Components to the Persian Empire

1. army - native contingents and auxiliaries

2. bureaucracy -- court aristocracy, governing by extended families

3. religion - syncretism, intermarriage of gods, toleration

4. tribute

Persia (c. 640-331 BC), one of several Iranian peoples. These were subdivided into tribes such as the Medes (northern tribe, Ecbatana), the Persians (southern tribe, Persepolis), the Parthians (Herat), Sogdians, Caramanians, Hyrcanians, Gedrosians, Bactrians, etc. Originally subject to the Assyrians, Medean king Cyaxares (633-585) consolidated authority in Iran and joined the Babylonians to destroy Assyria in 612 BC. His son, Astyages, was deposed by his grandson, Cyrus II (the Great) of Persia (559-529), who shifted the seat of the aristocracy to Persia (there is no evidence of resistance by other Iranian tribal leaders). Cyrus was a great warrior and conqueror; he conquered Lydia (defeating Croesus) in 447 (conquering the Greek city states of Ionia in the process), and Babylon in 539. His son Cambyses (525-522) conquered Egypt but died from an infection. Momentary anarchy was suppressed by Darius I (521-486), who emerged from a collateral line. Darius campaigned to the Indus R. in the East and to Thrace and the Danube River in the West. The Persian Empire reached its greatest extent under Darius I (c. 6000 miles long, subject population c. 30-50 million).

Darius (whose res gestae survives at Behistun) organized the empire into 30+ satrapies (provinces), ruled by satraps (governors). An intermarried aristocracy, combining the ruling classes of all Persian tribes, furnished its ruling class. Overlapping jurisdiction of Civil and Military Satrapies held each other in check. A network of spies ("eyes and ears of the king") existed to keep tabs on governors in provinces; the Royal Road, 3000 miles long, connected Sardis to winter capital in Susa. "Pony Express" riders could convey messages along its length in 2 weeks time.

There were three capitals - Persepolis, Susa, Ecbatana. The Achaemenid ancestral burial place was at Parsagadae. Hypostyle halls, botanical and zoological parks were celebrated at Persepolis. The king and his court would migrate from one palace to the next during the year, living in a city of pavilion-like tents during the trip. The court migration was an important component of engagement between the king and his subjects.

Zoroastrian religion - Zoroaster, a religious prophet c. 600 BC. He propounded the philosophy of Cosmic dualism - Ahura-Mazda, the god of light, truth, and order, and Ahriman (god of darkness, chaos, and injustice) were caught in a cosmic struggle of good and evil for control of the universe. Mithras died in defense of the good, and would eventually rise from the dead in victory. The Mithras cult became one of the important mystery cults of the Roman era. There was an element of human will in this dogma of cosmic struggle -- humans must decide whether to support the side of good or evil. Those who fell fighting for good would attain afterlife when Ahriman was defeated and the day of judgment arrived. Sacred books of Zoroastrianism were the Zend-Avesta.

The Persians exercised religious tolerance (examples, Hebrews, Egyptians) and local autonomy so long as tribute payments and military levies were met. They could resort to Assyrian methods of “state terrorism” when challenged. There was an inherent inefficiency and slowness to the response rate of the empire -- Xerxes (486-465) required 3 years to mobilize his invasion of Greece in 481 BC. The Persians were capable, nonetheless, of putting large armies in the field, c. 200,000 men in a field army. Ultimately, they were defeated by the Greeks, but the Persian Empire remained a powerful influence in eastern Mediterranean affairs until the reign of Alexander the Great, who defeated the last Persian king (Darius III) in 331 and absorbed the entire extent of Persian Empire.