Achaemenid Persian Empire

Imperial state of the Ancient Age, founded by Cyrus II the Great.

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What was the Achaemenid Persian Empire?

The Achaemenid Persian Empire was an imperial state of the Ancient Age ,  founded by Cyrus II the Great , who in 550 BC. C. became independent from the domination of the Medes.

This empire was the first and the most extensive of several States whose epicenter was the Iranian plateau and which are known as the ” Persian Empire . “

This article refers only to the Achaemenid Persian empire, which existed between 550 and 330 BC. C. The Achaemenid was a dynasty that owes its name to Aquemenes a semi – legendary prince who would have been its founder.

Location of the Persian Empire

The heart of the Achaemenid Empire was located in the southwest of the plateau of Iran , territory to which the Persians arrived around 1200 a. C., from Central Asia.

In its time of its greatest apogee, towards 500 a. C., extended from the eastern Mediterranean Sea, in the west, to the Indus River in the east. And from the Caucasus, the Caspian Sea and the Amu Daria River, to the north; to the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea to the south.

At that time it encompassed the territories of present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Cyprus, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and parts of Libya, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Location of the Achaemenid Persian Empire around 500 BC. C., year in which it reached its maximum territorial extension.

Characteristics of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

The main characteristics of the Achaemenid Persian Empire were the following:

• It was a multiethnic statedominated by Persians, of Aryan or Indo-European origin.
• Its highest authority was an emperor, called “king of kings” in Persian inscriptions.
• Its form of government was the absolutist, centralized and hereditary monarchy.
• It had 4 capital cities, one for each season of the year: Persepolis, Pasargadae, Susa and Ecbatana.
• It was divided into provinces called satrapies, in charge of a governor or satrap.
• It had a bimonetary system, since 2 currencies circulated at the same time: the daric, of gold, and the shekel, of silver.
• Its economy was based on cattle ranching, agriculture, handicrafts, long-distance trade and the collection of tributes from the conquered peoples.
• The official language was Old Persian, which was written in a variety of cuneiform scripts. Akkadian, Elamite and Aramaic were also spoken, which served as the language of interregional communication.
• Their official religion was Zoroastrianism, which was preached by the Persian prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra.

Political and social organization of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

Political organization

The head of the Empire was the emperor and in his hands the maximum military, judicial, religious and legislative power was concentrated. He was protected by an elite regiment known as the “Immortals.” The emperor had a harem , guarded by eunuchs , in which all his wives lived, usually the daughters of kings and local chiefs of the different regions of the Empire.

The empire was divided into 20 provinces  called satrapies, whose administration was in the hands of 3 officials: a general, a secretary and the head of the province or satrap , who was appointed by the emperor. To prevent abuses of power and acts of corruption, royal inspectors visited each province periodically and then presented a report to the emperor.

The local administration focused on collecting taxes, maintaining the roads and fighting the bandits. In case of rebellion, military garrisons established in strategic points of the Empire were mobilized.

A 2,700 kilometer highway, the royal road, linked the cities of Sardis and Susa and was used to carry the royal mail. It was lined with posts where messengers could rest, eat and change horses.

The Persian Empire, unlike the Assyrian or Babylonian, was very tolerant of the religion, language and customs of the dominated peoples, which were not repressed if they accepted the Persian administration and paid their annual tributes.

Ruins of the royal palace of Persepolis, built during the reign of Darius I, the Great.

Social organization

Persian society was divided into 2 large sectors:

• Privileged: those who enjoyed political, social and economic privileges.
  • Warrior aristocracy.
• Not privileged: those who did not possess privileges and who with their taxes supported the privileged sectors.
  • Shepherds and peasants.

In the Achaemenid Empire there were no slaves.

Achaemenid Persian Empire religion

The Persians professed a religion revealed by the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra , who lived in the 6th century BC. C., and that it was imposed as a mission to banish polytheism , magic and animal sacrifice. The sacred book of this religion was the Zend Avesta , which proclaimed the existence of 2 gods in continuous struggle: Ahura Mazda, the representation of good and light, and Ahriman or Angra Mainyu, the representation of evil and darkness.

The Persians believed in free will and final judgment , where the spirit of the dead was judged on the basis of their actions in life. This defined the possibility of accessing eternal life.

Zoroastrianism lacked temples, the Persians only raised altars in the open air in which the fire had to burn permanently.

Emperors of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

The emperors of the Achaemenid Persian Empire were as follows:

End of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

Around 338 a. C. the king of Macedonia, Filipo II, had put under all Greece and was preparing to invade Asia Minor. However, 2 years later he was assassinated and the throne fell to his son Alexander, who accused the Persians of his father’s death.

After imposing his authority on Greece, in 334 a. Alexander gathered a Greek Macedonian army of 40,000 men and crossed to Asia Minor, where he defeated the troops of the local satraps in the Battle of the Granic . He then took the Ionian cities and headed east. A year later he defeated a Persian army led by Darius III at the Battle of Issos .

While Darius was returning to Persia, Alexander passed through Phenicia and Palestine and entered Egypt, where he was received as a deliverer.

In the year 331 a. C. Alexander’s army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Gaugamela . Darius fled the battlefield, but was killed by his nobles. Alexander then took Babylon and then the cities of Susa, Persepolis and Ecbatana. Persepolis was burned to avenge the destruction of Athens during the medical wars .

After crushing the last pockets of resistance in northeast Persia, Alexander settled in Babylon, where he founded a new empire that disintegrated after his death in 323 BC. C.