The Persian Empire was a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran that spanned from
the 6th Century BCE to as recently as 1979. The first one, called the Achaemenid Empire
emerged around 550BC when Cyrus the Great —the leader of a nomadic tribe
in the region of Persis—began to defeat nearby kingdoms, including Media, Lydia and Babylon.
Lydia (600BC) is considered the first region to manufacture coins that could be used as currency,
which is one of the most important developments in human history.
How did Cyrus maintain control over such an enormous area and multiethnic population?
He was unlike other emperors in that he utilized a strategy of religious and cultural toleration
and left the local rulers in place to control the different states of his empire.
These policies reduced the chances of rebellion and ensured that the
conquered states continued to pay tributes, which Cyrus used to fund public works.
Also in addition to the establishment of a large professional army, The Achaemenids developed the
first postal service in history which allowed efficient communication throughout the empire.
Cyrus was probably a follower of Zoroastrianism,
one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions which served as the Ancient
Persian state religion for more than a millennium till the Muslim conquest.
The unique historical features of Zoroastrianism, such as monotheism,
messianism, judgment after death, heaven and hell may have influenced many other religious.
Cyrus’s son, Cambyses II, conquered Egypt and was succeeded by Darius who grew the Achaemenid
Empire to become the largest of the Ancient world. He introduced reforms such as standard currency
and satraps—provincial governors that he appointed himself to maintain control
over smaller regions of the empire. These were linked through a system of
impressive highways that allowed for the speedy transmission of information across the empire.
Darius the Great also established a large multilingual inscription
in 3 different cuneiform script languages, which was critical to their decipherment.
The increased wealth and power of the empire allowed Darius to initiate the construction of
royal buildings at Susa as well as the creation of a new capital city, called Persepolis.
To demonstrate that he was ruler of a diverse empire, he took the
title of King of Kings and was featured as receiving tributaries from different peoples.
In 498 BCE. however, the eastern Greek cities revolted against Achaemenid rule and were
supported by Athens: Darius crushed them but failed to punish the Athenians at Marathon.
Although the enormous army of his son Xerxes defeated the Spartans and was able to sack Athens,
the second Persian invasion of Greece ultimately failed.
It depleted the empire’s funds, led to heavier taxation among its subjects
and marked its decline. Much of our evidence for Persian
history is dependent on contemporary Greek sources, whose main focus was the relations
between Persia and the Greek states, as well as tales of Persian court intrigues,
moral decadence, and unrestrained luxury. After 200 years of existence as a global hub
of culture, art and technology, the Achaemenid dynasty fell to Alexander the Great of Macedon,
who was an admirer of Persian civilization and even took on Persian customs.
Following his death, one of his generals Seleucus gained control of much of the Persian territory.
The Iranian elites reclaimed power by the second century BCE under the Parthian Empire,
which was the arch-enemy of the Roman Empire and limited its eastward expansion.
Frequent civil wars brought an end to it as the Sassanian empire rose and endured
for over four centuries. It set out to restore the legacy of the Achaemenid Empire by expanding
Iran's dominions and revitalizing Zoroastrianism. Most of its lifespan was however overshadowed
by the frequent Byzantine–Sasanian wars, which were part of the Roman–Persian Wars.
The war-exhausted Persians lost against the Muslim Arabs at the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah,
which was a turning point in Iranian history: Although Zoroastrianism gradually declined,
many aspects of Persian civilization were absorbed and greatly influenced the new Islamic culture.
Iran suffered particularly hard during the late Middle Ages due to many invasions
of nomadic tribes including the Seljuks, Mongols and Timurids.
It was reunified as an independent state in 1501 by the Safavid dynasty, which set
Shia Islam as the empire's official religion,
marking one of the most important turning points in the history of Islam.
Safavid Iran rose again as a world power that rivaled the Ottomans for
hundreds of years and then lost many of its territories to the
emerging Russian empire at the beginning of the 19th century.
Iran had been a monarchy for about 500 years until the 1979 Revolution,
when it officially became an Islamic republic.
Besides its wealth and power, the greatest legacy of the Achaemenid
Empire was perhaps the aggregation and mixture of various cultures under one tolerant rule.
The empire also set the tone for the politics, heritage and history of modern Iran.