The Persian Empire.

By Monisha D., Caitlin D., and Rachel S.
Table of Contents.
1) Thesis Statement 7) Darius I
2) Time Line 8) Empire Organization
3) Background and 9) Xerxes I
Geography
10) War Tactics
4 ) Cyrus
5) Belief System 11) The Persian Empire
Falls
6) Cambyses
12) Works Cited.
Thesis Statement.

The Persian Empire succeeded through the

strength of some leaders and failed through the
reign of others until it ultimately ended as quickly
as it had come about.
Time Line.
 Background and
Geography.
Until the 6th century BC, the
Persian lived in modern day Iran.
Some were settled while
others were nomadic.
The land was mountainous and
there were no harbors.
This resulted in tribes rather
than a united group.
The tribes of Persia were under
the control of Media.
When Zoroastrianism came about
in 650 BC, Persia would never be
the same.
 Cyrus.
Cyrus I ruled from 559 to 530 BC.
He aspired to conquer the
entire known world, believing
it was his religious duty to do
so.
This was an idea that was
revolutionary for its time
and ultimately sparked the
dawn of the greatest
empire the world had ever
known.
He became the chief of the Persian
tribe in 559 BC.
His army was able to conquer Persia
and Media in 554 BC.
He had killed King Astyages of
Media in 550 BC.
Cyrus [cont’d].
Cyrus had created a strong army with a unique
militaristic style that emphasized strength. He also
invented a certain soldier attire that would be used
throughout most of the history of the Persian
Empire.
He expanded the empire further to the surrounding
regions of Lydia, Asia Minor, and Babylon.
He was able to capture Sardis, capitol of Lydia,
after inflicting a two week siege.
In Babylon, Cyrus freed the Jews, believing that
their god, Yahweh, was an ally of Ahura Mazda.
He then died in battle in 529 BC.
Belief System.
Zoroaster was the founder of
Zoroastrianism at around 600 BC.
This was a dualistic religion.
Ahura Mazda was god of light
and good, and Ahriman was god
of dark and evil.
At the end of time, people would be
judged by which side they were on.
The good would go to Heaven,
the bad would go to Hell.
Cyrus believed it was his religious
duty to take over the world and help
Ahura Mazda to prevail.
Belief System [cont’d].
This is what many find controversial. By conquering other
countries, he was diminishing the beliefs of Ahura Mazda.
This is one of the reasons why he was so diligent about
tolerance. It gave him an outlet to prove he was on the side
of good.
Cyrus also had the belief of religious and cultural tolerance.
He treated those he conquered with respect and allowed
them many freedoms.
Cyrus believed in the mentality of unity, not just its
physicality.
He believed that through learning acceptance of others, his
empire would feel united. They would feel that they
belonged not just because they were conquered.
Cambyses.
Cambyses was the son of
Cyrus but his ruling tactics
were much different, such as
his tolerance of other
customs and religions.
He ruled from 530 B.C. to 522
B.C.
He added Egypt.
Ridiculed the Egyptian religion
Ordered for the images of the
Egyptian gods to be burned.
Died in 522 BC.
Revolts broke out.
Darius I.
Throughout the reign of Darius I,
many lands were conquered and the
empire was able to prosper with his
brilliant organization.
Darius was the successor of Cambyses
He ruled from 522 to 486 BC.
Moved empire eastward to Afghanistan and
India, increasing the empire’s size to 2,500
miles long.
He was originally a body guard for the king.
The Ten Thousand Immortals.
They were a group of Persian soldiers.
This group helped bring Darius to
power.
Darius I [cont’d.]
Darius was accepting of other cultures and beliefs.
This idea of tolerance was prominent in holding the
Persian Empire together.
He was able to conquer Asia Minor in 495 BC after the
inhabitants lost interest in fighting them off.
Set out to control Greece.
In 490 BC, the Persians attacked Athens.
Battle of Marathon.
This battle took place in 490 BC at Marathon in Attica.
The Athenians won with the help of an brilliant former
Persian soldier, Miltiades.
Empire Organization.
Darius established Persepolis, the
capitol, in 518 BC.
Divided empire into 20 provinces.
Each province was ruled by a
governor called a satrap,
assigned a tax collect, and an
army leader.
People were allowed to stay with
their original culture.
They had their own set of laws
and often spoke their own
language
“The Eyes and the Ears of the King”
were officials hired to make sure the
satraps were doing their jobs.
Empire Organization
[cont’d].
Established road system.
The Royal Road spanned 1,677 miles from Susa in Persia to
Sardis in modern day Turkey. It helped to increase trade
and convenient travel.
Darius would often move to and from various royal capitols
along the Royal Road.
The Greek historian, Herodotus said "There is nothing in the
world that travels faster than these Persian couriers.”
Established currency.
The idea of gold and silver coins came from Lydia.
Promoted a barter economy.
Darius looked more towards the physical aspects of unity.
Xerxes I.
Xerxes was a powerful king of the
Persian Empire. He was focused on
conquering the city states of Greece
during his reign as king.

Xerxes was the son of Darius and he ruled

from 486 BC to 465 BC.

Xerxes devoted his reign to attempting to

conquering Greece.
Greece was considered Persia’s main
threat.
Xerxes crossed the Hellespont with his army
and then ordered a bridge to be built, which
was destroyed in a storm.
As a result, Xerxes is said to have crossed
the river by chariot on a bridge of boats.
Xerxes I [Cont’d].
In 480 BC, Xerxes led his sea forces to the victory in defeating
Sparta in the Battle of Thermopylae.
They were even able to sack Athens.
The Greeks won against the Persian Navy in 479 BC in the
straits of Salamis.
When rebellion broke out in Babylon, however, Xerxes rushed
abate the issue.
The army left behind was defeated in 479 BC at the battle of
Plataea.
Greece had officially defeated the Persian Empire.
Xerxes was assassinated in 465 BC.
The assassin is believed to have been one of his generals.
War Tactics.
The Persian Empire was very advanced when it came to
warfare. They spent a lot of time fighting for new territory
and were involved in a number of epic battles against other
civilizations.
Cyrus.
His militaristic style was effective and humane, for he was against
looting and burning.
His soldiers were dressed in leather pants and thick felt boots.
They rode mountain ponies and were equipped with bows and
arrows.
His kindness was solidified when in Babylon welcomed his armies in
539 BC.
Cambyses.
He ruled with a violent and outrageous style. His goal was to
conquer and create fear amongst his subjects. This did not work
out well.
 War Tactics [Cont’d].
Darius.
He had established the elite army called Ten
Thousand Immortals.
It was believed that their numbers never
dropped below 10,000 soldiers because
it was continuously replenished. This is
not accurate.
He divided the army up into sections, the
most important being the cavalry and the
navy.
Darius failed to conquer Greece. This was
something he was determined to do as a
result of a conflict with Greece in 520 BC in
Ionia.
Xerxes.
He followed Darius’s organization of the
army.
He believed that having more soldiers
allowed for fewer weapons. This proved to
be his downfall in Greece.
Important Battles.
The Battle of Marathon.
After Darius and his army crossed
the Hellespont, they were able to
conquer Thrace.
The Greek invasion was held off
two years after the Persian fleet
was destroyed in a storm.
In 494 BC, the Greeks and Persians
battled on the Plain of Marathon.
It is believed that a former Persian
soldier, Militiades, was on the side
of the Athenians, helping the
10,000 heavily armed Greeks to
defeat the 25,000 lightly armed
Persians.
 Important battles [Cont’d.]
The legendary Battle of Thermopylae.
It is believed that the Persians had
200,000 men on land and 1,000 on ships.
Sparta was only able to send 300 men due
to a religious festival taking place.
King Leonidas of Sparta tried to even out
the numbers by fighting in a narrow pass
called the Hot Gates in Thermopylae in the
northeastern coast of Greece.
They were aided by the help of soldiers
from other city-states.
At first, the Spartans stood up well to the
lightly armed Persians. However, Xerxes
found out about the Hot Gates.
The other soldiers abandoned the battle,
but the 300 Spartans remained. Though
they fought bravely, all 300 were killed.
The Persian Empire Falls.
After Xerxes I’s assassination,
the Persian Empire began to
fall.
This was largely due to the
fact that the defeat in
Greece damaged the Persian
spirit to rule.
Xerxes was succeeded by a series
of incompetent rulers who only
reigned for short periods at a
time.
The successors were almost too
determined to succeed and make
their imprint on Persian history.
This obsession resulted in poor
leadership, which in turn, resulted
in the end to the empire.
The Persian Empire Falls
[cont’d].
Alexander III, also known as Alexander The Great had emerged
with immense power in Macedon.
He ruled from 336 to 323 BC and had been commissioned by
his father to fight Persia.
At the time, Darius III did not see Alexander as a threat, and
ordered he be brought to Susa.
He defeated the Persian invaders who tried to seize him,
In 331 BC, he crossed the Euphrates into Mesopotamia.
In 330 BC, he arrived in Babylon.
Thus began the infamous Roman and Greek occupation of
the region between Tigris and Euphrates.
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