobles, and satraps ran the government and
commanded the military. But the empire would not have survived
without the efforts of social classes beneath them. These people came
from many different lands and spoke a variety of languages. In some
royal documents, 31 different ethnic groups are listed.
The various peoples did not resent the Persians for conquering
them, although there were some exceptions. The Persians seemed to
bring order and generally let people live their lives as they had before
the Persians invaded. At the time, it was also common for smaller king-
doms to be swallowed by larger ones.
The military made up one important class, with various ranks of
commanders. In early times, the soldiers all served part-time. Only
men who could afford to own horses could join the cavalry, which was
the most fearsome part of the Persian army. Poorer men became infan-
try soldiers. Different ethnic groups in the empire were known for their
particular skills, and they formed distinct units. These included Greek
hoplites and Scythian archers. Over time, the kings also hired full-time
83
Persian soldiers to serve in their armies. The best of the professional
soldiers received farmland.
Hired workers ran the farms of the nobles and professional sol-
diers. The lower classes also included bureaucrats who helped run the
government, artisans, and farmers who owned small plots of land. Few
ancient historians describe the life of common Persians, though some
facts emerge from government records discovered in Persepolis in the
1930s.
In ancient times, almost all victors in war made slaves of their
defeated enemies. The Sassanians certainly did, but the Achaemenids
did not seem to rely as heavily on slaves. Although some workers were
forced to build buildings or work for the Achaemenid government, they
were paid for their labor. Still, some foreigners in the empire lacked the
freedom to live where they wanted, since the king could send them to
distant lands.
PARTHIAN RULE
Under the rule of the Greek Seleucid dynasty, the satrapies remained
in place. But central power was weaker than it had been under the
Achaemenids. That weakness allowed small kingdoms to emerge. This
happened in Parthia, which became the center of the second Persian
Empire.
The Parthian kings tried to forge links to both the Greeks and
Achaemenids who came before them. Greek was used as an official
language for a time, and the kings wore fancy Greek headdresses rather
than a soft Persian cap. Some of the Parthian kings spoke and wrote
Greek, and they enjoyed Greek art.
Yet the Parthians also followed earlier Persian traditions. For
example, the king was called King of Kings, one of the titles used by
Darius and his successors. Fires always burned for the king and were
put out at his death. The Parthian kings also promoted the old religion
of Persia, Zoroastrianism. The original holy text of the Zoroastrians,
the Avesta, had been destroyed during the invasion of Alexander the
Great. Now the Parthians began to collect surviving copies of these
texts so they could be used again.
As in Achaemenid Persia, the Arsacid kings of Parthia relied on
family members and close friends as advisors and military command-
ers. The noble families of the Parni, the ruling clan (group of families)
Parthian Pahlavi
The original Persian
name for Parthian,
Parthava, served as
the root for the word
used for the Parthian
languagePahlavi. This
language is considered
one form of Middle Per-
sian. Middle Persian is
a slightly simpler form
of the language used by
the Achaemenids. It was
spoken in Persia through
the Sassanian era. Today,
some northern Iranians
and Kurds still use words
from Pahlavi. The last
ruling dynasty of Iran,
which was forced from
power in 1979, also took
the word Pahlavi as its
family name.
84
of Parthia, made up the court
of the Arsacid kings who ruled
Persia for almost 500 years. The
families of local rulers through-
out the empire also were part of
the kings court. Unlike the Ach-
aemenids, however, the Arsacids
did not have absolute power over
the nobles. The nobles had the
right to approve a new king or get
rid of one if they disliked his rule.
Just below the nobles were
the wealthy landowners who
formed the aristocracy, the elite
class. They were called the
Greatest and served as the heart
of the cavalry in the Parthian
army. They had men who served
them called retainersthey owed
loyalty to the aristocrats, just as
local kings did to the king.
Like the Achaemenid kings,
the Parthian rulers had a close
circle of nobles called the Kings
Friends. But the Parthians went
even further in honoring their most trusted advisors. From the level of
First Friend, a noble could rise to the rank of Honored Friend, and even
higher still was the small group of First and Most Honored Friend.
Ancient historians left few details about life among the Parthians,
but nobles and aristocrats must have trained their sons for war, as the
earlier Persians had. These sons might have also learned to read and
write in Pahlavi (a form of Persian), and learned at least some Greek as
well.
As in Achaemenid Persia, royal women had influence and a degree
of independence. The kings main wife and his mother remained the
most important women at court. Following Greek tradition, the wifes
name began to appear in official documents. The marriages of royal
daughters and nieces were also important in sealing relationships with
other rulers.
85
LOCAL RULE
Since the Achaemenids, the size of the satrapies and the power of the
satraps had shrunk. Most satraps were local officials and not members
of the royal family. The position lost the prestige it once had, and the
local rulers wanted to become kings and start their own dynasties.
The central Parthian government accepted this, as long as the kings
continued to pay taxes and pledge their loyalty to the Great King. Some
In 1932, a block of gray marble that was
once the base of a statue was uncovered
by archaeologists at Susa. In the inscription
on the marble, Artabanus II overrules
constitutional term limits for elected officials
in Susa and confirms the re-election of the
city treasurer. The years Artabanus mentions
refer to the calendar used during the Parthian
era. The block is now on display in the
Louvre Museum in Paris.

[Since Hestiaeus the son of Asius], one of
your citizens and a member of the order of
the first and chief-honored friends and
of the bodyguards, conducted himself in
the office of treasurer . . . most honorably
and justly and with all incorruptibility,
shrinking from [no expense] of his own
when the outlay was for the good of the
city; twice during his term of office when
the city [had] need of an envoy [he made
the journey] himself, thinking the care
of his own property unimportant but the
citys affairs more urgent, and sparing
neither money nor trouble he devoted
[himself without reserve] to the two
embassies, and having managed them
to the citys advantage he received the
appropriate honors, as the decree voted
[by the city] in the year 330 testifies.
Since in the year 331 when need arose of
a good [man he was again nominated] for
the same office for the year 332, and after
a long examination . . . he came forward
and deposed that he was debarred by
the constitution from filling the same
office a second time before the lapse
of three years; since the city, [knowing
from experience] his good character
and remembering his administration of
the same office, decided to choose him
treasurer, and so he was elected [for the]
year 332. . . .
On the above grounds, we decide that his
election was valid and that he is not to
be prosecuted for having filled the same
office twice without allowing an interval
of three years to elapse, nor on the basis
of any other royal order dealing with the
subject whatsoever. . . .
(Source: Letter from Artabanus II to Susa.
Parthia.com. Available online. URL: http://
www.parthia.com/artabanus2_letter.htm.
Accessed July 2, 2008.)
A Letter to Susa
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
86
of these kings and the governments of independent cities minted their
own coins and fought their own wars.
Some Greek cities in Asia Minor had been partially independent for
centuries, and their residents had democratic governments. In remote
areas of the steppe and mountains, tribal chiefs also kept their power.
The Parthian kings, however, did not give up all rights over the local
kingdoms. In one example from the first century, Artabanus II stepped
in to overturn a law that would have forced a local official out of office.
The most important duty of the lesser kings was to provide soldiers
for Persia during wartime. Unlike the Achaemenids, the Parthian kings
did not keep a full-time army, except for troops stationed in forts across
the empire and for the kings guards. In times of war, the Parthian ruler
issued a call for soldiers, and the other kings sent the men needed.
These kings turned to their local aristocrats, who then recruited more
troops.
THE PARTHIAN LOWER CLASSES
Below the Parthian nobles and aristocrats were two major social
classes. One class consisted of free men and women. They were
87
mostly peasants who had some land of their own or worked for oth-
ers. Even more important were the educated or skilled free people
who worked in the cities. They included artisans, artists, traders, and
doctors.
But a large portion of the lower classes consisted of serfs and slaves.
Serfs were people who were attached to the land they lived on and
farmed. If the land changed hands, they remained and continued to
work for the new owner. Their life was not much different than that of
slaves.
Roman historians suggested that serfs and slaves were used as
soldiers. But modern historians are not sure, since the ancient writers
used different terms, such as slaves, servants, and retinue to describe
these men. The Roman historians agreed, however, that these soldiers
were different from free men.
Roman historian Justin, in his Epitome of the Philippic History, said
owners raised their slaves as carefully as their own children, and teach
them, with great pains, the arts of riding and shooting with the bow.
But, he claimed, the owners had no right to free their slavesas mas-
ters in the Roman Empire sometimes did.
SASSANIAN SOCIETY
The Sassanians and the Arabs who defeated them left many written
records, so modern historians know more about Persian politics and
society during Sassanian rule. Shapur I wanted to emphasize his ties
to the Achaemenids. Just as the Achaemenids did, he suggested there
was a direct connection between the Persian god Ahura Mazda and
Sassanian kingship.
The Sassanians created a stronger central government than the
Parthians had. They relied on close ties with Zoroastrian priests and a
sense of a shared Aryan culture to do so. A council of nobles played a
part in approving the succession of kings, even though a reigning king
normally chose a son as his successor.
A Sassanian king, like an Achaemenid king, was technically the
supreme lawgiver and commander. But in practice, the king relied more
on the nobles for support than the first Persian kings did.
Even more than the Parthians, the Sassanians developed strict
social groups. Four classes, called estates, included everyone in the
empire. These were the priests (known as magi), the warriors, state
88
officials and skilled workers (such as doctors and poets),
and the lower working class of artisans, peasants,
and traders.
A persons position in each estate was
determined by birth. So, for example, the
son of a peasant would always be a peas-
ant. Even some government positions were
passed from father to son. But one ancient
Persian source, quoted in the Encyclope-
dia Iranica, says that exceptions could
be made if outstanding worthiness is
observed . . . in the person, after due
examination by the high priests, he shall
be promoted to a higher scale, subject to
the approval of the King of Kings.
The warrior class included the royal family,
nobles, and major landowners. In the later years of
the empire, the highest priests were also included
with this class. Within the warrior class there were distinct
levels. At the top were the kings sons and the local kings throughout
the empire. Next were members of the kings clan, then the heads of the
leading families across Persia. Finally, there were free landowners who
owned smaller plots of land.
Some Parthian nobles were in the early Sassanian kings inner
circle. One respected noble served as the eran-spahbed, the military
commander. He led the troops in war and advised the king on military
matters. Later, this position was divided among four generals, who each
controlled the military in one quarter of the empire.
The aristocrats of Sassanian Persia worked hard to show they had
a position at the top. They spent money on fancy clothes and jewels so
they could easily be identified as the special people they were. They also
had certain privileges. In general, they did not have to pay taxes. Their
wives also had special rights to go on hunts. Noble men were allowed
the largest number of wives. A noble, however, would lose his class
privilege and property if he married a woman from a lower class.
As in earlier times, the kings and their nobles spent their leisure
time hunting and at banquets. Education for young nobles was more
developed by this time. In addition to learning military skills, they
studied Zoroastrianism and learned to read and write. Some were sent
This silver plate shows
Sassanian king Shapur II
hunting deer.
89
to study with professional teachers, and they might also learn law and
music. One ancient source records that a certain prince also learned
manners and proper forms of behavior at court. The well-schooled ways
of the Sassanian court served as a model for other nobility in Asia.
As in the past, royal women had influence in the Sassanian court.
The kings main wife and his mother once again had the top two roles.
The king could marry both Sassanian and non-Sassanian Persians, and
some kings married foreign women of high rank. He could not, how-
ever, marry foreign women captured during wars, though they might
become concubines.
Persian versions of such titles as princess and lady were used for dif-
ferent female relatives of the king. The mother of the heir to the throne
was called Mother of the King of Kings. Sassanian queens traveled with
their husbands across the empire and sometimes into war, and some
women at court were educated. More so than in the past, queens also
appeared on coins and in reliefs carved into mountains.
RULING THE EMPIRE
The Sassanian King of Kings relied on several special advisers and
officials to help him run the government. These included the hazaruft,
who was the head of the kings bodyguards, and the vuzorg farmadar,
the man in charge of the entire bureaucracy. Other officials kept track
of the gifts the kings received and made sure ceremonies were carried
out according to tradition. Scribes wrote letters for the king and docu-
mented his activities, and the head of scribes was another important
position.
The Sassanian kings usually named family members to rule
smaller kingdoms in the empire. This arrangement helped limit the
threat of rebellion in the empire. Satraps still existed, but they usually
ran cities, not entire provinces, and may have been under the power
of the regional king. To further limit the satraps power, kings divided
kingdoms into smaller political units run by local officials.
Eventually, power was divided up among even more officials, creat-
ing a huge bureaucracy across Persia. In the later years of the empire,
the local satraps dealt with government officials called amargars, who
handled tax affairs over a large region. Another official managed the
kings various lands. A satrap or lesser kingdom also had a head magus
(priest), with others below him. One special position in the provinces
Ruling Queens
In the long history of
the Persian Empire, only
two daughters of a king
ever took the throne.
During the last chaotic
decades of Sassanian
rule, no sons of Khosrow
II were alive to take his
place. Several men with
loose ties to the dynasty
briefly held the throne.
But then the Persian
nobles chose Khosrows
daughter Puran to rule.
She came to power in the
spring of 630. Details of
her rule are scarce, but
she seems to have sent
diplomats to Byzantium
to try to improve rela-
tions with Persias long-
time foe. Purans reign
lasted a little more than a
year; she was strangled
by a Persian general.
Her sister Azarmigdukht
briefly served after her,
but almost nothing is
known about her and her
reign.
90
was created by Khosrow I. This person was the protector of the poor and
judge who served the interests of peasants if they faced a legal trial.
THE LOWER SASSANIAN CLASSES
Below the Sassanian upper classes were various people who made their
living working for others. Most farmed the land of the aristocrats, while
others worked as artisans. Some fought as infantry soldiers in the army.
Many of the lowest foot soldiers worked for no pay.
By the time of Khosrow I, most farmers worked for others, and the
land-owning aristocrats had built tremendous political power. Khos-
row created a new class of landowners, with smaller holdings, to try to
reduce the power of those aristocrats.
The man in a working-class household usually had just one wife.
Lower-class women of the Sassanian era were considered property and
had few legal rights. They could not give evidence in court, although a
woman who was not married or was under her fathers care could.
A man could also give his wife to another man for a period of time,
a form of marriage in Zoroastrianism called sturih. The wife could not
refuse to go with the other man, and any children from that union were
considered the children of the original husband. In this way, a man
who could not have children of his own could claim to be the parent of
another mans sons.
SASSANIAN SLAVERY
In hard times, a father might sell a child into slavery. Some people
also became slaves for set periods of time to repay a family debt. Most
slaves, however, as in the past, came from foreign conquests. The num-
ber of laws on slavery from Sassanian times suggest the practice was
more developed and common than under the Achaemenids and the
Parthians.
Surviving Sassanian texts have many different words for slaves,
which makes it hard for modern historians to know their exact social
position. A bandag was a person bound to another, but this could have
a general meaning besides a slave. Technically, every Persian, even the
great nobles, was bound to the King of Kings and was supposed to do
his wishes.
91
An ansahrig was a foreign slave. Another term referred to a slave
who worked at the fire temples used in Zoroastrianism. Some of these
workers were actual slaves, who were forced to work on temple grounds.
But slaves called aduran-bandag were free men who were bound in a
symbolic way. Because of their faith, they committed themselves to
helping at the temples.
At certain points during the Sassanian era, any child of a slave
woman was also considered a slave. However, some writings suggest a
child with a free father and slave mother would be free. Sassanian law
considered slaves to be their owners property. Yet in some cases the law
does consider the slave to be a person with some legal rights, such as
appearing as a witness or suing others in court. This allowed slaves to
sue masters who mistreated them.
A person could also be a partial slave and keep a percentage of
any money he or she earned. Some slaves used these earnings to buy
their complete freedom. Slaves who practiced Zoroastrianism had
special rights. They could not be sold to someone who did not follow
that faith. Slaves who bought their freedom or received it from their
masters became subjects of the king and apparently could not be
enslaved again.
Living And working
in thE pErsiAn EmpirEs
THE INSCRIPTIONS LEFT BY THE PERSIAN KINGS AND THE
works of the Greek and Roman historians present a narrow slice of life
in the Persian Empire. They describe the thoughts and actions of the
rulers and their great battles with foreigners. But for typical subjects
of the Great Kings of Persia, daily life was focused on caring for their
families, raising livestock, growing crops, making and selling goods,
and serving in the kings army.
Religion was also an important daily concern. Persians believed
that Ahura Mazda directly influenced events on Earth.
LIFE ON THE FARM
In The Histories, Herodotus said that Babylonia supplied enough food
to the Great King and his armies to feed them for four months of the
year, and the remainder of his Asian lands supplied them for the other
eight months. That meant a large amount of energy went into farming.
Across the empire, some people worked for the kings and nobles, farm-
ing the fields of the rich. Others owned small plots of land. Some farm-
ers rented plots from the richer landowners. On the steppe, nomadic
herders raised livestock and traveled with their flocks as they searched
for food.
Under the Achaemenids, one group of farm workers was the
kurtash. They worked for the state, and were mostly foreign people
from lands Persia conquered. The kurtash were not slaves, but they had
93

This beautiful silver and
gold vase handle from
the Achaemenid dynasty
shows a winged ibex, a
kind of wild goat.
C H A P T E R 5
94
to do what the government told them to. They were paid for their work,
and some worked as artisans as well as farm hands.
Key crops raised across the empire included barley and other
grains, flax (used to make linen), nuts, and a wide range of vegetables.
Common fruits included dates, figs, plums, apples, citrus fruits, and
pomegranates. Grapes were grown for wine, and barley was used for
beer and bread. Cattle, goat, and sheep were raised for meat, and cattle
in particular were considered a sign of wealth. The common people
rarely had much meat to eat, especially in the conquered lands.
More than 2,500 years ago, Persian officials
wrote in cuneiform on clay tablets to record
the details of government business. During
the 1930s, two sets of the tablets were found
in the ruins of Persepolis. The largest group,
about 30,000 tablets, is called the Persepolis
Fortification Tablets.
Archaeologists have translated several
thousands of the tablets, and the translations
continue today. The tablets provide new
details about life in Achaemenid Persia.
In recent years, they have also become
tangled in a legal dispute. American sur-
vivors of a 1997 terrorist attack in Israel,
along with relatives of some victims, sued
the government of Iran. They claimed the
Iranian government helped the terrorists.
The tablets are currently at the University
of Chicago, and a U.S. court ruled that they
should be sold to pay the legal settlement.
The Iranian government protested this deci-
sion, as did archaeologists who wanted to
keep studying the tablets. As of early 2009,
the matter was still in the courts.
The Persepolis
Fortification Tablets
The Persepolis Fortification Tablets are
currently at the University of Chicagos
Oriental Institute on loan from the Iranian
government. The tablets are still being
translated, and provide new details about
life in Achaemenid Persia.
95
On their farms, the Achaemenid Persians dug underground canals
to help irrigate (bring water to) their crops. These qanats, as they are
called in Arabic, carried water from underground wells to fields, some-
times over long distances.
Food grown for the king was not used only to feed his family and
the army. The government also gave livestock, grains, and wine as pay-
ment to various state workers. The Persepolis Fortification Tablets,
a group of government records, list the rations (portions of food and
drink) given to these workers. One selection from 501 ... noted, 130
liters of barley from the possessions of Amavrta have been received by
Bark-El as his rations. Given in the town of Ithema, in the twenty-first
year [of Darius] in the month Shibar.
Few details exist about farming during Parthian rule, though rice
seems to have been grown for the first time in parts of the empire.
Through the Sassanian period, agriculture remained a way of life for
most residents of the empire. Taxes from farming provided a good deal
of the kings money. The Persian historian Tabari (838923), quoted
by Josef Wiesehofer in The Persians, said the Sassanian king Khosrow
I taxed on the field-produce which feeds man and animal, namely
wheat, barley, rice, grapes, alfalfa, date palms, and olive trees. Some
L i v i n g a n d Wo r k i n g i n t h e P e r s i a n E mp i r e s
A Farmers Greatest Fear
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
96
foods, such as sesame seeds and vegetables, were not taxed, since the
farmers raised them for their own families.
THE ACHAEMENID ECONOMY
The kings of Persia relied on skilled artisans to make goods for them and
their armies. Merchants also played a role in the economy, buying and
selling goods overseas and within the empire. Overseeing the creation and
movement of many goods were various bureaucrats. Persian records, once
again, offer few details about these people. But there is some information
about the activities of artisans and merchants.
Under the Achaemenids, government workers called kurtash
worked both unskilled and skilled jobs. They helped construct govern-
ment buildings in Persepolis and other Persian capitals. They also built
the roads that helped soldiers and
goods move around the empire. The
most skilled kurtash made goods and
jewelry out of gold and silver.
The Persepolis Fortification Tab-
lets show that skilled workers received
the highest rations of food. At times
they also received silver coins. The
kurtash included women and chil-
dren. Women sometimes led groups
of other women in carrying out their
various duties.
Jobs in the empire included mak-
ing weapons, armor, and a variety of
tools for farming or construction.
Artisans also made vases, mirrors, and
other items that were traded across
the empire. Some Persians worked at
the kings huge warehouses, where
supplies and food were stored for sol-
diers. The empire also had small fac-
tories that produced dishes and other
goods for the royal family.
A large number of people worked
for the king and attended to his rich
Skilled craftsmen worked
for the king and supported
his lifestyle. This is a
golden sword from the
Achaemenid period. Such a
sword would not be useful
in battle, but it did show
off the kings wealth.
97
lifestyle. Greek records show that while traveling to fight Alexander
the Great, Darius III had almost 300 cooks, more than 300 musicians,
and 70 people whose job was to filter wine. Heraclides (fourth century
...), a Greek writer (quoted by Pierre Briant in From Cyrus to Alex-
ander), described how the Great Kings waiters prepared to serve him:
They . . . first bathe themselves and then serve in white clothes, and
spend nearly half the day on preparations for the dinner.
Some jobs in trade and manufacturing were not tied to the govern-
ment. Banking was carried out privately, and some craftsmen made
goods that they traded for food or other items with their neighbors.
Herodotus claimed the Persians did not have open-air markets, as the
Greeks did.
In Babylonia, banking had deep roots even before it came under
Persian rule. Records uncovered in the city of Nippur describe one suc-
cessful family during the reign of the Achaemenids. The founder of the
Murashu family was born about 500 ..., and he, his sons, and grand-
sons made a fortune as bankers. They loaned silver coins to local resi-
dents so they could pay taxes to the Great Kings. The taxpayers repaid
the loans with interesta fee paid for the right to borrow money. One
of the familys documents outlines a business deal one of the Murashu
sons made. He agreed to lease farmland for 60 years, paying the owner
in dates. The Murashu son would then be able to sell any other crops
produced on the land.
Merchants moved a variety of goods within the empire. Many of
these traders were Babylonian, since they were centrally located. Work-
ers in Asia Minor mined iron, copper, tin, and silver. From Egypt came
gold and ivory, while Phoenician winemakers provided the Persians
with wine. Foreign trade went on with India and Greece. Gold from dis-
tant Siberia, in what is now Russia, seems to have reached Persia.
Buying and selling goods, especially overseas, became easier with
the silver and gold coins Darius introduced. He also set up a standard
system of weights and measures, so people always knew the exact
amount of the goods they bought and sold.
COMMERCE IN THE LATER PERIODS
The details of economic life under the Parthians are mostly a mystery,
because so few records survive. A Chinese government report on Per-
sia from the second century ... gives one of the few descriptions of
Resource from the
Earth
Even before the rise of
the Achaemenids, people
of the Near East knew oil
was locked deep in the
rocks under their lands.
Some of the oil naturally
oozed up to the surface,
creating what are called
seeps. Oil from the seeps
was used in lamps, and
fires at the seeps may
have inspired the use of
eternal fires in Zoroas-
trianism. Oil was most
likely traded across Asia.
Today, Iran and other
nations once under Per-
sian rule provide much
of the oil used to make
gasoline for cars and
other products.
98
the Parthian economy. The report noted that Persia was mostly agri-
cultural, but that merchants . . . travel by cart or boat to neighboring
states (quoted by Maria Brosius in The Persians).
A major source of wealth for Persia during Parthian rule was the
trade carried out along the Silk Road. This trade route was actually a
series of roads that crossed Central Asia and China. Some trade was
also carried out by sea. Silk, a smooth cloth spun by silkworms, was
made only in China until 551. Demand for this rare cloth in Rome and
Persia led to trade between the Persians and the Chinese. The Chinese
sent silk, salts, and other goods to Persia.
Indian merchants also sent goods along the Silk Road through Per-
sia, particularly spices and gems. The Persians kept some of the goods
Merchants traveling the
Silk Road traded goods
from China to Europe. The
Silk Road went through
Persia, and its trade was
important to the Persian
economy during the
Sassanian dynasty. This
Chinese porcelain camel is
carrying a Sassanian mask
on its back, showing how
cultural influences mixed
along the Silk Road.
99
that traveled along the route for themselves and traded the rest with
Rome. They also sent Rome products from Persia, such as textiles (cloth
and items made from cloth). Roman goods, such as wine, glass, and
wool, went through Persia back to China. The Persians also sent the
Chinese horses, food, and woolen goods.
The Silk Road remained an important part of the Persian economy
during Sassanian rule. Most people, however, still farmed for a living.
Skilled craftsmen continued to make goods for the king. Some of them
came from other countries, because the Sassanian kings sometimes
took artisans from conquered or subject lands and moved them into
Persia. Other such prisoners of war and their families worked in such
trades as construction and blacksmithing.
FAMILY LIFE
Persian women often worked side by side with men on the farms and in
workshops. And in some cases, women served as the boss of male work-
ers. But, as in many ancient societies, family life was usually controlled
by men.
The most detailed accounts of the legal dominance of men come
from Sassanian times. But the
importance of the father within
the family and the desire to
have sons go back to the earli-
est days of the empire. Herodo-
tus wrote in The Histories that
the Achaemenids believed the
goodness of a man is most sig-
nified in this: that he can show
a multitude of sons. To him
who can show the most, the
King sends gifts every year.
Many sons meant many sol-
diers, and also descendants to
carry on the familys name.
The Sassanian records say
that the husband was master
of the home. By law, his wife
and children had to show him
Happy Navruz!
The ancient Persian celebration Navruz marks the new year.
Navruz began on the first day of spring and lasted for sev-
eral days. The celebration was first held during the Achae-
menid dynasty. It took on great religious importance under
the Sassanians, when it stretched out over three weeks.
Although it is rooted in Zoroastrianism, over time Navruz
was celebrated by Persians of all faiths.
The holiday is still observed in Iran and other lands
once ruled by Persia, such as Afghanistan. It usually falls in
March. In Iran, Navruz has special importance for families.
Children pay respect to older relatives, and family members
exchange gifts. People also visit relatives to wish them well
for the new year.
CONNECTIONS
100
proper respect. In return, the husband had specific duties. He had to
support his wife for her entire life. In special circumstances, if a hus-
band did not provide his wife with food and she was forced to steal food
for survival, he was punished. If the husband died, a person chosen as
guardian took care of the wife and children. The guardian was usually
an adult son or another male relative, though someone outside the fam-
ily could take this role.
The father was responsible for his daughters well-being until
they married, and for his sons until they became adults. In most
cases, a father also had to approve a daughters marriage partner.
Daughters might marry as young as nine years old. Adult daughters
had more freedom to marry whom they chose.
A household might have several generations of a family living
together. Several related households, perhaps a dozen or more, formed
clans. The clans shared some property and held ceremonies to honor
their dead ancestors. The male leaders of the clan formed a council that
watched over the weddings of clan members and heard legal disputes.
For the earlier periods of Persian history, few records exist about
daily life outside the royal family. The Persepolis Fortification Tablets
show that children worked for the state and received food rations, just
as adults did, although the children typically received less. Mothers col-
lected extra rations after they had children, with an added bonus if the
baby was a boy. Herodotus said that boys stayed with their mothers and
female relatives until they were five years old. Then they went out with
their fathers to learn work skills.
EDUCATION
For the children of farmers, shepherds, and other people of the lower
classes, formal schooling was rare. Children learned skills from their
families. Nobles and high-ranking government officials made sure their
sons could read and write. A few girls received similar lessons, but edu-
cation for girls was rare. Sons of the nobility also learned how to ride
horses, to hunt, and to fight.
Scribes played an important role in ancient governments, and
Babylonia and Egypt set up schools to train them. Ancient sources
show that when the Achaemenids conquered those lands, they kept the
schools in place. Young boys studying to be scribes learned how to read
and write cuneiform and also studied mathematics and astronomy. In
101
Babylonia, boys from lower-class jobs could enter the scribe schools.
The Egyptians, however, may have limited formal education to the sons
of noble families.
The Parthians did not leave records on their education system, but
the average person probably could not read and write. By Sassanian
times, some merchants might have learned these skills, but formal
education was still rare beyond the upper classes. The importance of
Zoroastrianism under the Sassanians meant students recited religious
texts, and priests had to undergo years of study. Under Sassanian law, a
father was supposed to make sure his children and slaves learned about
Zoroastrianism. By this time, some women were also being educated
outside the home.
FOOD, CLOTHING, AND SHELTER
With the variety of foods grown across the Persian Empire, the people
rarely went hungry, except during droughts. For the average person,
grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables were important parts of the daily
diet. Beer and wine were common drinks. Spices such as coriander,
basil, mint, and turmeric added flavor to many stews and other dishes.
Dried fruits and nuts were eaten throughout the empire, since
they could be shipped long distances without spoiling. Other fruits
and vegetables were mostly found close to where they were grown. The
Persians were also the first to grow spinach, a common vegetable now
found throughout the world.
The nomads of the steppe made cheese and yogurt from sheeps milk.
Milk also came from goats,
cattle, and horses. Meat typi-
cally came from these animals,
as well as chickens and pigs.
With the popularity of hunting,
the nobility also ate wild game,
such as wild boars, rabbits, and
deer. Along the Caspian Sea,
fish provided a good source of
protein.
Few people ate meat regu-
larly, but the nobles and roy-
als did. Herodotus noted that
A Special Belt
For ancient Zoroastrians, a white cloth belt called a kusti was kusti kusti
a symbol of their faith. It was made of 72 very thin threads of
wool. During the Sassanian dynasty, when boys turned 15
they received the belt as part of a ceremony that marked their
becoming adults. Todays Zoroastrians still award the belt to TT
boys and girls when they turn 15, after they demonstrate that
they know the teachings of their religion.
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102
birthdays were celebrated with huge feasts, with the rich serving an ox
or a horse or a camel or an ass [donkey] roasted whole in great ovens.
The poor, he added, served the smaller beasts.
Clothing differed around the empire, as various peoples wore the
clothes that were common to their region. Fashions changed over time,
as well. Under the Achaemenids, in Mesopotamia and North Africa,
people tended to wear long gowns that reached to the ankles. In Asia
Minor, shorter gowns called tunics were more common.
The Persians themselves wore a variety of garments. In works of art,
Darius was shown on the battlefield in a vest, while Greek historians men-
tioned that the royal family wore long robes. Men also wore leather pants.
Xenophon, in his Anabasis, says some of the noble soldiers he trav-
eled with wore outer robes of purple over expensive tunics and color-
ful trousers. Purple was most often worn by the wealthy, since the dye
that turned cloth purple was expensive. Few descriptions of womens
dress survive, though they seem to have worn long robes and dresses.
For both men and women, footwear was leather shoes or boots.
The Greeks were struck by the different types of headgear worn
by the Persians and the various peoples they ruled. Hats not only kept
a persons head warm and dry, they could be a sign of social rank and
add color and style to a persons dress. Kings, satraps, and some nobil-
ity wore different kinds of crowns or decorated ribbons called diadems.
More common were felt caps and hoods.
Under the Parthians, pants and coats with sleeves similar to
modern clothing became common across the empire. Both men and
women, however, still sometimes wore tunics. Tunics were also worn
during the Sassanian era, with men wearing shorter tunics and trou-
sers. Royalty sometimes tied long ribbons around their pants at the
ankles. In the later years of the Sassanian Empire, kings and other
royalty also wore long robes.
All the Persians wore belts, either tied or buckled. During the
Parthian and Sassanian dynasties, belts were more commonly worn by
men.
Written records and art provide good information on Persian
clothing, but there is less information on housing. In ancient times,
before the Achaemenids, some Persians lived in caves. In the Sassanian
era, people sometimes dug underground shelters, as recent archaeo-
logical discoveries have shown. Nomads lived in tents, which could be
quickly set up and taken down.
Underground Living
In 2004, archaeologists
found an underground
city near the town of
Noush Abad in central
Iran. Parts of the city
are three stories tall.
The structures feature a
series of halls and rooms.
Some pottery at the site
dates from the Sassanian
period, and scholars
think the underground
city was actually a
giant shelter used to
protect nearby villagers.
Noush Abad sits along a
major trade route, so the
area was often visited
by robbers and foreign
invaders.
103
The kings of Persia built tremendous stone and brick palaces.
Smaller homes for common people were usually made out of mud
bricks. When traveling, the kings set up huge tents to hold all their
relatives, aides, and supplies.
THE ROLE OF RELIGION
Before the rise of the Achaemenids, the people of Media and Persis
worshipped many gods. Even Darius, who praised Ahura Mazda as the
greatest of the gods, acknowledged others. But over the centuries, Ahura
Mazda, which means Wise Lord, became the primary god for many Per-
sians. Their religion, Zoroastrianism, centered on the worship of him.
The roots of the religion are traced to a prophet (a person who
claims to speak for a god) called Zarathustra by the Persians and Zoro-
aster by the Greeks. The prophet received visions from the god Ahura
Mazda and convinced a legendary Persian king named Vishtap to
worship this god. Zoroaster said that Ahura Mazda was supreme over
all the other gods the Persians worshipped. He then set down the first
teachings of the religion in writings called the Gathas.
A creed is a statement of the basic ideas
accepted by the followers of a particular
religion. For Zoroastrians, their creed
appears in the 12th part of the Yasna, which
is one section of the Avesta. The creed is
thought to have been written by Zoroaster
and repeated by the people he converted to
the new faith. Here is a small part of it.
I reject the authority of the Daevas [false
gods], the wicked, no-good, lawless,
evil-knowing . . . the foulest of beings,
the most damaging of beings. I reject
the Daevas and their comrades, I reject
the demons (yatu) and their comrades; I
reject any who harm beings. I reject them
with my thoughts, words, and deeds. I
reject them publicly. . . .
I profess myself a Mazda-worshipper, a
Zoroastrian, having vowed it and professed
it. I pledge myself to the well-thought
thought, I pledge myself to the well-spoken
word, I pledge myself to the well-done
action.
(Source: Yasna 12The Zoroastrian Creed.
Translated by Joseph H. Peterson. Avesta
Zoroastrian Archives. Available online. URL:
http://www.avesta.org/yasna/y12j.htm.
Accessed May 3. 2008.)
The Zoroastrian Creed
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
104
Historians are not sure
when Zoroaster lived. Some
argue it was around 1200 or
1000 ..., while others say
the seventh century ... is
more likely. He lived in what
is now eastern Iran or west-
ern Afghanistan. There are
few details of his life, except
for what is in the Gathas.
At first he had trouble win-
ning over followers, but by
the time of the Achaemenids
his religion had spread across
Persia.
The holy books of Zoro-
astrianism, the Avesta, con-
tains the Gathas and later
teachings of the religion. For
centuries, the Avesta was passed on orally, though some written
pieces also existed. Historians think the first complete written version
appeared under the Sassanians, around the fourth century ..
The core of Zoroastrian beliefs is that forces of good and evil con-
stantly battle each other. Humans must choose which force they will
support. Ahura Mazda represents the force of goodparticularly truth,
order, and moral actionwhile a god named Ahriman represents evil.
Demons do his work on Earth. Zoroastrians believe that after they die,
they will face a day of judgment and be sent to either heaven or hell,
depending on whether they had sided with Ahura Mazda or supported
the forces of evil during their life.
Sacred fires were lit at temples to honor Ahura Mazda, and
priests carried out the rituals (religious ceremonies) of worship. These
included offering sacrificesanimals killed or valuables offeredto
show respect and ask for the gods help.
Historians think Zoroastrian ideas may have influenced Jew-
ish and Christian beliefs. And, like Judaism and Christianity, modern
Zoroastrianism is considered a monotheistic religiononly one god is
worshipped.
Fire altars used by
Zoroastrian priests at
the tomb complex of the
Sassanian kings at Naqsh-e
Rostam.
105
Zoroastrianism was not
always completely monotheis-
tic, though. The Achaemenids
considered Ahura Mazda to
be the supreme god, but under
them the Persians also wor-
shipped Mithra, the sun god,
and Anahita, who was the god-
dess of water and fertility (the
ability to produce offspring).
And while the sun, moon, and
natural elements (water, sky,
earth, fire) were not gods, they
were considered holy. Herodo-
tus said in The Histories that the
Persians revered rivers most of
all things and would not wash their hand in them or let others do so.
Records from Persepolis show the Persians used wine as a sacrifice to the
rivers as well as to gods.
The Zoroastrians did not believe in burying bodies in the ground.
The earth was considered holy, and they did not want to pollute it with
dead flesh, which was thought to be filled with evil spirits. Herodotus
described how Zoroastrian magi let dogs or birds eat at the flesh. The
remaining bones were then placed in a deep well or other spot under-
ground. This practice was most common in the western parts of the
Persian Empire.
Under the Achaemenids, Zoroastrianism seems to have been prac-
ticed mostly by the royal family and the nobility. Some of the kings rode
into battle with an empty chariot beside them, pulled by white horses.
The chariot was said to belong to Ahura Mazda, who would watch over
the Great Kings as they fought.
The average Persians still worshipped old gods that dated from
before Zoroaster. The non-Persian people of the empire were free
to worship their local gods. The Persian kings knew they could win
the support of conquered people by offering this freedom and by
claiming they acted in the local gods name. Darius the Great, for
example, left an inscription in Egypt that called the god Amun-Re
his father.
A Magical Word
The word for a Zoroastrian priest is magus. It comes from
a Persian word meaning sorcerer (a wizard or magician),
although some sources say it means great one. The plural
is magi. The Greek form of the word served as the root for
the English word magic.
The first magi were members of a Medean tribe who
served as priests for the Zoroastrian religion. In Christianity,
the three wise men who visited the baby Jesus were called
the magi, though there is no hard evidence that they came
from Persia or practiced Zoroastrianism.
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106
But the Persians were less tolerant if one of their foreign peoples
rebelled. Around the 480s ..., Xerxes either destroyed or threatened to
destroy a temple in a land where his rule had been challenged.
In The Histories, Herodotus offered one view of early Zoroastrian
practices and beliefs. He said that Persians, unlike the Greeks, did not
give their gods human form, and they did not worship in temples. When
a person wanted to make a sacrifice, He brings into an open space his
sacrificial beast and calls upon the god. . . . He may pray not for good
things for himself alone . . . but only that all shall be well with all the Per-
sians and the king. . . . Since the Persians did not depict Ahura Mazda as
human, his presence is shown in art through the image of a winged disc.
RELIGION UNDER THE PARTHIANS
AND SASSANIANS
The Parthians kept up the old practice of allowing the worship of
many gods across the empire. Although the rulers believed in Ahura
Mazda, they also accepted other gods. Zoroastrianism seemed to
decline for several centuries. King Vologeses, who ruled during the
middle of the first century, tried to strengthen Zoroastrian beliefs and
practices. Coins printed during his reign showed the sacred fires that
always burned for Ahura Mazda. He is also said to have tried to collect
together various hymns and religious writings.
A stronger revival of Zoroastrianism came under the Sassanians.
The kings and nobles embraced it, and more fire altars appeared. The
number of magi grew, and some seemed to have great influence over
certain kings. At times, these magi used this power to try to stamp out
other religions. But although Zoroastrianism was the state religion it
existed side by side with the other faiths of the empire. During the Sas-
sanian era, these included Buddhism and Christianity. Buddhism had
developed in India in the sixth century ..., and then spread to other
parts of Asia. Christianity developed in what is now Israel.
Another new religion during the Sassanian era had its roots in Per-
sia. During the third century, a Babylonian named Mani (ca. 216ca.
276) began blending Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian
beliefs. Mani said that everything in the universe came from a mix-
ture of light and darkness, in which light stood for peace and darkness
stood for conflict. The world of light was the spiritual world, while life
Zoroaster in Art
Zoroasters name is
well known today in
its Persian form, Zara-
thustra, thanks to two
works of art. In 1896,
the German writer Fried-
rich Nietzsche wrote a
book titled Also Sprach
Zarathustra (Thus Spoke
Zarathustra). Nietzsche
used the Persian prophet
as a character in a long
poem that explained
Nietzsches ideas about
life. Those ideas had
nothing to do with
Zoroastrianism. A Ger-
man composer, Richard
Strauss, then wrote a
piece of music using the
same title.
Nietzsches book is
studied in schools around
the world and Strausss
music is still played
by orchestras. It also
became very famous as
the theme music for the
movie 2001: A Space
Odyssey. Zoroasters
writings, however, are
barely known except to
scholars and followers of
his faith.
107
on Earth was the world of darkness. By living well, people could begin
to separate the light and darkness within them. His religion was called
Manichaeanism. There was no one supreme god, as in the monotheistic
religions.
Mani traveled throughout the Persian Empire spreading his new
religion. The king at the time, Shapur I, did not follow the new faith, but
he let Mani teach it and some members of the royal family became fol-
lowers. Mani claimed his teachings came from an angel and would last
longer than any other known religions.
Zoroastrian priests rejected Mani and his teachings, and they con-
vinced a later Persian king to have Mani arrested. His religion, though,
continued to grow, eventually spreading west into the Roman Empire
and east into China.
Another new religion that developed during the Sassanian Era
was Mazdakism. Its founder, Mazdak, stirred social and political
conflict with his teachings. He seemed to borrow some ideas from
both Manichaeanism and Zoroastrianism. Mazdak and his beliefs
briefly had some government support. But then the Sassanians turned
against them and tried to stamp out the new faith. Some followers,
however, lived in Persia until the end of the empire.
JUDAISM IN PERSIA
When the Medes and Persians were emerging as powers in Mesopo-
tamia, the Jews had already built a great kingdom and then seen it fall
under enemy attacks. Their religion, Judaism, was the first major mono-
theistic religion in the ancient world. The Jewish homeland, Israel, was
located along the Mediterranean Sea and was centered in what is now
the modern nation of Israel.
The original Israel split into two kingdoms during the 10th century
... During the eighth century ..., the Assyrians asserted their
power in the region. The Assyrians and after them the Babylonians sent
many Jews to live in Mesopotamia.
Cyrus the Great was a hero to the Jews, because he freed them from
Babylonian rule and helped them rebuild their temple in Jerusalem.
Under the various Persian rulers, Israel was sometimes under direct
Persian control, and many Jews lived throughout the empire. The Jews
were mostly allowed to live as they chose.
108
Under the Persians, some
Jewish soldiers served the gov-
ernment in Egypt. A rebellion
broke out near the Jewish post
in the early 400s ... An
ancient letter from the Jew-
ish troops to the local satrap
(cited by E. Bresciani in the
Cambridge History of Iran)
said that during the rebellion,
. . . we did not leave our posts
and no disloyalty was found
in us.
Under the Parthians, the
Jewish community also had
good relations with the gov-
ernment. In Babylon, they
played a part in building the
silk trade with China. When
Jews under Roman control faced persecution, they sometimes moved
to Parthian lands, where they knew they could live as they chose. The
Jews of Roman Syria welcomed Parthian troops when they invaded that
region in the 160s. The Sassanians continued the tolerant treatment of
the Jews.
CHRISTIANITY IN PERSIA
During the first century, a new monotheistic religion developed in
Judea, the Roman province that had once been the kingdom of Israel.
A Jewish man named Jesus taught about the importance of love and
worshipping God to achieve life after death in heaven. Jesus won follow-
ers but also angered some Jewish leaders because some of his teachings
went against Judaism.
Jesus was crucifiednailed to a crossfor his beliefs. This was a
typical Roman punishment of the day. His followers, called disciples,
said that he rose from his grave and thus proved he was the Son of
God. These followers were the first members of the religion called
Christianity.
Iranian Jews Today
The Jewish community in Iran is more than 2,500 years old.
During the centuries after the end of the Sassanian Empire,
many Jews left the country or were forced to convert to
Islam. Still, today 25,000 remain. They are the largest Jewish
population in the Middle East outside of Israel.
During the early 2000s, Irans president made harsh
remarks about Israel and the suffering of millions of Jews
in Europe during World War II. Still, most of the remaining
Jews in Iran do not feel threatened and are proud of their
deep roots in the country. In 2007, one leading Jewish
resident of Tehran told the TT Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor Christian Science Monitor a U.S.
newspaper, I speak in English, I pray in Hebrew, but my
thinking is Persian.
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109
This new faith soon spread to Persian lands. The biggest develop-
ment came under the Sassanian king Shapur I. He sent thousands of
Christians from Syria and Asia Minor to live in the heart of Persia.
He wanted them to work for the government as artisans and con-
struction workers. This movement of people created large Christian
communities.
For several decades, the Christians lived peacefully under the Sas-
sanians. After Romes emperors embraced Christianity in the fourth
century, Sassanian leaders feared some local Christians might be spies
for the Romans. Over time, the persecutions led to some Persian Chris-
tians being killed because of their faith. Relations between the govern-
ment and Christians improved slightly in 410, when the Christians
created their own local church, separate from the Christian church
based in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. New persecutions, how-
ever, broke out during the sixth century.
111
THE PERSIANS, LIKE THE OTHER PEOPLE OF THE ANCIENT
Near East, had skilled artisans who created beautiful and practi-
cal works of art. They also had architects who designed impressive
buildings, and artists who carved stone reliefs. But the Persians did
not leave behind the wide range of artistic achievements in writing,
painting, and sculpture that the Greeks and Romans did. Few of
these items have survived to today, so it is hard to know exactly what
they achieved in those areas.
ACHAEMENID ART AND CULTURE
Achaemenid art ranged from the huge stone reliefs carved into
mountains and royal palaces to small, carefully crafted pieces of
jewelry. The stone reliefs are an important source of historical infor-
mation and help us understand life at the Persian court. They often
show the king victorious in battle or after a hunt or receiving gifts
from visitors.
Many of the most impressive Achaemenid buildings were con-
structed in Persepolis and the other capitals of the empire. The
Persian architects blended existing styles of columns from Greece,
Egypt, and other lands with their own designs.
One local touch was carving heads of bulls or other animals
on the tops of columns. Some of the figures also combined human
and animal features in one beast. One bulls head atop a column at
Persepolisnow on display at Chicagos Oriental Museumweighed
10 tons. The carvings at the palaces and other royal buildings were
pErsiAn Art, sciEncE,
And cuLturE
C H A P T E R 6

This is a gold rhyton, a
type of drinking cup used
by the Achaemenid court.
The lower part usually
featured an animalin
this case, a lion with
wings.
112
done in stone, while the walls
were usually made from mud
bricks.
The building projects
at Dariuss capital at Perse-
polis were the model other
Achaemenids followed. And
the most impressive building
there was the Apadana, the
great hall. Two staircases led
to the hall. On the sides were
reliefs showing visitors and
Persian nobles going to see
the Great King. The way one
relief is positioned, the stone
guests appear to be walking
up the stairs. The main hall of
the Apadana had 36 columns.
Each was more than 60 feet tall.
Other notable buildings at Persepolis included the Hall of a
Hundred Columns, which could hold several thousand people. There
were also several palaces.
Inside the palace at Susa, artisans used colored tiles and bricks
to create designs and scenes of people. The work was skilled enough
to show the folds in the robes worn by soldiers and the rippling
muscles of walking lions. Darius left an inscription about his pal-
ace at Susa (quoted by Lindsay Allen in The Persian Empire): At
Susa a very excellent work was ordered, a very excellent work was
accomplished.
The palaces of the Achaemenids are in ruins now, and only
pieces of the buildings and the artwork that covered them remain.
But many of the stone reliefs are still intact, showing the Persian
skill with this art form. The most famous, at Behistun, is some 60
feet above the ground. The scene shows Darius the Great standing
over the men he defeated to become king. The carving covers an area
about 26 feet high and 59 feet long. Historians are not sure how the
carvers cut the stone to create this monument, but it created a style
that other Persian kings followed.
In Paradise
At their palaces, the Persian kings built enclosed grounds
called paridaida. Inside the walls, the kings raised a wide
variety of trees, plants, and flowers, with water coming
from qanats. At times, the king also brought animals into
the paridaida and used it as private hunting grounds. The
paridaida gave the king a peaceful, beautiful spot to enjoy
nature and relax. The lush garden was a splash of life and
color in what could be the harsh climate of the desert and
the steppe.
Borrowing from the Persians, the Greeks called these
grounds paradeisos. This is the root of the English word
paradisea beautiful and peaceful spot.
CONNECTIONS
113
Inside their palaces, the Persian kings surrounded themselves
with useful art. Using gold, silver, bronze, and clay, their artisans
made bowls, utensils, and drinking cups called rhytons. With a
rhyton, a cone-shaped part held the liquid, which was then drunk
through a spout near the bottom. The lower part of the rhyton usu-
ally featured an animal, such as a gazelle or lion, and the spout might
serve as the animals mouth.
In Persian crafts, animals also sometimes appeared on the han-
dles of jugs and jars used to hold wine. Items such as rhytons, uten-
sils, and jewelry have been found in graves, and they often appear in
scenes of Persian life shown on reliefs.
Animals were also shown in art as part of a favorite Persian
social eventthe hunt. One seal used by a king to mark his official
documents showed a lion hunt, with the king using a bow and arrow
while riding in a chariot. For the nobles, hunting was a way to relax,
as well as sharpen the skills used in warfare.
Another important social event was the banquet. In their differ-
ent palaces or in tents while they traveled, the kings hosted huge, lav-
ish meals for the court and foreign guests. The banquets let the king
show his wealth and power and keep the loyalty of the people below
him. One ancient Greek historian recorded that 1,000 animals were
P e r s i a n A r t , S c i e n c e , a n d C u l t u r e
Today, so-called TT Persian rugs or carpets are
produced across Iran. The first were prob-
ably made more than 2,500 years ago by
the nomads of the steppe, who placed them
over the dirt floors of their tents. Other times,
they wrapped themselves in the rugs to keep
warm. Rug makers made threads from the
wool of their sheep and goats. The woolen
threads were dyed different colors, using
plants and roots to make the dyes. Then they
were knotted together to make carpets.
By the time of the Achaemenids, the Per-
sians were already famous for their color-
ful, well-made carpets, which featured fancy
designs and images of people and animals.
The skill of the carpet weavers made Persian
rugs valuable pieces of art.
In Iran today, weavers in certain cities are
known for particular styles of rugs, which can
sell for thousands of dollars. Antique Persian
rugs are even more expensive.
CONNECTIONS
Persian Rugs
114
killed every day for one Persian kings banquets, though most of the
meat went to soldiers outside the palace, not the guests.
In their writings, Herodotus and Xenophon suggest that music
was part of the cultural life of the Persian royalty and nobility. Musi-
cal instruments were played in Persia and neighboring lands before
the rise of the Achaemenids, and included different styles of flutes
and stringed instruments.
ACHAEMENID SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
The ancient Persians learned from the cultures around them, bor-
rowing ideas and at times improving on them. Astronomy, the study
of the movement of the stars and planets, was blended with astrol-
ogyusing the position of the planets to predict the future. The
Babylonians began recording the movement of the moon and planets
around 700 ..., and they remained the key astronomers under
Persian rule.
Tracking the movement of the sun and moon helped astrono-
mers create calendars. The Persian calendar of the Achaemenids had
12 months, and they also used a second calendar based on Zoroas-
trian teachings. A later version of this Avestan calendar used the
names of gods and holy items, not numbers, to mark the different
days in the month.
In technology, the Persians focused on improving irrigation.
These included underground water channels called qanats. The
Achaemenids also built large dams to control the flow of water for
human use. These dams were made of soil and stone and helped hold
in the heavy rains that fell during certain times of the year, saving the
water for irrigation.
Warfare also sparked new engineering feats. In The Histories,
Herodotus described how Xerxes built one of the earliest known
pontoon bridges. This kind of bridge uses small boats or other float-
ing devices to hold up a roadway that carries traffic over water.
Herodotus said the Persians used more than 600 boats to build two
bridges. It had thick cables strung over the boats and wooden logs
over the cables. Walls on the side of bridge were put up so that the
baggage animals and horses might not see the sea beneath them and
take fright.
Dam Discovery
In 2007, a team of Japa-
nese and Iranian archae-
ologists working in Iran
announced the discovery
of a soil dam dating back
to Achaemenid times.
Outer walls of stone
covered the dam, though
only part of the stone-
work and the soil itself
still remain. Mohsen
Zeidi, head of the team,
described to report-
ers (as reported by the
Cultural Heritage News
Agency) how a canal
22 miles long was con-
structed from the Polvar
River to this dam . . . in
order to direct part of the
extra waters left by the
seasonal flooding toward
the reservoir of the dam
to supply water. . . . Soil
dams of this construction
are still used today in
some dry areas of Iran.
115
Achaemenid science also included some knowledge of medicine,
though the Persians of the era believed medicine was rooted in reli-
gion. The Avesta contained books on medicine, as well as other schol-
arly fields, supposedly written by Zoroaster himself. The Zoroastrian
priests were considered the most skilled in offering cures. They used
basil, peppermint, and other plants and herbs as medicine.
PARTHIAN ART AND CULTURE
By the time the Parthians emerged, Persia was increasingly influ-
enced by Greek art and culture. That influence shows in some of
the art and buildings created under Parthian rule. Greek styles and
subjects often turned up in sculpture. The Greek influence weakened
over the centuries, and the Parthians also drew on Persian and Near
Eastern influences. Along the way, they introduced new styles and
techniques.
In buildings, Parthian architects stopped using columns to sup-
port the weight of roofs. The columns were used merely as decora-
tions. The Parthians perfected the barrel vault, a kind of domed roof
that had first appeared centuries
before. The Parthian version was
much larger than earlier barrel
vaults and was used to create the
ivan, a hall that opened up into
a courtyard. This building style
later influenced the Sassanians
and the Arabs.
Inside buildings, the Par-
thians covered the walls with
stucco, a material made of
cement and minerals. Artisans
created patterns and images of
plants and people in the stucco
to decorate the walls.
The Parthians also came up
with a distinct building style for
military uses. Along their bor-
ders in Central Asia and Meso-
potamia they built forts large
116
enough to hold military officers, cavalry and infantry, and the peas-
ants and artisans who supported them. One unique design set up the
fort in a circle, so the defenders could more easily repel attacks from
the sides. The Parthians may have used a similar circular defense
when they were still nomads living on the steppe.
Another artistic change in Parthian times came in stone reliefs.
For the first time, bodies were shown from the front as well as from
the side. Some notable Parthian stone reliefs were carved at Behis-
tun, just as the Achaemenids had done. One, now badly damaged,
showed Mithridates II beginning his rule as king. Another featured
King Gotarzes II (r. ca. 91ca. 81 ...) after winning a joust.
Reliefs in the Parthian style also appeared in some of the king-
doms that made up the Parthian Empire. Elymais, in what is now
southern Iran, had many stone reliefs. One showed a jousting noble.
Elymais was also the home of perhaps the most famous piece of Par-
Hatra, a trading center
in southwestern
Mesopotamia, has several
examples of Parthian art
and architecture. As this
temple in Hatra shows,
Parthian architects
stopped using columns
to support the weight of
roofs. The columns were
simply decorations.
117
thian art, a sculpture of a prince. The bronze work stands just over
six feet tall and shows the details of Parthian dress.
Hatra, a trading center in southwestern Mesopotamia, was inde-
pendent of Parthian Persia, but it had many examples of Parthian
art. One temple had five ivans. Sculpture throughout the city showed
local nobility wearing Parthian clothes and hairstyles.
The statues of Hatra show that skilled artisans continued to
produce dazzling examples of their craft, because personal items
were clearly shown on the subjects carved in stone. Jewelry showed a
persons social position, so the wealthy wore large gold items some-
times decorated with pearls. Weavers might include strips of gold
and silver in the clothing they made for the wealthy. And at Nisa,
archaeologists have uncovered rhytons made of ivory.
Parthian rulers and nobility were exposed to Greek writings, but
the Parthians themselves relied mostly on spoken tales and poems for
their literature. Legends about
past heroes were mixed with
stories of the Arsacid kings, and
these tales were told or sung
by musician-storytellers called
gosans. One tale of love among
the nobility, Vis and Raman,
provided the source for later
Persian writings.
Historians do not know
much about the gosans, though
the tales and skills needed to
perform were likely passed from
father to son. The gosan played
a lute, similar to a guitar. Few
ancient texts talk about other
instruments played in Parthian
Persia, though they probably had
not changed much since Achae-
menid times.
For recreation, the Parthi-
ans hunted, as the Achaemenids
did. They also introduced a new,
118
The wealthy people in
Parthian times wore large
gold items, such as this
necklace.
119
formal type of exercise called
Varzesh-e Pahlavani. Modern
writers have compared it to
a martial art, such as karate,
that stressed a blend of physi-
cal and mental training. The
athletes, called Pahlavanis,
trained in a round building
called a zurkhanen, which
means house of strength.
The exercises they performed
included swinging wooden
clubs. These were designed
to strengthen them for horse
riding and boxing. As the
Pahlavanis trained, a drum-
mer kept a beat and a musician sang poems. The best of the athletes
from the zurkhanens were respected for their strength.
PARTHIAN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Under the Parthians, Babylonia remained a center for astronomy.
Some ideas about the stars and planets also began to reach Persia
from Asia. In medicine, some knowledge from Greece blended with
the traditional Zoroastrian teachings. Details here, though, as with
other parts of Parthian life, are few.
The Parthians may have also harnessed power from the worlds
first crude batteries. A jar discovered near Baghdad in 1938 held
a copper cylinder that surrounded an iron rod. Those two metals,
when placed in certain chemicals called electrolytes, can produce
electricity. Other jars like the one in Baghdad have been found, and
scientists have created their own versions of the jars to show they
could produce electricity using vinegar, lemon juice, or wine as the
electrolyte.
The Parthians may have used their batteries to put a layer of
gold over other metals, a process called electroplating. As one sci-
entist told the British Broadcasting Company in 2003, I dont think
anyone can say for sure what they were used for, but they may have
been batteries because they do work.
Todays Houses of Strengths
The Parthian tradition of Varzesh-e Pahlavani survives in
Iran today. Some of the athletes who train in zurkhanens are
competitive wrestlers. Iranians are known for their wrestling
skills, and many have won medals at the Olympic Games. In
recent years, zurkhanens have also appeared in lands once
ruled by Persia, such as Iraq, Tajikistan, and TT Afghanistan. AA The
training centers have also opened in countries where Iranian
immigrants have settled, such as Canada and Germany. In
2008, and international sporting event held in South Korea
featured Varzesh-e Pahlavani athletes.
CONNECTIONS
120
SASSANIAN ART AND CULTURE
Compared to the two Persian empires that came before them, the
Sassanians left the most detailed records of their world. Muslim
historians writing after the end of Sassanian rule also added to the
knowledge of their art and culture.
The Sassanian kings continued the tradition of carving reliefs
and inscriptions in stone. Ardashir, the first king of the dynasty,
carved reliefs at Naqsh-e Rostam, where Darius and several other
Achaemenid kings were buried. Ardashir clearly wanted to make a
connection to the first great Persian dynasty by choosing this spot
and continuing the artistic style the Achaemenids used. The Sas-
sanians also followed Parthian traditions, using the reliefs to show
scenes of kings taking power and of jousting matches.
In architecture, the Sassanians also kept some Parthian styles.
Their palaces featured ivans, with their barrel vaults, and cities
were often laid out in a circular pattern. The Sassanians perfected
the use of domed ceilings. They constructed arched supports in the
corners of the room, called squinches. The dome then rested on the
squinches. This design was later copied and developed further in
European and Arab lands.
Inside their buildings, the Sassanians covered their walls with
stucco and sometimes painted it bright colors. Stucco was also used
to create reliefs on walls and to make other decorations.
With their deep Zoroastrian faith, the Sassanians erected many
fire temples across the empire. One of the largest was Adur Gush-
nasp, in what is today Takht-e Suleiman in northern Iran. One room
held a fire that always burned, while another room was used for spe-
cial rites. During the rule of Khosrow II, in the 620s, the temple was
attacked. The Sassanians built a wall 50 feet tall and 10 feet thick to
defend it against future attacks.
Sassanian artisans showed high skill in weaving, making jewelry,
and glassmaking. Some of the most beautiful works of art were made
in silver, including plates, bowls, and cups. Silver plates often featured
reliefs that showed the king hunting or taking part in other activities. In
their arts and crafts, the Sassanians often featured lions, elephants, and
fantastic beasts, as well as plants, geometric shapes, and detailed pat-
terns. Sassanian silver was prized in both Europe and China. The Chi-
nese also copied Sassanian art patterns when printing silk clothing.
A Grand Palace
Perhaps the greatest
Sassanian building was
the Palace of Khosrow,
near Ctesiphon. It had
a huge ivan, 143 feet
long and 84 feet wide,
covered with a large
arching roof. The vault
was believed to be the
largest ever made in
Persia. The palace was
already in partial ruins in
1888 when a huge flood
destroyed about one-
third of what was still
standing.
121
The Sassanians did not leave behind much literature, other than
the Avesta, which was compiled during their dynasty. The Karnamak
Ardashir, or Ardashir Ardashir Records of Ardashir, was written around 600, and is said Records of Ardashir Records of Ardashir
to be a history of the first Sassanian king. Fragments of other kings
records have also survived, and some Sassanian writings are known
through later Arabic translations. Some written hymns from Man-
ichaean religious services have been found, and the Sassanians wrote
down some poems; these works did not use rhymes. The Sassanians
also continued the musical and poetic tradition of the gosan.
Sassanian musical forms were highly developed, and Persian
musicians and instruments were respected by the Chinese and the
Arabs. Different forms of music were used for different eventscel-
ebrations, religious ceremonies, and military activities. Drums and
gongs were used on the battlefield to send signals to troops. When he
was hunting, the king was accompanied by musicians playing flutes
and stringed instruments. One bowl shows an instrument similar to
a bagpipe.
The Sassanians and Greeks seem to have exchanged musical
ideas with each other. This was probably also true of the Romans.
In ancient Persia, one stringed instrument
was the tar. tar tar Its name came from the Persian
word for stringed or hair. By the time of
the Sassanians, different types of tars were
played across the empire. They had varying
number of strings. One of these, the setar, setar setar
had three strings (se meaning three) This
instrument found its way to India, where it
became known as the sitar.
The sitar is still played in India, although
the modern version has more than three
strings. During the 1960s, a master of the
sitar, Ravi Shankar, played his instruments in
concerts in the United States and Europe. As
a result, sitar music became popular in the
West. Sitars are still used in some Western
music today.
The Persian tar also may have influenced tar tar
the development of the guitar. Arabs who set-
tled in Spain may have brought their version of
the Persian stringed instruments. Another Per-
sian stringed instrument, the santur, shaped santur santur
the development of the hammered dulcimer,
which is played in some American folk music.
As the name suggests, the musician uses
small sticks to hammer on the strings.
CONNECTIONS
Tars, Sitars, and Guitars
122
One work of art in Constantinople shows a Byzantine empress wel-
coming Sassanian musicians to her court.
According to the Records of Ardashir, Ardashir I was skilled
at chess and backgammon. Chess was thought to have originated
in India and come to Persia, but it probably reached there after
The game of chess spread
from Persia to other parts
of Asia and then into
Europe. This chess piece
shows an elephant.
123
Ardashir lived. From Persia,
the game spread to other parts
of Asia and then into Europe.
The English word chess traces
its roots to shah, the Persian
word for king. The chess term king king
checkmate comes from shah-
mat, meaning the king (the
game piece) cannot move.
SASSANIAN
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
Like the Persian rulers before
them, the Sassanians sup-
ported the study of the skies.
And they continued the tradi-
tion of using the best scien-
tific knowledge from other lands. Kings Ardashir I and Shapur I had
astronomy and astrology books from Greece and India translated
into Pahlavi, the Parthian language still in use at the time. Today
astrology is not considered a science, but in ancient times it was.
Sassanian scholars also studied mathematics. In the Arab era that
followed, some of the best mathematicians were Persian.
In medicine, the Sassanians also borrowed from the Greeks and
the Indians, while keeping alive old traditions. In the sixth century,
Khosrow I sent his personal doctor, Burzoye, to India to collect
medical writings. Khosrow also organized what seems to have been
the first medical convention. In The Persians, Josef Wiesehofer cites
a Christian book of laws that notes, [T]the physicians of Jundaisabur
[Gundeshapur in Iran] assembled for a scientific symposium [meet-
ing] by order of the king. Their debates were recorded. . . . One has
only to take a look at the questions and definitions discussed here to
realize the extent of their knowledge and their experience.
The Avesta offered some of the most detailed descriptions of
medicine during this period. The Zoroastrians recognized three
kinds of doctors: those who cured with a knife (surgeons), those
Backgammon in Persia
By some accounts, the disc-and-dice game called backgam-
mon was created in India and then taken into Persia. Others
say the games roots were in Mesopotamia. Learning the
game, called nard in Persian, was considered an important
part of a Sassanian nobles education. One text, however,
The Councils of the Wise Osna, says playing the game too
often was bad for a mans character.
In 2004, archaeologists may have found proof that
backgammon was actually invented in Persia, or was at
least played there long before the rise of the first Persian
dynasty. An archaeological dig in southeastern Iran uncov-
ered a backgammon board and game pieces that were
almost 5,000 years old.
CONNECTIONS
124
who cured with medication, and those who used magical words and
religious chants (these doctors have been compared to modern psychol-
ogists, who talk with patients to solve emotional problems). The value
of herbs as medication appears in the Avesta. One section says, Ahura
Mazda brought down the healing plants that, by many hundreds, by
many thousands, by many myriads, grow up all around. . . .
Still, the Avesta is a holy book, and it says one type of medicine
is preferred. If several healers offer themselves together . . . namely,
one who heals with the knife, one who heals with herbs, and one who
heals with the Holy Word, let one apply to the healing by the Holy
Word: for this one is the best-healing of all healers who heals with
the Holy Word; he will best drive away sickness from the body of the
faithful.
Sassanian doctors were expected to pass tests that showed their
skills, sometimes using non-Zoroastrians as their test patients. Once
they were licensed to practice medicine, many doctors traveled from
village to village offering cures. A doctor could be arrested if he
refused to treat a sick person who could not afford his services.
125
In technology, the Sassanians perfected an old device first
designed in Greece: the windmill. Either at the end of Sassanian rule
or the early years of Muslim rule in Persia, the first practical wind-
mills appeared. The fan blades were made out of fabric. The turning
blades and the shaft they were attached to stood up inside a mud-
brick building. Wind entered through openings in the buildings
walls. The earliest windmills appeared in what is now eastern Iran or
western Afghanistan and were used to pump water and grind grain.
127
THE ARAB INVASION OF THE 600S ENDED THE LAST OF THE
Persian Empires. A new culture emerged. It combined the conquering
Arab Islamic culture with the many cultural strains that had developed
in Persia since the rise of Cyrus the Great some 1,200 years before. Per-
sia and its former lands would continue to be a meeting place for differ-
ent cultures for centuries.
LIFE UNDER ARAB RULE
Under the Arabs, Christians and Jews were allowed to practice their
faith, both in Persia and the other lands the Muslims conquered. Fol-
lowers of those two faiths believed in the same monotheistic God the
Muslims worshipped, and their religion shared roots in the biblical
figure Abraham.
Zoroastrianism was monotheistic, but it did not recognize the Bible
of Jews and Christians. Its division of the universe into good and evil
forces did not blend with Muhammads teachings, either. Still, the Arabs
decided to let Zoroastrians practice their faith, though historians do not
know how widespread the religion was among the average people.
Over several centuries, many Persians converted to Islam. The upper
classes and merchants were most likely the first to convert. They could
gain influence or money by embracing the religion of their new rulers.
To run the huge lands of the former Persian Empire, the Arabs
needed Sassanian officials to manage the government and, most
importantly, collect taxes. The Sassanian system for controlling
government income and spending was adopted by the Arabs, and
EpiLoguE

This modern Zoroastrian
priest is preparing a fire
cup for jashan, an ancient
midwinter ceremony.
Today, Iran still has a small
but devoted Zoroastrian
community.
128
eventually spread to all their lands. In Persia, Sassanian coins also
remained in use.
People mostly lived their lives as they had under the Sassanians,
with farming and herding dominating the economy. The Persian lan-
guage also remained in common use, even after Arabic was made the
official language of government in 696.
The first Arab dynasty was the Umayyads, who ruled from Damas-
cus, in Syria, starting in 661. Persian influence in the Islamic world
grew when the next dynasty, the Abbasids, arose in 750. The Abbasids
believed the Umayyads did not rule with popular support, and they
overthrew the Umayyads.
The Abbasids set up their capital in Baghdad. Their army had
many soldiers from Khorasan, a region of Iran, including a top gen-
eral, Abu Muslim Khorasani (d. 755). His military efforts helped the
Abbasids come to power, and the new dynasty had a good deal of sup-
port in Persia. Under their rule, many people moved from the coun-
tryside to the cities, where foreign trade helped boost the economy.
The arrival of the Muslim Arabs posed a
threat to Zoroastrian Persians. At times, the
Muslims burned religious texts and forced
the Zoroastrians to convert to Islam, even
though the official policy was to tolerate
Zoroastrian practice. Through the 10th cen-
tury, many Zoroastrians left the country and
settled in India, where they became known
as Parsis. There, many of them became
successful business owners, respected for
their intelligence and financial skills. Out-
side of Iran, the largest population following
this religion can today be found in Mumbai,
India.
Some Zoroastrians remained in Iran.
Today, they number about 50,000, and the TT
Iranian government gives them special per-
mission to practice most of their traditional
rites.
Since the 1970s, some Iranian Zoroas-
trians have also settled across the United
States. The U.S. Zoroastrian community has
about 10,000 members. There is a sizeable
Zoroastrian population in Los Angeles. In
2007, a group of young Zoroastrians met at a
convention in Chicago. One of them, Neville
Vazfidar, said some people see the fires in
their temples and think Zoroastrians wor-
ship the flames. But as Vazfidar explained
to a reporter from the Chicago Tribune, Fire
is the symbol of the inner light we strive to
realize.
CONNECTIONS
Zoroastrianism Today
129
These new city dwellers converted to Islam in large numbers. Persians
also played a large role in transmitting ideas in math, science, and
other subjects.
With the center of the Abbasid government in the heart of for-
mer Persian lands, Persian-Sassanian influence remained strong.
In politics, one idea that took hold was that the ideal ruler had the
blessing of Allah (the Muslim God). Each successive caliph claimed
the right to rule because of this blessing. Persian rulers, back to
the Achaemenids, had based their right to govern on a similar idea,
with Ahura Mazda blessing royal power and rule staying within the
dynastic family.
A NEW PERSIAN DYNASTY
Through the ninth century, the Abbasids in Baghdad began to lose
some of their central power and control over distant parts of the
former Persian Empire. New local dynasties emerged. Power passed
from father to son. The caliphs in Baghdad let this local rule develop,
since the governors were generally loyal, paid tribute, and kept order.
The most famous of these families was the Tahirids, who were based
in Khorasan. They claimed to be descended from the Sassanian
kings.
Another local dynasty that emerged was the Saffarids, who
were centered in Sistan, a region of eastern Iran and southwest
Afghanistan. The founder of this dynasty, Yaqub Saffar (840879),
took control of the region from the Tahirids. Saffar even challenged
the power of the caliph in Baghdad, but was defeated. Still, his suc-
cessors continued to control lands in Central Asia. They held onto
their power thanks to their loyalty to a new Persian dynasty, the
Samanids.
The founder of the Samanid dynasty had four grandsons. The
Abbasid rulers gave each of them a province to govern. One of them,
Ismail I (d. 907), overthrew the Saffarids and another ruling dynasty
in Central Asia. He created an almost-independent Persian state. It
included Khorasan, in what is now northeast Iran, and Transoxiana,
which included parts of what are now Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Turk-
menistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.
From their capital in Bukhara, Ismail and his successors ruled
for almost 100 years. Eventually, they extended their influence to the
E p i l o g u e
130
borders of India. The Samanids were known for their architecture and
support of arts and education. Under their rule, the poet Rudaki (d.
954) began a work called the Shahnamah (The Epic of Kings). It was
finished by a later Persian poet, Firdawsi (ca. 935ca. 1020).
Shahnamah was based on Arabic translations of writings from
the Sassanian era. The original stories told the history of Persia, from
mythical kings and heroes through the rule of Khosrow II. Firdawsi
spent 30 years finishing this work. The Shahnamah is still read and
enjoyed in Iran and other Persian-speaking regions.
The poem was the first major work done in a language known
today as New Persian, which replaced the Middle Persian of Sassanian
times. The new language used Arabic script and adopted some Arabic
words. From this time on, Persians used their language for some writ-
ing, such as poetry, and used Arabic for religious and legal affairs.
Through the 10th century, the Arab rulers in Baghdad contin-
ued to lose power. More local dynasties emerged. To the west of the
Samanids were the Buyids. They also were said to have ties to the
Sassanians, though later Islamic historians doubted this claim. Their
lands were centered around the traditional heart of ancient Persia and
Mesopotamia.
The Buyids followed Shiism, a branch of Islam that was not
accepted by the caliph and most Muslims. They also honored pre-
Islamic Persia by using Middle Persian on a medal and referring to the
King of Kings on their coins.
The Buyids also celebrated Navruz, the Persian New Year. Some
modern historians, however, say it is wrong to stress the dynastys link
to the past, because the Buyids were as much Islamic as Persian in their
overall attitudes.
THE RISE OF THE TURKS
Under Abbasid rule, Turkic-speaking slaves from Central Asia were
brought into the caliphate (the lands where the caliph ruled) as war-
riors. (The Turkic peoples were the ancestors of the residents of
such modern countries as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan.)
These slaves were known as Mamluks. Through their military skill,
some Mamluks were able to take political power in parts of the Abba-
sid caliphate.
131
This included Samanid lands. There, in the south, a Mamluk
dynasty called the Ghaznavids emerged in the 10th century. They even-
tually ruled most of eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and parts of what is now
Pakistan. Their dynasty lasted until 1186.
The Mamluk Turks were devout Sunni Muslims. Still, they adopted
the old Persian forms of government, employed Persian bureaucrats,
and promoted Persian culture.
The other Turkic dynasties included the Seljuks and the Qarakha-
nids. The Seljuks dominated in the lands of the old Persian Empire.
Their control stretched from Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, and
Iran, into Transoxiana. That control was not firm for long, though. The
Seljuks began their conquests in the mid 11th century, but by the end of
the century they were already in decline.
However, they did manage to stay in power in western Iran through
most of the 12th century. Other Turkic and Iranian families controlled
the rest of their former lands. The Qara Khitai, who came from China,
also settled in Muslim lands that had once been part of the Persian
Empire.
THE MONGOLS
The arrival of the Qara Khitai was the first sign that new people from
the steppe of Central Asia would play a key role in Persian-Iranian
history. In 1206, a Mongol leader named Chinggis Khan (11621227)
united all the Mongol tribes under his rule. Then he began a series of
wars that created the largest empire the world had ever seen. He and his
warriors conquered lands that had been part of the eastern half of the
old Persian Empires.
One of his successors, Hleg (12171265), continued mov-
ing west. He captured Baghdad in 1258, ending Arab Muslim rule
throughout the region.
The Mongol Empire soon split into four parts, called khanates.
Hleg kept control of what was called the Ilkhanate. This region
stretched from the Oxus River to Anatolia, the heart of modern Turkey.
His son Abagha (12341282) founded his capital in Tabriz, in north-
west Iran.
He and Mongols who followed him allowed the Persians, Arabs,
and other peoples to practice their own religions, and they relied on
E p i l o g u e
The Mausoleum
of Ismail
Bukhara, Uzbekistan, is
the site of one of the old-
est Muslim mausoleums
(an elaborate monument
and burial place for the
dead) in Central Asia.
It was originally built
for the father of Ismail,
but instead served as
the final resting place
of later Samanid rulers.
The building, a cube
with a dome on top, is
famous for its dazzling
brickwork, set on walls
six feet thick. The mau-
soleum is one of the old-
est surviving monuments
in Uzbekistan and is an
example of Persian-
influenced art and build-
ing techniques. The mau-
soleum is so well made
that it has supposedly
needed almost no repair
since it was built more
than 1,100 years ago.
132
local officials to help them run the government. Persian was widely
spoken, and the Mongols came to appreciate the local art and lit-
erature. The Mongols, like the ancient Persians before them, also
promoted commerce. Shiraz, once famous for its grapes, became a
center for iron-making. Markets called bazaars flourished in many
cities.
Still, to many Persians living in the Ilkhanate, the Mongol era was a
painful time. Hamd Allah Mustawfi (d. ca. 1340) worked for the Mon-
gols. He wrote in the 14th century (as quoted in David Morgans The
Mongols), The destruction which happened on the emergence of the
Mongol state and the general massacre that occurred at that time will
not be repaired in a thousand years. . . .
The Ilkhanate ended in 1335. Local rulers held the power until
the rise of Timur I (ca. 13361405) in the 1370s. Timur was called
Tamerlane in Europe. He had Turkic roots but also claimed a family
tie to Chinggis Khan. Timur built an empire that included Iran and
surrounding lands. But it began to come apart after his death in 1405.
His descendants sometimes fought with one another for control of
Central Asia. Turkic influence continued to grow in the region.
THE SAFAVID EMPIRE
For a time in the 15th century, Turkic and Persian rulers emerged in
parts of Iran. The dynasty that reunited the Persian heartland under
a single ruler was the Safavids, founded by Shah Ismail (14871524)
in 1501. (Shah is a Persian word for king.) The Safavids were of Turkic
origin and were devout followers of Shiism. Their conquests were part
of a holy war against Sunni Muslims. With his victory, Ismail made
Shiism the official state religion of Persia. Historians give him and
his dynasty credit for creating the political and cultural framework of
modern Iran.
Ismail claimed to be descended from many past rulers of Central
Asia, including the Sassanians, Alexander the Great, and the legend-
ary kings mentioned in the Shahnamah. Like other invaders of Iran,
he relied on Persian bureaucrats to run the government. The Persian
language was still widely spoken.
After Ismail, one notable Safavid leader was Abbas I (ca. 1557
1628), who ruled from 1588 to 1628. He made his capital in Isfahan,
Shiites and Sunnis
In the seventh century,
a split occurred within
Islam, as Muslims
disagreed over which
of two branches of
Muhammads family had
the right to rule as caliph.
In what is now Iraq,
those who supported
Ali (ca. 600 ca. 661)
Muhammads adopted
sonand his descen-
dants created what is
called Shiism. This form
of Islam has always had
fewer followers than
the Sunni branch. But in
Iran, Shiism won sup-
port from the Buyids and
other Persian rulers, as
well as from the Mongols
who invaded Iran in the
13th century. Shiism
became the official state
religion in Iran in the 16th
century. Today Iran has
a larger percentage of
Shiites (89 percent of
the population) than any
other nation.
133
south of Tehran, and built impressive mosques (Muslim houses of wor-
ship) there that still stand. Abbas also secured Persias borders and pro-
moted trade and diplomatic contacts with Europe and India. The shah
also supported arts. His rule marked the best of Safavid architecture
and painting.
After Abbas, the Safavid dynasty lasted almost 100 years. During
its last years, starting around 1722, Persia faced invasions by Afghans
in the east and Turks in the west. The Afghans controlled some of
Persia until 1730, and the Safavid dynasty ended six years later, in
1736.
Through the rest of the 18th century, different tribal leaders took
power. Sometimes they backed members of the Safavid family. The
most memorable was Nadir Shah (16881747), who conquered lands in
Transoxiana and India. The Iran Chamber Society Web site calls him
the second Alexander, though his rule never touched as many lands
E p i l o g u e
The Sheikh Lutfallah
Mosque was one of the
many beautiful mosques
built by Safavid leader
Abbas I for his new capital
in Isfahan.
134
as Alexander the Greats. But, like Alexander, Nadir Shah did not rule
long, and he failed to build a lasting dynasty.
Another Safavid then sat on the throne (Ismail III), but the real
power was with Karim Khan Zand (ca. 17051779), a general under
Nadir Shah. Zand let the British build a trading post in Iran. He died
in 1779, and various members of his family struggled for power. That
struggle ended with the emergence of a new tribal dynasty, the Qajars.
THE QAJARS AND THE PAHLAVIS
Coming from Azerbaijan in northwest Persia, the Qajars took control
in 1796. The dynasty founder, Agha Muhammad Shah (17201797),
One of the best accounts of life in Safavid
Persia comes from Jean Chardin (1643
1713), a well-educated French jeweler who
first traveled there in 1665. His book Travels
in Persia gave Europeans details about the
court of the Safavid ruler Suleyman III.
Chardin did not always think highly of his
hosts. In a selection from his book, he said the
Persians gave many compliments and were
skilled at flattery, but they were not sincere.
They understand flattering very well;
and though they do it with modesty,
yet they do it with art, and insinuation
[suggestions]. You would say, that they
intend as they speak, and would swear to
it: Nevertheless, as soon as the occasion
is over, such as a prospect of interest, or a
regard of compliance, you plainly see that
all their compliments were very far from
being sincere.
He also felt the Persians lied and
cheated. Yet Chardin also found many
positives. (Clergy are religious officials, such
as priests.)
The most commendable property of
the manners of the Persians, is their
kindness to strangers; the reception and
protection they afford them, and their
universal hospitality, and toleration, in
regard to religion, except the clergy of
the country, who, as in all other places,
hate to a furious degree, all those that
differ from their opinions. The Persians
are very civil, and very honest in matters
of religion . . . They believe that all mens
prayers are good and prevalent; therefore,
in their illnesses, and in other wants, they
admit of, and even desire the prayers of
different religions: I have seen it practiced
a thousand times.
(Source: Chardin, Jean. Persians: Kind,
Hospitable, Tolerant, Flattering Cheats?
Iranian.com. Available online. URL: http://
www.iranian.com/Travelers/June97/Chardin/
index.shtml. Accessed May 8, 2008.)
Tolerant but Insincere
IN THEIR OWN WORDS
135
reunited Persia and moved the capital to Tehran, where it remains
today. During Qajar rule, the Russians and British influenced Persian
politics, as those two European powers competed for dominance in
Central Asia. The borders of Persia shrunk and the central government
lost power, though modern technology, such as the telegraph and rail-
road, entered the country.
As Russian and British influence kept increasing in the region, a
Persian political activist named Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (18381897)
called for a return to traditional culture. He also saw the need for a
more efficient government, but he said the Persians could improve
their lives without Western help. He and others wanted a govern-
ment based on a constitution, rather than religious rule or a kingship.
A constitution finally came in
19061907, creating a govern-
ment with elected lawmakers.
The shah became more like a
modern president than the tradi-
tional King of Kings.
The new government, how-
ever, did not run smoothly. Persia
faced several years of disorder.
World War I (19141918) added to
the troubles, as Turkish, Russian,
and British troops all occupied
parts of Persia. When the war
ended, Great Britain tried once
again to assert strong control
over Persia. A wave of nation-
alism (strong support for ones
own country and its independence
from foreign influences) spread
over the people. They wanted
a Persian government, and one
strong enough to effectively run
the country. That government
came in 1921, as some nation-
alists and an army force known
as the Cossacks ended the Qajar
dynasty.
E p i l o g u e
136
One of the leaders of this government takeover was Reza Khan
(18771944). Within five years, he became the founder of a new Persian
dynasty, called the Pahlavi. The name came from the founders of the
old Parthian empire. Reza Khan would sometimes look back to Persias
past while also trying to make it a modern nation.
Under Reza Khan, Persia had its first permanent professional army
since the days of the Achaemenids. He also officially changed Persias
name to Iran, creating a link to the Aryans who had settled the region
thousands of years before. Although Iran had a constitution and Reza
Khan was elected to the position of shah, he ruled more like the kings of
old, doing what he thought was best for the nation.
The Pahlavi dynasty
changed Persias name to
Iran in 1935. Today the
country plays a major role
in global politics.
137
World War II (19391945) brought more foreign occupation
and an end to Reza Khans rule. He stepped down in 1941 and his
son Muhammad Reza (19191980) took over as shah. However, the
British, Russians, and Americans actually controlled the country
throughout the war. By this time, Iran was known to have vast
reserves of oil. This would become an important source of wealth in
the years to come.
After the war, Muhammad Reza tried to assert his power. He
strengthened the military, which he directly controlled, and limited
public criticism of his rule. Opposing him were nationalists, led by
Muhammad Mosaddeq (18801967). In 1951, Mosaddeq became prime
minister. The two men struggled for control. The U.S. and British
governments opposed Mosaddeqs policieswhich included taking
control of the oil industry which was at the time in British hands. The
Americans secretly aided street mobs that forced Mosaddeq out of the
government in 1953. From then on, Muhammad Reza ruled with strong
U.S. support. But he limited freedoms and made many enemies.
REVOLUTIONARY IRAN
Muhammad Rezas policies angered Iranian nationalists and people
who wanted democracy. He also angered Shiite religious leaders, who
wanted a return to strict Muslim rule. These different groups united
against Muhammad Reza. In January 1979, after many protests against
his rule, the shah left the country.
Soon, a Shiite religious
leader named Ayatollah Ruhol-
lah Khomeini (ca. 19001989)
was in control of the govern-
ment. Later that year, some of
his followers kidnapped more
than 50 Americans working in
Tehran. They were held hostage
for more than one year, creating
a split in U.S.-Iranian relations
that remains today.
Under Khomeini and the
Shiite leaders, Iran became a
Persian Words in English
Bazaar, the name for a market selling a variety of goods, is
just one of many words with Persian roots that is used in
English. Many of the most common words relate to food.
They include candy, lemon, sherbet, orange, and julep (a
type of sweet cocktail). Other words with Persian roots are
jackal (a fox-like animal), pajama, turban (a type of head-
gear), and scarlet (deep red).
CONNECTIONS
E p i l o g u e
138
strict Islamic state. Laws were based on the Quran, the Islamic holy
book. The rights of women were limited. The religious leaders tried
to keep out Western influences, although modern technologycell
phones, satellite television, the Internetmade that difficult. They
did not identify with the great Persian past, as Muhammad Reza and
his father had. They also used their wealth from oil to fund terrorist
groups opposed to Israel and the Western world.
To some U.S. leaders, Iran is a growing threat. Iran is currently
developing nuclear facilities that it says are for peaceful purposes. But
its seeming desire for nuclear weapons fuels fears around the world.
The recent bad relations between Iran and the United States
makes many Americans suspicious of Iran and its intentions. The
troubles may also keep people from understanding Irans past. The
Iranian people, however, know that they have deep roots and that the
ancient Persians made important contributions to world culture.
The Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sassanians served as links
between different regions of the world. Many of the Persian kings sup-
The modern descendants
of the ancient Persians,
such as these women
in Iran, bridge the gap
between the old empire
and the modern world.
139
ported art and science that are still valued today. And the Persians,
according to Yale law professor Amy Chua in her 2007 book Day of
Empire, built the first hyperpower. Achaemenid Persia, like other
super-powerful states, Chua believes, was, at least by the standards
of its time, extraordinarily pluralistic and tolerant during its rise. . . .
The Persian Empires are worthy of study today because of their great
accomplishments, and because their descendants play a crucial role in
world affairs.
E p i l o g u e
tim tt E L EE inE
140
ca. 559 ... Cyrus the Great takes power in Persia, beginning the Achaemenid dynasty.
550 ... Cyrus defeats the Medes, uniting them and the Persians under his rule.
539 ... Persia conquers Babylonia.
525 ... Cambyses II defeats Egypt and it becomes part of the Persian Empire.
ca. 522 ... Darius the Great takes the throne and begins to expand the empire.
490 ... Persia invades Greece and is defeated at Marathon.
480 ... The Greeks hold off a second Persian invasion.
401 ... Civil war between Artaxerxes II and Cyrus the Younger ends with Cyruss
defeat.
330 ... Alexander the Great of Macedon defeats Darius and takes control of the Persian
Empire, ending the Achaemenid dynasty.
323 ... Alexander the Great dies. His empire begins to split into separate kingdoms
that are under Greek rule.
247 ... The Arsacid dynasty is founded in Parthia, marking the rise of a new Persian
Empire.
171 ... Mithridates I takes power in Parthia and begins the expansion of Parthian
Persia.
53 ... The first of several wars is fought between Parthia and the Roman Empire.
217 .. The Parthians have their last major victory over Rome, at Nisibis (in what is now
southeastern Turkey).
224 Ardashir defeats the Parthian king in battle, marking the emergence of the
Sassanian dynasty and the end of the Arsacid dynasty.
233 The Sassanians prevent the Romans from taking Ctesiphon. This marks the end
of the first of several wars between the two empires.
298 A peace treaty forces the Persians to give back land they had previously taken
from Rome.
531 The reign of Khosrow I, the last great Sassanian king, begins.
637 Arab Muslims conquer the Persian capital of Ctesiphon.
651 The death of Yazdagird III marks the complete victory of the Arabs and the end
of the Sassanian dynasty and the last Persian Empire.
gLossAry
141
allies people who work together, especially
to fight a common enemy
archaeologist a scientist who studies
ancient peoples by studying the items they
left behind
archer someone skilled in the use of a bow
and arrow
architecture the way buildings are
designed and built; the people who design
and build them are architects
aristocracy a small group of people
believed to be the best members of society,
or who have the most money and power
artisan a person skilled in a certain craft,
such as making pottery or working with
metal
booty wealth taken from the losing side
after a victory in battle
bureaucracy professional officials who
carry out the daily operations of a
government
catapult a large machine used to hurl heavy
objects
cavalry soldiers who fight on horseback
city-state an independent political unit
consisting of a city and the surrounding
countryside that comes under its rule
civil relating to the general public and its
affairs, separate from military or religious
affairs
civilizations great nations or peoples and
their ways of living, including their art, reli-
gion, education, and society.
cleric a religious official
commerce the activity of buying and
selling
concubine a woman who is supported by
a man and lives with him without being
legally married to him
constitution a document that outlines a
nations government and its basic laws
descendants relatives who trace their roots
back to one person
domesticated animals animals bred for
use in agriculture
dynasty a family that keeps control of a gov-
ernment over many generations, with rule
often passed from a parent to a child
elites the wealthy, powerful classes in a
society
fertility the ability to produce crops (for
land) or offspring (for animals and people)
Hellenized adopted the language and cul-
ture of the Greeks; the adjective is Hellenic
hoplite a heavily armed Greek foot soldier
infantry soldiers who fight on foot
inscription writing, usually carved into
stone or metal, that is meant to leave a last-
ing record of events
jousting fighting on horseback between two
riders equipped with lances
lance a long, pointed weapon often used by
soldiers on horseback
mercenary a professional soldier who will
fight for any army that pays him
Mesopotamia ancient name for the region
between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, in
what is now Iraq
monotheism worshipping only one god;
the adjective is monotheistic
moral choosing to act correctly
nationalism strong support for ones own
country and its independence from foreign
142
influences; people who feel this way are
nationalists
nobility the upper class of society
nomad a person with no permanent home
who wanders from place to place
oasis an area with water in the middle of a
desert
peninsula an area of land surrounded by
water on three sides
persecute attack or deny the legal rights of
a particular group
plateau a raised area of land that is flat on
top
prophet a person who claims to speak for
a god
province a region within a country, often
with its own local ruler
qanat an underground canal that carries
water over long distances
rations food and drink given out over a spe-
cific time period, such daily or weekly
reign the length of time a particular ruler is
in power
relief sculpture created by carving away
the surrounding rock or other mate-
rial to leave an image that rises off the
background
rhyton a fancy, cone-shaped drinking cup
rites solemn or important religious acts or
ceremonies
satrap a regional Persian governor; the area
he controls is a satrapy
scribe someone whose job is to write down
all important records
siege cutting off a town or fort from the
outside so it cannot receive supplies and
citizens cannot escape
stucco fine plaster used to coat the
outside of walls and to mold into decora-
tions on buildings
successor the ruler who comes after the
current ruler; the line of successors is the
succession
temple a building where religious ceremonies
are held
textiles cloth and items made from cloth
treasury the part of a government that
collects taxes and pays bills; also, the place
where this money is stored
tribute money or goods paid to a foreign ruler
to prevent an invasion or show obedience
Western the parts of the world, particu-
larly Europe and the United States, that
were heavily influenced by Greek and
Roman culture and tend to have democratic
governments
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147
BOOKS
Allen, Lindsay, The Persian Empire (Chicago: Uni-
versity of Chicago Press, 2005)
This book focuses on the Achaemenidstheir
rise to power in Pearsis and Media, the con-
quests of Cyrus and Darius, and the rule of
the kings who followed them. It is filled with
beautiful color pictures. The book also traces
some of the history of the archaeological work
done in Iran, Mesopotamia, and surrounding
areas.
Bancroft-Hunt, Norman, Historical Atlas of
Ancient Mesopotamia (New York: Checkmark
Books, 2004)
More than a collection of maps, this atlas pro-
vides details on the lives of the various people
who lived and ruled in Mesopotamia, the
birthplace of farming, the alphabet, and other
key aspects of civilization. The great king-
doms before the Persian Empireincluding
Sumer, Akkadia, Assyria, and Babyloniaare
all featured. For the Persians, the author
looks at all three great dynasties, ending
with the fall of the Sassanian Empire to the
Arabs. Through 40 full-color maps, pic-
tures, and text, the book highlights Persias
conflict with others and daily life in Persian
Mesopotamia.
Barter, James, The Ancient Persians (Farmington
Hills, Mich.: Lucent Books, 2006)
This is a look at the Achaemenids. The book
starts the history of Persia thousands of years
before their rise to power. One chapter focuses
on the war machine of the Persians, their
military strategy and tactics both on land and
at sea. The book ends with Darius IIIs loss
of the empire to Alexander the Great in 333
...
Batmanglij, Najmieh, Happy Navruz: Cooking
with Children to Celebrate the Persian New Year
(Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 2008)
This illustrated book combines information
about the history and customs of Navruz,
the Persian New Year, with 25 tasty recipes
for Norwuz feasts. The featured dishes range
from flatbreads to fish strips to Popsicle des-
serts. Step-by-step photos make the cooking
easy. There are also Navruz activities, such as
decorating eggs.
Brosius, Maria, The Persians: An Introduction
(New York: Routledge, 2006)
This book gives an overview of the three Per-
sian empires that existed between 550 ...
and 642 .. It is written by a well-known
scholar of Persian history. For each period,
Brosius gives a historical overview, then offers
greater details about life at the royal court,
art, architecture, and religion. The author is
known for her studies of Persian women, and
she also offers a closer look at their life during
the empires.
Gray, Leon, Iran (Washington, D.C.: National
Geographic, 2008)
This book offers an overview of modern Iran,
including its roots in ancient Persia from a
publisher famous for its striking color pho-
tos and great detail. It includes a look at the
countrys geography, the influence of Islam
after the Persians, and the countrys current
affairs.
furthEr rEsourcEs
148
Hartz, Paula R., Zoroastrianism (New York: Chel-
sea House, 2009)
In ancient times, Zoroastrianism was one of
major religions of the Near East. This book
traces the life of Zoroaster and his founding of
the religion that bears his name. It discusses
the religions history, scripture, philosophy,
ethics, and rituals. Zoroastrianism is said to
have influenced other faiths, such as Judaism
and Christianity.
Khonari, Mehdi, M. R. Moghtader, and Minouch
Yavari, The Persian Garden: Echoes of Paradise
(Washington, D.C.: Mage Publishers, 2004)
For more than 3,000 years, the Persian garden
has influenced the art, literature, and even
religion of Persia. This book follows the his-
tory of the Persian garden and explains the
philosophy behind Persian garden design. The
book was created by a photographer and archi-
tect, Reza Moghtader. Beautiful illustrations
and photos take one from the magnificent
sanctuaries and hunting parks of fifth-century
... Persepolis to the enchanting gardens of
19th-century Tehran. There are also photos of
garden-carpets, textiles, miniature paintings,
stone reliefs, painted tiles, and pottery.
Skelton, Debra, and Pamela Dell, Empire of Alex-
ander the Great (New York: Chelsea House, 2009)
This book looks at the rise of Macedon and
Alexander the Great. Alexander conquered all
of Greece before heading to Asia and defeating
the vast Achaemenid Empire of the Persians.
Then, the generals who followed him brought
a layer of Greek culture to the Persian heart-
land and surrounding regions. The Greeks
learned from the Persians as well.
Xenophon, The Expedition of Cyrus, Translated by
Robert Waterfield (New York: Oxford University
Press, 2005)
This new translation of Xenophons Anaba-
sis gives a modern feel to one of the greatest
adventure stories of the ancient world. Xeno-
phon, a Greek general serving a Persian prince,
described the march of thousands of Greek
soldiers across much of the eastern half of the
first Persian Empire. His book shows the lives
of those soldiers under difficult conditions and
offers a Greek view of Persian culture under
the Achaemenid dynasty.
DVDS
Persepolis: Rediscovering the Lost Capital of the
Persian Empire (Kultur Video, 2009)
In this DVD, two modern architects use com-
puter animation to reconstruct Persepolis
before Alexander the Greats army destroyed
it. This documentary film also explores the
history and culture of the Persian people of
that era.
The Persians: Engineering an Empire (The History
Channel, 2006)
This DVD looks at the engineering achieve-
ments of the Achaemenid dynasty. These
include a new system of water management,
a paved roadway 1,500 miles long, and a canal
linking the Nile River to the Red Sea. Inter-
views with historians and other experts are
combined with scenes of modern-day ruins
and computer-animated recreations.
WEB SITES
Achaemenid Persia
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~ancientpersia/
index.html
This site contains information about ancient
Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty. The
site has articles about history and timelines,
but also takes a detailed look at Persian culture
and everyday life. Fun pages include trivia,
quizzes, and games.
Ancient West Asia
www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/index.htm
All the peoples of ancient West Asia are dis-
cussed on this site, including the Persians,
Assyrians, Mesopotamians, Babylonians, and
others. The section on Persia includes a basic
149 149
history. A time line and sections in art, cul-
ture, language, religion, clothing, science, and
more cover the entire region. Also available is
information about Alexander the Great.
Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia
www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/
palaces/index.html
This Web site from the British Museum fea-
tures examples of art and architecture from
the Achaemenid dynasty, modern depictions
of what historians think Persepolis was like,
and a history of the empire and its greatest
kings. The site also provides a look over time
at the efforts to uncover and understand the
treasures of Persepolis.
Iran Chamber Society
www.iranchamber.com/index.php
One of the most comprehensive sites on the
Internet for information about Iran, past and
present. The section on art and culture looks
at monuments from the past, describes the
religions in Iran, offers recipes for Persian
food, and gives examples of Persian art both
modern and ancient. The section on history
has articles from the days of the Elamites
through the revolution of 1979. Famous Per-
sians/Iranians from the 7th century to today
are also profiled.
Livius: Articles on Ancient HistoryPersia
www.livius.org/persia.html
Part of a larger site devoted to ancient history,
this section on Persia explores the history of
the Achaemenids, with some information on
the Parthians and Sassanians as well. The site
provides translation of the Cyrus Cylinder and
the Behistun inscriptions. Where appropri-
ate, links take the reader to articles on Greek,
Roman, and other ancient peoples who inter-
acted with the Persians.
Musee Achmenide
www.museum-achemenet.college-de-france.fr/
This French site features the work of Pierre
Brant, one of the worlds experts on Achaeme-
nid Persia. A series of short films, translated
into English, use images, narration, and maps
to trace the history of Cyrus and his succes-
sors. Other images include art objects and
illustrations of Persian sites.
Parthia.com
www.parthia.com/
This site focuses on the history of Parthia
through its coins, and it also has an overview
of the empires history, geography, art, and
culture. Links provide examples of some of the
art. The site also has yearly updates, starting in
2000, on excavations under way at Nisa, one of
the Parthian capitals.
Persepolis 3D
www.persepolis3d.com
Using digital technology, an Iranian and a Ger-
man architect are creating three-dimensional
images of how Persepolis looked almost 2,500
years ago. The project is ongoing, and samples
of what are available to date can be seen at the
Web site. They include images of the entire
Persepolis building complex and more detailed
pictures of the individual buildings, their col-
umns, and the artwork inside.
Sasanika
www.humanities.uci.edu/sasanika/index.html
This resource from the University of Califor-
nia at Irvine is one of the few Web sites on the
Internet devoted to the Sassanians. There are
links to several Sassanian texts and texts about
the Sassanians from ancient writers, as well as
examples of recent research. The image gallery
has recent pictures of sites and inscriptions
that date to the Sassanians.
F u r t h e r R e s o u r c e s
picturE crEdits
Page
6: British Museum/Art Resource, NY
9: Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art
Resource, NY
16: Vanni/Art Resource, NY
18: The Art Archive/Alfredo Dagli Orti
21: Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
26: Erich Lessing/Art Resource, NY
28: SEF/Art Resource, NY
37: Giraudon/Art Resource, NY
Resource, NY
Resource, NY
64: Gilles Mermet/Art Resource, NY
67: The Art Archive
74: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY
92: The London Art Archive/Alamy
94: M. Spencer Green/AP Images
96: Scala/Art Resource, NY
98: Werner Forman/Art Resource, NY
104: Alinari/Art Resource, NY
110: National Museum of Iran, Tehran, Iran/
The Bridgeman Art Library
116: World Religions Photo Library/The
Bridgeman Art Library
Resource, NY
126: Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP Images
133: Massimiliano Lamagna/Shutterstock
138: Hasan Sarbakhshian/AP Images
150
151
indEx
Note: Boldface page numbers indi-
cate major discussions of topics;
italic page numbers indicate
illustrations; page numbers fol-
lowed by c indicate chronology
entries; page numbers followed
by g indicate glossary entries; gg
page numbers followed by m
indicate maps.
A
Abagha 131
Abbas I 132133
Abbasid dynasty 128129, 130131
Abraham (prophet) 127
Abu Muslim Khorasani 128
Achaemenes 23
Achaemenid Empire 7, 10, 14, 44m,
66. See also specific king
building projects 83
claims to 15, 32, 51, 57, 68, 83, 87
class system 8283
clothing 102
culture 58, 93, 111114, 117, 120,
138139
economy 9697
education 100101
end of 53, 5556, 58
family life 76, 99
farming 9395
government and politics 13, 19,
7579, 8082, 83, 85, 96,
129
health and medicine 115
language and writing 56, 83, 120
origins of 11, 23, 140c
religion and beliefs 15, 68, 87, 99,
104, 105, 129
science and technology 114115
slavery and 83, 90
Acropolis 42
aduran-bandag 91 aduran-bandag aduran-bandag
Adur Gushnasp 120
Afghanistan 129, 131, 133
culture 99, 119
invasions of 23, 28, 55, 72
origin of names 12, 65
afterlife 104, 107
Agha Muhammad Shah 134135
agriculture 10, 19, 9396, 98, 114,
128. See also farmers/farming;
food and diet
Ahasuerus 45. See also Xerxes
Ahriman 104
Ahura Mazda 93, 104, 105. See also
fires, sacred
depictions of 106
kings 76, 129
Darius the Great 32, 103
Shapur I 68, 87
Xerxes 39
Akkad 19
Akkadian Empire 19
Akkadian language 20, 2627, 32, 68
Alexander the Great 7, 14, 5253,
55, 65, 79, 97, 140c
destruction of the Avesta 83
Nadir Shah compared to 133134
Safavid Empire 132
Allah 129
allies 29, 48, 141
Almasy, Laszlo 30
alphabets 20, 2627. See also cunei-
form
amargars 89
Amasis 29
Amu Darya 28
Amun-Re 105
Anabasis of Alexander (Arrian) 53 Anabasis of Alexander Anabasis of Alexander
Anabasis (Xenophon) 49, 50, 80, 102
Anahita 105
Anatolia 20, 23, 29
animals 10, 20, 21. See also hunting;
specific animal
depictions of 93, 111, 113, 120
domesticated 141
livestock 19, 93, 94, 95, 101
as sacrifice 104, 106
warfare and 20, 25, 29, 61, 62, 65
Annals, The (Tacitus) 14
ansahrig 91 ansahrig ansahrig
Anshan 11, 20, 23
Antiquities of the Jews (Josephus) 86
Antony, Mark 63
Anushirvan 71
Apadana 35, 36, 112
Apollo 25
Apple Bearers 42. See also Immortals
Arabians II 14
Arabic language 128
Arabs 41, 130, 140c. See also Islamic
Empire
culture 115, 120, 121, 127
Persians and 29, 7172
Aramaic language 32, 55
archaeology/archaeologists 8, 141
backgammon 123
Cambyses lost army 30
coins and currency 57
Cyrus Cylinder 2627
housing 102
palace at Nisa 115, 117
Pasargadae ruins 24
Persepolis Fortification Tablets 94
soil dam 114
Susa inscription 85
archery/archers 141
depictions of 41
warfare and 22, 39, 40, 61, 62, 63,
82, 117
women and 79
architecture 16, 111112, 115116,
120, 130, 131, 133, 141. See
also building projects; housing;
palaces
Ardashir (city) 66
Ardashir I 15, 6567, 120, 121, 122
123, 124, 140c
Ardashir II 68
Aristagoras 37
aristocracy 19, 84, 88, 90, 141
Armenia 53
invasions of 15, 5859, 63, 64,
6768
Kurds and 22
rebellions 33
religion and beliefs 69
army 33, 40, 48, 86, 136. See also
mercenaries; royal guards
class and 82, 84, 90
disease 63
food and diet 95
growth of 25
organization of 22
Arrian 53
Arsaces 14, 5657
Arsacid dynasty 59
founding of 5657, 140c
government and politics 60,
6364, 65, 8384
legends and myths 117
art 8, 15, 16, 132
gods and goddesses 79, 106
looting of 42
152
remaining examples of 102, 111
support of 71, 130, 133, 139
Artabanus 66
Artabanus II 64, 84, 85, 86
Artabanus IV 15, 65, 66
Artaxerxes I 4445, 47
Artaxerxes II 4851, 78, 80, 140c
Artaxerxes III 51
Artaxerxes IV 51
Artemisium 42
artisans 19, 99, 109, 111, 115, 120,
141
class and 83, 87, 88, 90, 94
royal 96, 112, 113
Aryans 10, 14, 2021, 66, 87, 136
Asaak 56
Ash Sharqat 22
Ashur 22
Asia Minor 20, 48, 49, 97, 102. See
also specific country or region
government and politics 47, 81, 86
invasions of 45, 52, 55, 131
rebellions 37, 50, 51
Assyrian Empire 10, 1920, 2123,
35, 38, 41, 107
astrology 114, 123
astronomy 100, 114, 119, 123
Astyages 11, 23
Athens 51
invasions of 39, 4143, 53
rebellions 12, 37, 38, 45
treaties 45, 4748
Attica 42, 43
Augustus 63
Avarayr, battle of 69
Avesta 83, 103, 104, 115, 121,
123124
Avestan calendar 114
Azarmigdukht 89
Azerbaijin 134
B
Babylon 38, 52, 53, 6061
culture 84, 108
invasions of 20, 2628, 29, 48, 61
origins of 19
Babylonian Chronicles 11, 22, 2425,
27
Babylonian Empire 38, 41, 51, 84,
93
defeats Assyrians 1011, 1920,
2223
education 100101
food and diet 93
government and politics 28, 84
invasions of 11, 20, 25, 2629, 57,
64, 68, 80, 140c
language and writing 20
origins of 1920
religion and beliefs 28, 106, 107
science and technology 114, 119
trade and commerce 97
backgammon 122123
Bactria 33, 40, 45, 53, 55, 56, 57
Baghdad 119, 131
Bahai Faith 135
Bahaullah 135
Bahram II 109
Bahram IV 68
Bahram V 69
bandag 90
banking 97. See also coins and cur-
rency
banquets 78, 113114
Bardiya 11, 3132
barrel vaults 115, 120
Bastet 29
batteries 119
battering rams 63
bazaar 16, 137
Behistun inscriptions 32, 57, 68, 76,
112, 116
Belesys 80
beliefs. See religion and beliefs
Belshunu 80
belts 101, 102
Bessus 53
Bible, the 35, 45, 127
birmarestan 124
booty 22, 141
Bosporus 36, 37
bridges, pontoon 28, 36, 37, 40, 114
Buddhism 106
building projects 96, 111112. See
also architecture
Darius the Great 3536, 37, 38,
53, 112
Khosrow I 71
slavery and 83
Xerxes 40, 44
Bulgaria 11
bureaucracy 68, 80, 83, 89, 96, 131,
132, 141
burial. See death and burial
Burzoye 123
Buyid dynasty 130, 132
Byzantine Empire 16, 61, 69, 70, 71,
72, 89, 122
C
Cadusians 50
calendars 114
caliphs/caliphates 129, 130. See also
specific caliph or caliphate
Callias, treaty of 45
Cambyses I 23
Cambyses II 11, 27, 2931, 140c
camels 2526, 29, 62, 65, 98
Canada 119
canals (qanats) 40, 95, 112, 114, 142
Cappadocia 25, 59
Caracalla 65
carpets and rugs 113
Carrhae, battle of 5963
Cassius Dio 61, 62
catapults 63, 141
cats 29
cavalry 39, 4041, 52, 59, 6163, 65,
116, 141
class and 82, 84
organization of 22
caves 102
celebrations and holidays 45, 69, 99,
102, 121, 130. See also ceremo-
nies
Central Asia 8, 11, 14, 6970, 71m,
129, 135. See also specific coun-
try; specific country or region
Aryans and 20
geography and climate 89
invasions of 11, 28
rebellions 36
ceremonies 78, 89, 100, 101, 104,
121, 127
Chardin, Jean 134
chariots 7, 20, 41, 105
chess 16, 122123
Chicago Oriental Museum 111
children 96
education 22, 78, 84, 8889,
100101
guardians for 99100
ownership of 90
royal 63, 77, 79, 8889
of slaves 91
China 59, 131
culture 121
trade and commerce 14, 58, 59,
9799, 108, 120
Chinggis Khan 131, 132
Christianity 68, 69, 104, 105, 106,
107108, 127
Cimmerians 21
circular defense 116, 120
city-states 12, 19, 141. See also spe-
cific city-state
civilizations 141
civil wars 4850, 140c
clans 8384, 100
class system 71, 7779, 8284,
8689, 9091, 100101, 117. See
also specific class
clerics 141
clothing 46
aristocracy and 88
cavalry 39
nobility 77, 117
royalty 78, 83, 102
Codommanus 51. See also Darius III
I n d e x
153
coins and currency 57, 86, 96, 128,
130
loaning of 97
royalty and
Croesus 25
Darius the Great 35, 80, 97
Mithridates I 56
queens 89
Zoroastrianism and 106
columns 36, 38, 111, 112, 115, 116
commerce 141. See also trade and
commerce
communication 82
concubines 76, 79, 86, 141
Constantine 68
constitutions 85, 135, 136, 141
corve 27
Cossacks 135
Councils of the Wise Osna, The 123
Crassus 6061, 62
crime 42, 45, 53, 57, 65, 76
Croesus 2526
Ctesias 44
Ctesiphon 120
founding of 5758
invasions of 14, 63, 6465, 66, 67,
68, 72, 140c
culture 84, 87, 111123, 131
blending of 47, 48, 55, 56, 58, 127
early Persian 7, 89, 20
east vs. west 39, 60, 64
effects of trade on 98
modern 132, 135, 138
Western 8, 138, 142
Cunaxa, battle of 49, 50
cuneiform 19, 20, 2627, 32, 94,
100
currency. See coins and currency
Cyaxares 22, 23
cylinders 2627, 75, 79
Cyprus 11, 29
Cyropolis 28
Cyrus Cylinder 2627
Cyrus the Great 35, 75, 127
clothing 78
conquests of 11, 14, 15, 2329,
140c
Cyrus Cylinder 2627
death 28, 29
local rule and 80
Cyrus the Younger 4850, 80,
140c
D
dams 10, 24, 114
Darayavaush 11. See also Darius
daric 35, 49
Darius II 4748, 80
Darius III 1314, 51, 5253, 79, 97
Darius (son of Artaxeres II) 51
Darius (son of Xerxes) 44
Darius the Great
Behistun inscriptions 32, 57, 68,
76, 112
building projects 3536, 37, 53,
112
conquests of 1112, 15, 3133,
3539, 140c
death 14, 39, 68, 120
depictions of 75, 102
government and politics 35, 36, 57,
77, 78, 80, 83
religion and beliefs 103, 105
death and burial 28, 67, 68, 76, 100,
105, 131
Deioces 22
democracy 39, 86, 137
descendants 89, 99, 129, 141
Diordorus of Sicily 51
diplomacy 47, 59, 60, 61, 65, 89, 133.
See also treaties
disease 63
droughts 95, 101
dynasties 129, 130, 141. See also spe-
cific dynasty
E
Eastern Europe 89
Ecbatana 20, 2425, 32
economy 71, 9699, 128. See also
coins and currency; taxation;
trade and commerce
education 22, 78, 79, 84, 87, 8889,
100101, 123
medical school 124
promotion of 15, 71, 130
Egypt 7, 25, 38, 41, 55
architecture 111
education 100101
independence of 12
inscriptions in 32, 105
invasions of 11, 2930, 31, 44m,
53, 55, 71, 140c
rebellions 40, 45, 50, 51, 108
women in 79
Eire-An 10
Elam 19, 23, 39
Elamite language 20, 32, 68
electroplating 119
elites 141
Elymais 116117
entertainment 16, 49, 122123
environment 10
Epic of Kings, The (Rudaki). See
Shahnamah (Rudaki)
Epitome of the Philippic History
(Justin) 5657, 87
Eranshahr 66
eran-spahbed 88
Eretria 37, 39
estates 8788
Esther, Book of 45
Ethiopia 31
ethnic groups 82, 84
Europe 60, 61, 120, 133. See also spe-
cific country
culture 121, 122, 123
trade and commerce 14, 59, 98
Eurphrates River 59, 60, 61, 63
exercise 119
Expedition of Cyrus (Xenophon) 49,
50
F
family life 97, 99101. See also chil-
dren; marriage
farmers/farming 10, 83, 90, 9396,
97, 128. See also agriculture; food
and diet
Fars 10
Farsi 10
Fertile Crescent 10, 19
fertility 105, 141
Firdawsi 130
fires, sacred 76, 83, 97, 104, 106
Firuzabad 66
food and diet 101102. See also agri-
culture; farmers/farming
banquets 78, 113114
ceremonial 78
family life and 100
Fertile Crescent 19
warfare and 37, 40, 93, 95, 96
Ford, Michael Curtis 49
France 62, 85
G
Galen 60
games 16, 49, 122123
gardens 112
Gathas 103, 104
Gaugamela, battle of 53
Gauls 62
Gaumata 31. See also Bardiya
geography and climate 89, 10, 95,
101
Germany 106, 119
Ghaznavid dynasty 131
gods and goddesses 30, 93, 103,
104105, 135. See also specific
god or goddess
animals and 29
Avestan calendar 114
Cyrus the Great and 2728
depictions of in art 79, 106
historians and 13, 15
monotheism 107, 108, 127, 141
right of kingship 76, 129
Romans and 61
Shapur I 68
warfare and 25
gosans 117, 121
Gotarzes II 116
154
government and politics 10, 95, 131.
See also diplomacy; governors;
kings/kingdoms; local rule;
records and record keeping;
satraps/satrapies; treaties
religion and 107, 108, 109
role of scribes 100
term limits 85
governors 65, 81, 129. See also
satraps/satrapies
Granicus, battle of 52
Great Britain 134, 135, 137
Greece 9, 14, 3743, 58, 59, 84
Athens and Sparta 4748
attitudes toward Persians 7, 30
city-states 12
culture 111, 115, 121
health and medicine 119, 123,
124
invasions of 1213, 38, 4042,
140c
Macedonia and 5153
mercenaries 29, 4850, 52, 63,
141
records and record keeping 97
treaties 45, 47
Greek language 11, 68, 83, 84
guitars 121
Gundeshapur 124
Gutium 27
H
Hadrian 64
Hall of a Hundred Columns 112
Hamadan 20
Hamd Allah Mustawfi 132
Haran 62. See also Carrhae, battle of
Hatra 116, 117
hazaruft 89
health and medicine 60, 63, 115, 119,
123124
Hellenized 55, 58, 141
Hellespont 40, 51, 52
Hephthalites 15, 6970, 71
Heraclides 97
Herodian 65, 66
Herodotus 9, 35. See also Histories,
The (Herodotus)
Achaemenid economy 97
Cambyses II 30, 31
children 100
Cyropolis 28
family life 99
music 114
Pelusium, battle of 29
Persian culture 47
royal guards 42
Thermopylae, battle of 43
Xerxes 40, 114
Hindustan 12
Histories, The (Herodotus) 8, 13,
2526
Athenians 39
Babylonian food and diet 93
cats as weapons 29
Cyaxares 22
Media 21
pontoon bridges 114
water, role of 105
women, role of 79
Zoroastrianism 106
history/historians 87, 93. See also
legends and myths; specific his-
torian
Ardashir and the Roman Empire
67
Bardiya 31
bias in writings about Persia 7,
43
Buyids 130
ceremonial foods 78
Cyrus the Great 11, 2324, 27
Darius the Great 112
destruction of Athens 42
Euphrates River agreement 60
gosans 117
Ismails rule 132
oral tradition 104, 117
royal guard 42
Sassanian culture 15, 120
Scythia 36, 37
slavery 87, 90
Xerxes 40, 44, 47
Zoroastrianism 104
History of the Peloponnesian War, The
(Thucydides) 4748
History of the Roman Empire
(Herodian) 65, 66
holidays. See celebrations and holi-
days
holy wars 132
hoplites 39, 82, 141
Hormizd IV 71
horses 8, 20, 65, 66, 79
hospitals 124
housing 102103, 115116. See also
palaces
Hleg 131
human rights 27
hunting 75, 78, 88, 101, 112, 113, 117
Hyrcania 57, 58
I
Ilkhanate 131, 132
Immortals 41, 42
India 7, 20
culture 121, 122, 123, 130
health and medicine 123, 124
invasions of 12, 36, 53, 72, 133
Persian refugees in 16
trade and commerce 38, 97, 9899,
133
Indo-Parthians 57, 58
infantry 39, 41, 61, 141
infrastructure. See also bridges, pon-
toon
canals 40, 95, 112, 114, 142
dams 10, 24, 114
roads 36, 58, 59, 82, 96, 9899
inscriptions 8, 39, 56, 93, 105, 141
Behistun 32, 57, 68, 76, 112, 116
Naqsh-e Rostam 67, 68, 120
Susa 38, 85
Iran
early settlement of 7, 89, 20,
22, 56
modern 10, 57
culture 8, 16, 24, 113, 115, 119,
130
government and politics 65, 94,
135138
religion and beliefs 16, 99, 101,
127, 128
Persia vs. 10, 136
Ir-An 10
Iran Chamber Society 133134
Iranian hostage crisis 137
Iranian Plateau 20, 56
Iraq 10, 16, 20, 119. See also
Mesopotamia
irrigation 95, 114
Isfahan 132133
Ishaq Shahryr 65
Islam 107, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135,
137138
conversion to 72, 108, 127, 128,
129
Islamic Empire 16, 72, 127, 128,
138, 140c. See also Arabs;
Islam
records and record keeping 87
Ismail I 129130, 132
Ismail III 134
Israel 94, 106, 107, 138
Issus, battle of 52
Istakhr 15, 65
ivans 115, 117, 120
J
Japan 114
jashan 127
javelins 50
Jaxartes River 28
Jerusalem 107
Jesus 105, 107
I n d e x
155
jewelry 77, 88, 96, 111, 117, 118
Jews 27, 84
Josephus, Flavius 86
jousting 66, 116, 120, 141
Judaism 47, 104, 106, 107108,
127
Julian 68
Justin 5657, 60, 87
K
kara 22, 25
Karim Khan Zand 134
Karnamak Ardashir 121. See also
Records of Ardashir
Kavad 71
Kazakhstan 12, 20, 28, 129, 130
Kearney, Paul 49
khanates 131
Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah
137138
Khorasan 128, 129
Khosrow I 71, 90, 9596, 123, 124,
130, 140c
Khosrow II, 70, 71, 89, 120
khshatrapavan 14
Kidrites 6970
King of Kings 32, 39, 66, 83, 88, 89,
90, 130, 135
Kings Benefactors 78
Kings Eyes 36
Kings Friends 78, 84
kings/kingdoms 10, 75, 76, 7779,
111, 120, 129. See also specific
king, dynasty or empire
Kings Peace 50
Kouros 11. See also Cyrus
Krshayarasha 11. See also Xerxes
Kuchan 56
Kurds 22, 83
kurtash 9394, 96
Kurush 11
kusti 101
Kyrgyzstan 130
L
lances 39, 40, 61, 66, 141
land ownership 79, 83, 84, 87, 88
language and writing 8, 55, 68, 82.
See also inscriptions; literature;
specific language
cuneiform 19, 20, 2627, 32, 94,
100
Cyrus Cylinder 2627
scribes 20, 26, 32, 89, 100,
101102, 142
translation 8, 20, 94, 121, 130
Latin 11
laws 32, 76, 77, 80, 87, 90, 138
Fortification Tablets 94
role of the father 101
slavery and 91
women and 90
legends and myths 13, 2324,
103104, 117, 130, 132
Leonidas 4142
Libya 31, 41
literature 49, 106, 117, 121, 130, 132
Lives (Plutarch) 4445, 48, 51, 59,
61, 62, 78
livestock 19, 93, 94, 95, 101
local rule 8082, 83, 84, 8586, 89
looting 42, 45, 53, 65
Louvre Museum 85
lower classes 83, 90, 100, 101
Lucius Verus 16
Lucullus 59
Lydia 12, 35, 36
rebellions 26, 47
trade and commerce 38, 41
M
Macedonia 12, 14, 3637, 5153,
55, 140c
Macrinus 65
magi/magus 31, 87, 89, 105, 106. See
also priests
Mamikonyan, Vardan 69
Mamluks 130131
Mani 106
Manichaeanism 68, 106107, 121
maps 44m, 58m, 71m, 136m
Marashu 97
Marathon, battle of 39, 40, 140c
Marcus Aurelius 60
Mardonius 4243
Marduk 27, 28
Marmara Ereglisi 51
marriage 76, 77, 7879, 84, 88, 90,
99100. See also concubines
marshlands 10
martial arts 119
Maryland 66
Massagetae 28
mathematics 100, 123, 129
mausoleums 131
Mazdak 71, 107
Mazdakism 107
Media 10, 57, 61, 63, 103
Median Empire 9, 1011, 2026, 23,
40, 41, 140c
Bardiya and 31
invasions of 11, 15, 2122, 28
medicine. See health and medicine
Megabazus 37
Memnon 52
Memphis 29
mercenaries 29, 4850, 52, 63, 141
merchants 96, 9799, 101, 127
Mesopotamia 130, 131, 141. See also
Iraq
culture 102, 115116, 117, 123
early kingdoms of 7, 10, 11, 1920
geography and climate 14
invasions of 14, 15, 49, 53, 5761,
63, 64, 67
Middle East 44m, 71m
Middle Persian language 68, 83, 130
migration 128
Miletus 37
military 22, 25, 107, 137. See also
specific division
class and 8283, 8788
clothing 102, 117
depictions of 21
food and diet 93, 95, 96
forts 115116
kings role 76
music and 121
Mithra 105
Mithradatkirt 115
Mithridates I 56, 57, 140c
Mithridates II 5759, 116
Mithridates III 60
Mithridates VI Eupator 5859, 60
mithridatum 60
money and banking 128. See also
coins and currency
Mongol Empire 131132
monotheism 104105, 107, 108, 127,
141
morals 76, 78, 104, 141
Mosaddeq, Muhammad 137
mosques 133
movies 49, 106
Muhammad (prophet) 127, 129
Muhammad Reza 137, 138
music 106, 114, 117, 119, 121
Muslims 120, 140c
myths. See legends and myths
N
Nabonidus 26, 27
Nadir Shah 133134
Naqsh-e Rostam 67, 68, 120
nard 123
Narseh 6768
nationalism 135, 137, 141
Navruz 99, 130
navy 28, 29, 36, 40, 41, 42, 48
Naxos 38
Near East 9, 10, 15. See also specific
country
New Persian language 130
Nietzsche, Friedrich 106
Nineveh 22
Nippur 97
Nisa 115, 117
Nisaia 31
Nisibis 65, 140c
nobility 68, 75, 7779, 83, 84, 90, 142
clothing 77, 117
education 79, 84, 8889, 100, 123
food and diet 101102
156
music 114
writings about 117
Nochus 47. See also Darius II
nomads 78, 81, 142
Aryan 20
Cadusian 50
daily life 93, 101, 102, 113
Hephthalites 6970
as invaders 55, 58
Parni 56
Scythian 21, 37, 57
North Africa 15, 31, 61, 102
Noush Abad 102
nuclear weapons 138
Nuysabin 65
O
oasis/oases 30, 142
occupations 19, 28, 96
Ochos 51. See also Artaxerxes III
oil industry 40, 97, 137, 138
Old Persian language 32, 68
Olympic Games 119
Opis 27
oracles 30
oral tradition 104, 117
Orodes II 6063
Orodes III 64
Oxnus River 28
P
Pahlavanis 119
Pahlavi dynasty 83, 136137
Pahlavi language 83, 84, 123
painting 111, 115, 133
Pakistan 12, 36, 131
palaces 19, 103, 111113, 115, 120
Darius the Great 35, 36, 37, 38,
112
destruction of 65, 80
Xerxes 44
Palestine 28, 55
Papak 15, 65
paridaida 112
Parni 14, 56, 8384
Parthava 83
Parthia 33, 40, 55, 56
Parthian Empire 7, 16, 5666, 58m,
140c. See also specific ruler or
kingdom
class system 86, 8687
clothing 102
culture 115119, 120, 138139
economy 9799
education 101
end of 15, 65
farming 95
65, 8386, 87
origins of 14, 55, 5657
106107
slavery and 90
Parthian language 68, 123
Parthian shot 61
Pasargadae 24, 25, 28, 29
peasants 87, 88, 90
Peloponnesian War 4748
Pelusium 29
peninsulas 19, 40, 71, 142
Perinthos 51
Peroz 6971, 95
Persai 10
persecution 69, 108, 109, 142
Persepolis 15, 53, 83, 105
building projects 3536, 37, 40, 44,
96, 111, 112
Fortification Tablets 94, 95, 96, 100
inscriptions 39, 67, 68
Persia 9, 10, 30, 130, 136
Persian Empire 1112, 2326, 48
50, 7071, 136m, 140c. See also
Achaemenid Empire; Parthian
Empire; Sassanian Empire
Persian Expedition, The (Xenophon)
49, 50
Persian Gulf 9
Persian language 10, 32, 55, 56, 128,
130, 132
country names 12
English and 16, 137
introduction of 8
personal names 11
satraps/satrapies 14
Persian Wars, The. See Histories, The
(Herodotus)
Persis 11, 15, 20, 22, 24, 66, 103. See
also specific region
phalanx 39
Philip II 5152
Phoenicia 1213, 28, 29, 41, 51, 53,
81, 97
Phraates 86
Phraates III 59, 60
Phraates IV 63, 86
Phraates V 6364
Pissouthnes 47
Platea, battle of 43
plateaus 9, 142
Plutarch 4445, 48, 50, 51, 59, 62, 78
poetry 117, 119, 121, 130
politics. See government and politics
Pompey 60
pontoon bridges 28, 36, 37, 40, 114
poor 82, 90, 135
priests 19, 25, 27, 31, 66, 105, 135
class and 8788
education 101
Egyptian 29, 30
ideology 71, 107
influence of 15, 68, 87, 89, 106
rituals 104, 127
taken prisoner 69
writings about 134
prophets 142
Proto-Indo-Europeans 20
provinces 142
Psamtile III 2930
Publius 62
Puran 89
Q
Qajar dynasty 134135
qanats (canals) 40, 95, 112, 114, 142
Qarakhanid dynasty 131
Qara Khitai 131
queens 2829, 86, 88, 89
Quran 138
R
rations 142
rebellions 1213, 31, 33, 36, 48, 55,
60
Asia Minor 37, 50, 51
Babylonia 22, 40, 43
Bactria 45
Central Asia 36
Christian 69
Egypt 40, 45, 50, 51, 108
Greece 12, 5051
Iran 50
Lydia 26, 47
satraps and 8081, 89
records and record keeping 67, 87,
89, 102, 120. See also cuneiform;
inscriptions; scribes
family life 97, 99, 100
government 8, 11, 4748, 83, 121,
122
Cyrus Cylinder 2627
Persepolis 94, 95, 96, 100, 105
lack of 43, 96, 97, 100, 101, 102
science and technology 113114,
123
Records of Ardashir (Karnamak
Ardashir) 121, 122
refugees 10, 16
reliefs 32, 66, 89, 120, 142. See also
inscriptions
animals and 113
first bodies depicted 116
as historical records 111
palace 19, 35, 112
101, 103109, 138. See also
death and burial; gods and god-
desses; specific religion or belief
afterlife 104, 107
monotheism 104105, 107, 108,
127, 141
I n d e x
157
music 121
warfare and 6869
retainers 84
retinue 87
Reza Khan 136137
rhytons 111, 113, 117, 142
rites 120, 128, 142
rituals 104. See also ceremonies
roads 36, 58, 59, 82, 96, 9899
Roman Empire 14, 15, 16, 39, 49,
5969, 71, 140c
bias toward the Persians 7
Carrhae, battle of 5963
culture 111, 117, 121
division of 69
origins of 61
religion and beliefs 6869, 107,
108, 109
slavery and 87
Roman History (Cassius Dio) 61, 62
Romania 37
royal guards 41, 42, 50, 52, 85, 86, 89
Royal Road 36
royalty. See also kings/kingdoms;
palaces
class and 88
clothing 78, 83, 102
food and diet 78, 101102,
113114
life at court 7779, 89
music 114
religion and beliefs 105, 106, 107,
129
women and 75, 7879, 84, 89
Rudaki 130
rugs and carpets 113
Russia 11, 20, 97, 135, 137
S
sacrifices 104, 105, 106
Safavid Empire 132134
Saffarid dynasty 129
Samanid dynasty 129130, 131
santur 121
Sardis 25, 26, 37, 42
Sassan 15, 66
Sassanian Empire 6971, 71m, 132.
See also specific ruler or king-
dom
class system 83, 8791
culture 66, 71, 102, 115, 120123,
138139
education 71, 101
end of 7172, 140c
family life 99100
farming 9596
8990, 127128, 129
housing 102
language and writing 83, 130
origins of 7, 1516, 6566, 140c
religion and beliefs 6869, 101,
104, 106107, 108, 109
Roman Empire and 61, 64, 6669,
71
slavery and 83, 9091
trade and commerce 98, 99
satraps/satrapies 28, 36, 142. See also
specific satrap or satrapy
clothing 102
local rule and 8082, 83, 8586,
89
origins of 1213, 14
Saudi Arabia 15, 72
science and technology 67, 114115,
119, 123, 125, 129, 135
communication 36, 82
modern 138, 139
pontoon bridges 28, 36, 37, 40,
114
Xerxes canal 40
scorched earth 37
scribes 20, 26, 32, 89, 100, 101102,
142
sculpture 32, 111, 115, 117. See also
reliefs
Scythia 12, 2122, 28, 39, 40
class and 82
invasions of 36, 37
Parthian shot 61
settlement of 57
Seleucia 55, 6061, 63
Seleucid Empire 14, 5556, 57, 58,
83, 84
Seleucus 14, 55
Seljuk dynasty 131
serfs 87
Severus Alexander 6667
shah 65, 123, 132, 135, 136
shahmat 123
Shahnamah (Rudaki) 130, 132
shahrdars 65
shahryars 65
Shankar, Ravi 121
Shapur I 67, 68, 87, 107, 108, 123
Shapur II 68
Shapur III 68
Sheik Lutfallah Mosque 133
Shiism 130, 132, 135, 137138
ships and shipbuilding 28, 36, 39, 40,
41, 42, 45, 48, 82
Shiraz 132
Shushan 47. See also Susa
Siberia 97
siege warfare 26, 29, 142
sigloi 35
Silk Road 58, 59, 9899
silver 38, 41, 46, 88, 93, 96, 113, 117,
120. See also coins and currency
Sippar 27
Sistan 129
sitars 121
Siwa Oasis 30
skilled workers 8788. See also
artisans
slaves/slavery 27, 83, 8687, 9091,
101. See also Mamluks
smallpox 63
Smerdis 31, 32. See also Bardiya
Suleyman III 134
South Korea 119
Soviet Union 12
spada 22
Spain 15, 121
Sparta 4142, 43, 4748, 50
sports 119. See also specific sport
squinches 120
statues 46, 85, 115, 117
steppe 811, 20, 39, 40, 86, 112, 131.
See also nomads
stonework 24, 36, 38, 111112, 114,
115, 117. See also inscriptions;
reliefs
Strauss, Richard 106
stucco 115, 120, 142
sturih 90
successors 68, 76, 78, 87, 142. See
also specific king or kingdom
Sulla 59
Sumerians 19, 20, 26
Sunnis 131, 132
Susa 24, 48
Aryans in 20
Book of Esther and 45
building projects 3536, 38, 112
destruction of 23
invasions of 53
symbolism 76, 101, 105. See also
fires, sacred
Syr Darya 28
Syria 28, 55, 128, 131
Aryans in 20
government and politics 80
invasions of 60, 63, 65, 67, 71
Kurds in 22
religion and beliefs 107, 108, 109
T
Tabari 95
Tabriz 131
Tacitus 14
Tah-a-ran 21. See also Tehran
Tahirid dynasty 129
Tajikistan 11, 12, 28, 119, 129
Takht-e Suleiman 120
Tamerlane. See Timur I
tars 121
taxation 71, 89, 97
aristocracy 88
Bardiya and 31
158
collection of 127128
farming 9596
local rule 80, 85
technology. See science and
technology
Tehran 21, 133, 135
Teispes 23
temples 19, 30, 91, 106, 142. See also
fires, sacred
Adur Gushnasp 120
architecture of 116, 117
destruction of 3132, 4243, 106,
107
terrorism 94, 138
textiles 99, 142
Thea Musa (queen) 86
Thermopylae, battle of 4142, 43
Thessaly 4243
Thrace 12, 36, 37, 40
Thucydides 4748
Tigranes 5859
tillage 95
Timur I 132
Tissaphernes 4748
tombs 8, 28, 29, 67, 68, 104
Tomyris (queen) 2829
tourism 30
trade and commerce 61, 97, 107, 128,
132, 133, 134. See also specific
country or empire
class and 87, 88, 96, 97
competition to control 12
early 19
Trajan 64
translation 8, 20, 94, 121, 130
Transoxiana 28, 129, 131, 133
transportation 20, 36, 82
Travels in Persia (Chardin) 134
treasury 142
treaties 23, 35, 45, 4748, 50, 63, 69,
140c
tribes 68, 71, 86
tribute 21, 65, 67, 75, 80, 129, 142
Turkey 12, 36, 61
Aryans in 20
invasions of 11, 25, 49, 67, 131,
140c
Kurds in 22
Turkmenistan 12, 28, 36, 115,
129
Turks 15, 71, 130131, 133
U
Ugbaru 27
Ukraine 8, 11, 20
Umayyad dynasty 128
UNESCO 24, 115
United Nations 10, 24, 27, 65, 115,
137
United States 66, 121
Persepolis Fortification Tablets 94
U.S.-Iran relations 137, 138
Zoroastrianism in 128
University of Chicago 94
upper class 101, 127
Ur 19
Urartu 25
Uzbekistan 12, 28, 129, 130, 131
V
Valerian 67
Vardanants Day 69
Varzesh-e Pahlavani 119
Vazfidar, Neville 128
Vis and Raman 117
Vishtap 103
Vologeses I 64, 106
vuzorg farmadar 89
W
warfare 41, 62. See also weaponry;
specific battle or war
animals and 20, 25, 29, 61, 62, 65
depictions of 16, 41, 66, 67
food and diet 37, 40, 93, 95, 96
tactics and strategies 2526, 29,
63
circular defense 116
clothing 117
jousting 66
Parthian shot 61
phalanx 39
pontoon bridges 28, 36, 37,
40, 114
scorched earth 37
siege 26, 29, 142
Xerxes canal 40
warrior class 8788
Warriors, The (movie) 49
water 30, 105, 125. See also bridges,
pontoon
canals (qanats) 40, 95, 112, 114,
142
dams 10, 24, 114
irrigation 95, 114
oasis/oases 30, 142
warfare 22, 29, 37, 41, 78
wealthy 7, 71, 80, 84, 102
weaponry 4041, 50, 6162, 63, 96.
See also archery/archers
cats as 29
cavalry 39
lances 39, 40, 61, 66, 141
nuclear 138
Wedjahor-Resne 30
weights and measures 97
Western culture 8, 121, 138, 142
White Huns. See Hephthalites
windmills 125
women
Bahai Faith and 135
in battles 79
clothing 102
as concubines 76, 79, 86, 141
depictions of on coins 89
education 79, 89, 101
rights of 90, 138
royal 75, 7879, 84, 89
as rulers 2829, 86, 88, 89
slavery and 91
sports and 79, 88
working 96, 99
World Heritage Site 24, 115
World War I 135
World War II 107, 137
wrestling 119
writing. See language and writing
X
Xenophon 49, 50, 80, 102, 114
Xerxes 3944, 47, 106
Book of Esther and 45
building projects 37, 40, 114
death 44
origin of name 11
Xerxes II 47
xsacapavan 14
Y
Yaqub Saffar 129
Yasna 103
Yazdagird II 69
Yazdagird III 72, 140c
Z
Zagros Mountains 9, 19, 20
Zarathustra 103. See also Zoroaster
Zeidi, Mohsen 114
Zoroaster 15, 106, 115
Zoroastrianism 71, 103107, 127.
See also Ahura Mazda; fires,
sacred; priests; temples
belts 101, 102
calendar 114
conversion to 69
education 88, 101
health and medicine 115, 119,
123124
holidays 99
holy texts 83, 103, 104, 115, 121,
123124
marriage 90
modern 16, 128
as official religion 15, 68
slavery and 91
zurkhanen 119
159
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MItunvI Buuon has written more than 200
books including Buddhist Faith in America
(for Facts On File), Cold War, and Colonial
and Revolutionary Times. He has also writ-
ten biographies of former secretary of state
Madeleine Albright, astronaut John Glenn,
various U.S. presidents, and several scientists
and explorers.
Historical consultant Tuomns G. Uusn
received his Masters Degree in Northwest
Semitics from the University of Chicago in 2000.
He has been senior editor of serial publications
in the Publications Office at the Oriental Insti-
tute of the University of Chicago since 1990. The
Oriental Institute is a world renown publisher of
books on the Near East, from Libya to Iran.

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