Persia map history of the country. The Rise and Kings of the Persian Empire

The Persian Empire, or Achaemenid Empire, existed approximately 550-330 BC. The basis was the Persians. The Persians are one of the Iranian-speaking (Aryan) tribes that came to Iran through the Caucasus or Central Asia around the 15th century BC. e. The main religion of the Persians at that time was Zoroastrianism. Founder Zarathushtra (Zoroaster) It is based on the idea of a struggle between the light god (Ahura Mazda) and the dark god (Ankra-manyu), in the end the light one wins, and man must take his side. The main book is Avesta.

The Achaemenid power, which arose in the 6th century. BC e., included a huge territory - a significant part of Central Asia, the highlands of Iran, part of India, all of Asia Minor and Asia Minor, as well as Egypt. The Persian Empire became involved in complex relationships with the city-states of the Mediterranean, most notably Greece. At times, the Persian state even included the highly developed Greek city-states of Asia Minor - Miletus, Samos, Ephesus and others.

In less than twenty years, Cyrus II created a huge power that included Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, the Iranian Plateau, and Central Asia. Under Cyrus II's son Cambyses, Egypt was annexed to the state, and under his successor Darius, the northwestern regions of India were annexed. It must be said that Cyrus enjoyed the respect of his multilingual subjects: the Iranians called him “father,” and other peoples of the empire revered him as a just and merciful king.

The backbone of the Persian army was infantry. Its elite unit, guarding the king, was called “Immortals”. They were heavily armed, had excellent armor, spears and bows. They were recruited from the Medes, Elamites and Persians. It is believed that their number was 10,000 soldiers. However, they were ineffective against Greek hoplites. Cavalry was also actively used. In the event of a major war, the king convened a huge militia from all the peoples of the empire.

The level of development of individual regions of the Persian state varied greatly. The unification of various countries conquered by the Achaemenids under one power for two centuries could not smooth out these differences either in the economy or in social relations.

However, there were also features common to many areas. One of these features was the spread of iron, which firmly came into use everywhere, even among the peripheral tribes of the Persian Empire, as well as in Egypt, where the Iron Age began only in the 7th - 6th centuries. BC e. Traveled around Egypt in the 5th century. BC e.

In business papyri of the 5th century. BC. iron things are repeatedly mentioned when listing household items. Iron is named after copper as it is cheaper. However, stone tools did not completely disappear at this time, and not only from ritual use, but also from agriculture. Sickles with flint blades were used in Egypt until the 4th - 3rd centuries. BC.

Agriculture, which was the basis of the existence of society at that time, played a paramount role in the Achaemenid empire. The very organization and technology of agriculture was practically no different from previous periods. Almost everywhere the basis of agriculture was artificial irrigation. Therefore, the ruling elite sought to keep the irrigation system in their hands.

In the old cultural regions of Western Asia, along with the labor of community members, the labor of slaves was also widely used in agriculture. In the regions of Iran proper, mainly free community members were engaged in agricultural work. In the steppe regions of Central and Eastern Iran and Central Asia, the main occupation of the nomadic and semi-nomadic population was cattle breeding. Here slavery was poorly developed.

In the Persian monarchy, handicraft production was widespread, and certain areas were famous for one or another type of craft. Cities and temple-urban communities with crafts concentrated in them existed mainly in Babylonia - primarily the city of Babylon itself - as well as in Syria and Palestine, Phenicia and Asia Minor (Greek city-states).

All these cities were simultaneously centers of trade and, to a large extent, political centers. In Iran, there were only residential cities and fortified rural settlements. Crafts here were just beginning to separate from agriculture. The famous palaces of the Persian kings were created by the labor of artisans from various countries. Construction materials and finished parts of the building, even such as columns, were brought from afar.

Trade in the Persian state received significant development. It was partly of a local nature, for example, in the form of exchange between settled and nomadic peoples, but there was also trade between different regions of the state. Trade with neighboring countries was mainly carried out in luxury goods, but also in textiles and some agricultural products, in particular grain and dates.

Trade was carried out along large highways that crossed the country in different directions. Main trade route began in Lydia in Sardis, crossed Asia Minor, reached the crossings on the Euphrates and then went to Babylon. From there several paths led into the interior of the country. One - to Susa and further to the Persian residences of the king, Pasargadae and Persepolis. Another route led from Mesopotamia to Ecbatana, the capital of Media, and further to the eastern satrapies of the state. In the direction from south to north, Western Asia was crossed by a route that went from the trading cities of Syria and Phenicia to the Black Sea and the countries of Transcaucasia. The canal dug under Darius I from the Nile to the Red Sea also played a significant role in trade.

However, commodity relations did not penetrate deeply into the economy of the Achaemenid state. Basically, the state economy remained subsistence. Each of the regions of the Persian monarchy constituted a closed economic whole. The circulation of money only led to the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few traders, moneylenders and senior representatives of the administration. The unified monetary system introduced by Darius in a number of areas, for example, in Egypt and, especially in the eastern part of the state, took root relatively slowly.

The Persian king, members of the royal family and the largest representatives of the Achaemenid administration owned extensive farms that were located in different regions of the state. These farms included both land holdings and craft workshops. They employed people who were designated by the Iranian terms “mania” or in Elamite, “kurtash”.

They consisted mainly of prisoners of war and were branded. In royal households, slaves, in addition to performing agricultural and handicraft work, were used in the construction of palaces. Already from the 5th century. BC. Among the slaves are the poorest strata of the Persian community members, who performed duties for the king and were gradually reduced to the status of slaves.

Those employed in agriculture were settled in villages. For example, in Iran there were entire villages of Greek prisoners of war from one or another city. On royal farms, slaves received subsistence support in the form of sheep and wine, which they partly consumed themselves and partly exchanged for food, clothing and utensils. Part of the Iranian nobility, especially in the eastern regions, led a patriarchal economy. The mass of the Iranian population still consisted of free communal warriors.

The regions subject to the Achaemenid monarchy were actually divided into two groups. One included the vast expanses of Eastern Iran, as well as Central Asia and other peripheral regions, where slavery was still poorly developed, subsistence farming dominated, and many vestiges of the primitive communal system continued to exist.

Next to and interspersed with more developed agricultural areas, the territories of tribes, both sedentary and nomadic, were located here. The most important of the agricultural regions were located in the south of Central Asia and in adjacent parts of Eastern Iran - Hyrcania southeast of the Caspian Sea, Parthia (the central part of Southern Turkmenistan and adjacent parts of Iran, partly inhabited by nomads), Margiana (the valley of the Murghab River ), Areya (Northwestern Afghanistan, Bactria) northern Afghanistan and southern Tajikistan, Sogdiana, which was located north of Bactria, between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the ancient Oxus and Yaxartes, as well as extending far to the north along the lower reaches of the Oxus Khorezm. From the north, these areas were surrounded by steppes inhabited by tribes of nomads - Dakhs, Massagets, Saks.

The other group consisted of the most economically developed Central Asian satrapies of the Achaemenid power. They provided the bulk of income to the Persian kings and were the economic center of the state. From these regions - Asia Minor, Zarechye (regions west of the Tigris River - Syria, Phenicia, Palestine and Northern Mesopotamia), Armenia, Babylonia, Elam, Lydia - the Persian kings received twice as much in taxes as from the rest of the empire.

In the regions of Western Asia, the social relations that had developed during the period of domination of the Assyrians, in the 8th - 7th centuries, were essentially preserved. BC. The main territory, which was the property of the king, was inhabited by community members who did not have the right to leave their community. They were subject to various heavy taxes, duties and duties in favor of the royal treasury. On the same territory were the estates of the king himself and the large Persian nobility. The other part of the land belonged to temples and cities.

In terms of its socio-economic system, Egypt also belonged to this group of regions. But unlike other satrapies, Egypt was least associated with the Persian monarchy. During the VI - IV centuries. For a significant part of the time, Egypt was not under Persian rule at all.

Darius built good roads, guarded them, established postal communications, and began minting a gold coin, the darik, that circulated throughout the empire. Darius became not only the king of the Iranians, but also of other peoples of the empire. Syrian, Phoenician, Babylonian, Indian, Greek - they all now felt not so much as slaves of the king, but as his subjects. Each of them could appeal to the king with a complaint about the improper actions of officials; knew how much taxes he had to pay to the king without being ruined. The supreme power of the Iranian king was recognized even by the proud Greeks who lived in the rich trading cities of Asia Minor, on the coast of the Aegean Sea. Darius was the first of the eastern kings to put his relations with his subjects on a business basis: he gave people peace and prosperity, but took a lot of money for it. He viewed the state he created as a large, complex machine needed by everyone.

For the Ancient East, such a view of things was completely unusual. Unfortunately, Darius's successors on the Iranian throne did not understand how fragile the balance Darius created was. They began to allow the consolidation of official and military positions in one hand, to farm out the collection of taxes to the trading houses of Babylon, and to pointlessly accumulate treasures in their storerooms, depriving the markets of hard cash. Their main mistake was the sesquicentennial conflict with the Greek city-states. Clashes with the Greeks, in fact, began under Darius, but they became more frequent under his son Xerxes. The political system created by Darius was not designed for waging burdensome long-term wars. Her death was a foregone conclusion long before, in 334 BC. Alexander the Great launched a campaign against Iran.

DATES

Around 549 BC e. - The Persians conquered the entire territory of Elam

In 549 - 548 BC. e. - Parthia, Hyrcania and, probably, Armenia, which were previously part of Media, submitted to the Persians

547 BC e. - Lydian troops, led by Croesus, were defeated by Cyrus. The capital of Lydia, Sardis, located in inaccessible territory, fell. Lydia, Lycia and Ionia become separate provinces

539 BC e. - near the city of Opis, on the Tigris River, the Babylonian troops were defeated by the Persians. The Babylonian kingdom was formally preserved, and Babylon became one of the residences of the Persian king. Cyrus II takes the title "King of Babylon, King of Countries." His son Cambyses II becomes the first Persian governor of Babylon

525 BC e. - near the Egyptian city of Pelusium a major battle took place between Persian and Egyptian troops. As a result of this battle, the Egyptians were defeated. Cambyses II was officially recognized as the king of Egypt and took the title "king of Egypt, king of countries"

484 and 482 BC e. - rebellion against Persian rule in Babylon. The autonomy of Babylonia and Babylonian citizenship are eliminated. Babylon becomes part of the Assyrian satrapy, and Palestine and Syria, which were dependent territories, form another satrapy

480 BC e. - the invasion of Greece by the armies of Xerxes. This campaign is known primarily for the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea, which showed the superiority of Greek military art and the heroism of the warriors of Hellas.

404 BC e. - separation of Egypt from the Persian Empire and restoration of independence with the indigenous pharaohs of the XXIX dynasty (404-343 BC).

401-400 BC e. - dynastic struggle in the Persian Empire between King Artaxerxes II Mnemon and the contender for the Persian throne - Artaxerxes' brother, Cyrus the Younger, brought up in Greek traditions, who had Greek mercenaries led by Clearchus. The defeat of Cyrus the Younger at the Battle of Cunax further deepened the crisis.

In 334 BC e. Macedonian king Alexander the Great invaded the Achaemenid state. King Darius III began to suffer defeats.

In 331 BC e. The decisive battle of Gaugamela took place, after which the Persian state ceased to exist. The countries and peoples of the former empire submitted to Alexander the Great.

3 But I
2013

Ancient Persians: fearless, determined, unyielding. They created an empire that for centuries was a symbol of greatness and wealth.

The creation of such a huge empire as the Persian is impossible without military superiority.

The empire of all-powerful, ambitious kings stretched from northern Africa to central Asia. was one of the few who can rightfully be called great. The Persians created amazing, unprecedented engineering structures - luxurious palaces in the middle of a barren desert, roads, bridges and canals. Everyone has heard about the Suez Canal, but who?

Darius channel

But clouds were gathering on the horizon. The age-old struggle with Greece resulted in a clash that turned the course of history and determined the face of the Western world for millennia to come.

Water transfer

330 BC

While they were nomadic, they had no time to seize territory, but with the transition to agriculture they became interested in fertile lands and, naturally, water. The ancient Persians would have left no trace in history if they had not been able to find sources and most importantly, a way to transfer water to their fields. We admire their engineering genius because they took water not from rivers and lakes, but in the most unexpected place -.

in the mountains

Persia arose from nothing solely thanks to human persistence.

Three thousand years ago, ancient Persians roamed the Iranian plateau. Sources of water were rare. Makhandi - engineers, geologists and at the same time - figured out how to give water to the people. Primitive Mahandi tools laid the first stone in the foundation of the Persian Empire - underground canal system , so-called ropes

. They used gravity and the natural slope of the area from to.

First, they dug a vertical shaft and laid a small section of the tunnel, then the next one about a kilometer from the first and drove the tunnel further.

The water source could be 20 or 40 kilometers away. It is impossible to build a tunnel with a constant slope so that it flows into the mountains continuously without knowledge and skills.

The slope angle was constant throughout the entire length of the tunnel and not too large, otherwise the water would erode the base, and naturally, not too small so that the water would not stagnate. 2 thousand years before the legendary Roman aqueducts, the Persians transferred huge masses of water over considerable distances

in dry, hot climates with minimal losses due to evaporation.

- founder of the dynasty. This dynasty reached its peak under the Tsar. To create an empire, Cyrus needed the talents of not only a commander, but also a politician: he knew how to win the favor of the people. Historians call him a humanist, Jews called him Mashiach

- anointed, the people called him father, and the conquered - a just ruler and benefactor.

History changes course, and a new style appears in architecture. Among the rulers who had the greatest influence not on the course of history, Cyrus the Great was one of the few who deserves this epithet: he worthy to be called Great.

The empire that Cyrus created was largest empire of the ancient world, if not the largest in human history.

By 554 BC. Cyrus crushed all his rivals and became sole ruler of Persia. All that remained was to conquer the whole world.

But first of all, it befits a great emperor to have a brilliant capital. In 550 BC. Cyrus embarks on a project the likes of which the Ancient World has never known: builds the first capital of the Persian Empire in what is now Iran.

Cyrus was innovative builder and very talented. In his projects, he skillfully applied the experience accumulated during his campaigns of conquest.

Like the later Romans, Persians borrowed ideas from conquered peoples and based on them they created their own new technologies. In Pasargadae we find motifs inherent in the cultures of, and.

Stonemasons, carpenters, brick and relief craftsmen were brought to the capital from all over the empire. Today, two and a half thousand years later, ancient ruins are all that remains of Persia's first magnificent capital.

The two palaces in the center of Pasargadae were surrounded by flowering gardens and extensive regular parks. This is where they arose "paradisias"– parks with a rectangular layout. In the gardens, canals with a total length of a thousand meters were laid, lined with stone. There were swimming pools every fifteen meters. For two thousand years, the best parks in the world were created on the model of the “paradises” of Pasargadae.

In Pasargadae, for the first time, parks appeared with geometrically regular rectangular areas, with flowers, cypress trees, meadow grasses and other vegetation, as in current parks.

While Pasargadae was being built, Cyrus annexed one kingdom after another. But Cyrus was not like other kings: he did not turn the vanquished into slavery. By the standards of the Ancient World, this is unheard of.

He recognized the right of the vanquished to have their own faith and did not interfere with their religious rites.

In 539 BC Cyrus took Babylon, but not as an invader, but as a liberator who rescued the people from under the yoke of a tyrant. He did the unheard of - he freed the Jews from captivity, in which they had been since he destroyed. Cyrus freed them. In today's parlance, Cyrus needed a buffer state between his empire and his enemy, Egypt. So what? The main thing is that no one had done anything like this before him, and very few since. It’s not for nothing that in the Bible he is the only non-Jew called Moshiach - .

As one eminent Oxford scholar said: “The press spoke well of Cyrus.”

But, not having time to turn Persia into the only superpower of the Ancient world, in 530 BC Cyrus the Great dies in battle.

He lived too little and did not have time to prove himself in peaceful conditions. The same thing happened with, he also defeated his enemies, but was also killed before he could consolidate the empire.

By the time of the death of Cyrus, Persia had three capitals:, and. But He was buried in Pasargadae, in a tomb befitting his character.

Cyrus did not pursue honors, he neglected them. His tomb does not have elaborate decorations: it is very simple, but elegant.

The tomb of Cyrus was built using the same technology that was used in the West. With the help of ropes and embankments, hewn blocks of stone were laid one on top of the other. Its height is 11 meters.

- a very simple, deliberately modest monument to the creator of the largest empire of its time. It is perfectly preserved, considering that it was built 25 centuries ago.

Persepolis - a monument to the greatness and glory of Persia

For three decades, no one and nothing could resist Cyrus the Great. When the throne was empty, the power vacuum plunged the Ancient World into chaos.

In 530 BC, Cyrus the Great, the architect of the greatest empire of the Ancient World, dies. The future of Persia is shrouded in darkness. A fierce struggle begins between the contenders.

In the end, comes to power distant relative of Cyrus, an outstanding commander. He restores law and order in the Persian Empire with an iron fist. His name is . He will become the greatest king of Persia and one of the greatest builders of all time.

He immediately gets down to business and rebuilds the old capital of Susa. Builds palaces lined with glazed tiles. The splendor of Susa is even mentioned in the Bible.

But the new king needed a new official capital. 518 BC Darius begins to implement the most ambitious project of the Ancient World. Not far from the present one he is building, which in Greek means "City of the Persians". All palaces are built on a single stone platform to emphasize the inviolability of the empire.

A gigantic area of one hundred and twenty-five thousand square meters. He had to change the terrain: tear down elevations and erect retaining walls. He wanted the city to be visible from afar, so he placed it on a platform. It gave the city a unique, majestic appearance.

Persepolis – unique engineering structure with walls 18 meters long and 10 meters thick and halls with fancy columns.

Workers were brought from all corners of the empire. Most ancient empires were built on slave labor, but Darius, like Cyrus, preferred to pay those who built the palaces.

Workers set production standards, women also worked here. The norm was set depending on strength and qualifications, and they were paid accordingly.

He spent not in vain: Persepolis became monument to the greatness and glory of Persia.

We must not forget about the origin of the Persians: their ancestors were nomads and lived in tents. When leaving the parking lot, they took the tents with them. Tents have firmly become a tradition.

The palaces of Persepolis are tents clad in stone. Abadan- this is nothing more than a stone tent. Abadana is the name given to the front hall of Darius.

The monumental stone columns are inspired by the memory of wooden poles that supported the canvas roofing of the tents. But here, instead of canvas, we see exquisite cedar. The nomadic past influenced the architecture of the Persians, but not only it.

The palaces were decorated with gold and silver, carpets and glazed tiles. The walls were covered with reliefs, on them we see peaceful processions of conquered countries.

But the engineering structures of Persepolis were not limited to the city limits. It contained water supply and sewerage system, the first in the ancient world.

Darius' engineers started by creating drainage system, laid the sewer pipes and only then built the platform. Clean water came through the ropes, and waste water left through the sewer. The entire system was underground and not visible from the outside.

"Royal Way" and Darius Canal

The implementation of grandiose projects for the glory of the empire did not prevent Darius from expanding its borders. Under Darius, the Persian Empire reached mind-boggling proportions: Iran and Pakistan, Armenia, Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Central Asia all the way to India.

Two projects of Darius made the empire unified: one, two and a half thousand kilometers long, connected remote provinces, the second - the Red Sea with the Mediterranean.

Under Darius the Great Persian the empire reached enormous proportions. He decided to strengthen its unity by connecting distant provinces with each other.

515 BC Darius orders to build a road which will pass across the empire from Egypt to India. The road, two and a half thousand kilometers long, was named.

An outstanding piece of engineering, the road through mountains, forests and deserts was built to last. They didn’t have asphalt, but they knew how to compact gravel and crushed stone.

Hard surfaces are especially important where groundwater is not deep. To prevent feet from slipping and carts from getting stuck in the mud, the road was laid along an embankment.

First, a “cushion” was laid, which either absorbed or drained groundwater away from the road.

On the “Royal Route” there were 111 outposts every 30 kilometers, where travelers could rest and change horses. The entire length of the road was guarded.

But that is not all. Darius needed to control such a remote territory as northern Africa, so he decided to pave the way there too. Its engineers developed the project channel between the Mediterranean and Red Seas.

The builders of Darius, experts in hydrology, first dug a canal using tools made of bronze and iron, then cleared it of sand and lined it with stone. The way was open for the ships.

The construction of the canal lasted 7 years, and it was built mainly by Egyptian diggers and masons.

In some places, the canal between the Nile and the Red Sea was, in fact, not a waterway, but a paved road: ships were dragged across the hills, and when the terrain became lower, they were launched again.

The words of Darius are known: “I, Darius, King of Kings, conqueror of Egypt, built this canal.” He connected the Red Sea to the Nile and proudly declared: “Ships went along my channel.”

By the beginning of the fifth century BC, Persia had become the greatest empire in history. Its grandeur surpassed that of Rome in its heyday four centuries later.. Persia was invincible, its expansion caused alarm among a young culture that had entered a phase of expansion - the Greek city-states.

Black Sea. The strait is a narrow strip of water that connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. On one side of the coast is Asia, and on the other is Europe. In 494 BC. An uprising broke out on the Turkish coast. The rebels were supported by Athens, and Darius decided to teach them a lesson - to go to war against them. But how? Athens across the sea...

He's building across the strait pontoon bridge. writes that 70 thousand soldiers entered Greece over this bridge. Fantastic!

Persian engineers placed many boats side by side across the Bosphorus, they became the basis of the bridge. And then they laid a road on top and connected Asia with Europe.

Probably, for safety, a layer of compacted earth and even, possibly, logs was laid under the plank flooring. To prevent the boats from rocking on the waves and being carried away, they held by anchors strictly defined weight.

The flooring was solid, otherwise it would not have withstood the weight of many warriors and the blows of the waves. An amazing structure for an era when there were no computers!

Darius the Great

In August 490 BC. Darius captured Macedonia and walked up to Marathon, where he was met by the united army and under the command.

The Persian army numbered 60, 140 or 250 thousand people - depending on who you believe. In any case, there were 10 times fewer Greeks, they needed reinforcements.

The legendary messenger ran the distance from Marathon to in 2 days. Have you heard about?

The two armies stood face to face on a wide plain. In an open battle, the outnumbered Persians would simply crush the Greeks. This was the beginning of the Persian wars.

Part of the Greek troops launched an attack on the Persians; it was not difficult for the Persians to defeat them. But the main army of the Greeks was divided into two detachments: they attacked the Persians from the flanks.

The Persians fell into a meat grinder. After suffering heavy losses, they retreated. For the Greeks this was a great victory, for the Persians it was just an unfortunate bump in the road to world domination.

Darius decided to return home to his beloved capital Persepolis, but never returned: in 486 BC. on the march to Egypt Darius dies.

He left behind an empire that redefined what glory and greatness were. He prevented chaos by naming a successor in advance - his son.

Xerxes - the last of the Achaemenid dynasty

To stand on par with the innovator Cyrus and the expansionist Darius is no easy task. But Xerxes had a remarkable quality: he knew how to wait. He suppressed one uprising in Babylon, another in Egypt, and only then went to Greece. The Greeks were a bone in his throat.

Some historians say that he launched a preemptive strike, others that he wanted to complete the work begun by his father. Be that as it may, after Battle of Marathon The Greeks no longer feared the Persians. Therefore, I enlisted support, this is in the current situation, and decided attack the Greeks from the sea.

480 BC. The Persian Empire is at the peak of its glory, it is huge, strong and incredibly rich. Ten years have passed since the Greeks defeated Darius the Great at Marathon. Power is in the hands of Darius’ son, Xerxes, the last great monarch of the Achaemenid dynasty.

Xerxes wants revenge. Greece is becoming a serious opponent. The union of city-states is fragile: they are too different - from democracy to tyranny. But they have one thing in common - hatred of Persia. The ancient world is on the verge Second Persian War. Its outcome will lay the foundation of the modern world.

The Greeks traditionally called everyone except themselves barbarians. The rivalry between East and West began with the confrontation between Persia and Greece.

In the Persian invasion of Greece, more than ever before in military history, it was used to solve a strategic problem. engineering. The operation, which combined land and sea operations, required new engineering solutions.

Xerxes decided to enter Greece along the isthmus near Mt. Athos. But the sea was too stormy, and Xerxes ordered build a canal across the isthmus. Thanks to considerable experience and labor reserves, the canal was built in just 6 months.

To this day, their decision remains in military history. one of the most outstanding engineering projects. Taking advantage of his father’s experience, Xerxes ordered to build pontoon bridge through the Hellespont. This engineering project was much larger than the bridge built by Darius on the Bosphorus.

674 ships were used as pontoons. How to ensure the reliability of the design? A challenging engineering challenge! The Bosphorus is not a quiet harbor; the waves there can be quite strong.

The ships were held in place using a special system of ropes. The two longest cables stretched from Europe to Asia itself. At the same time, we must not forget that many soldiers, perhaps up to 240 thousand, had to cross the bridge.

The ropes made the structure quite flexible, which is necessary during waves. Each section of the bridge consisted of two ships connected by a platform. Such a bridge held the shock of waves and absorbed their energy.

Persian engineers connected the ships with a platform, and the road itself was laid on top of it. Gradually, plank by plank, a reliable road grew across the Hellespont on supports made of warships.

We should not forget that the road supported the weight of not only foot soldiers, but also tens of thousands of horsemen, including heavy cavalry. The reliability of the floating structure allowed Xerxes to transfer troops to Europe and back as needed: the bridge was not dismantled.

For some time, Europe and Asia were one.

After 10 days the bridge was ready. Xerxes entered Europe. A huge number of foot soldiers and heavy cavalry passed across the bridge. It withstood not only the weight of the army, but also the pressure of the waves of the Bosphorus.

Xerxes' plan was simple: use numerical superiority on land and at sea.

And again the army of the Greeks headed by Themistocles. He understood that he could not defeat the Persians on land, and he decided lure the Persian fleet into a trap.

Secretly from the Persians, Themistocles withdrew the main forces, leaving a detachment of 6 thousand Spartans for cover.

In August 480 BC. the opponents converged in a space so narrow that two chariots could not pass each other in it.

A huge Persian army was stuck in the gorge for several days, which is what the Greeks were counting on. They outwitted Xerxes like his father before.

At the cost of huge losses, the Persians broke through Thermopylae, destroying the Spartans whom Themistocles sacrificed, and let's go to Athens.

But when Xerxes entered Athens, the city was empty. Xerxes realized that he had been deceived and decided to take revenge on the Athenians.

For centuries, mercy to the vanquished was the hallmark of Persian kings. But not this time: it’s not at all Persian burned Athens to the ground. And right there repented.

The next day he ordered the rebuilding of Athens. But it’s too late: what’s done is done. Two centuries later, his anger brought disaster to Persia itself.

But the war was not over. Themistocles prepared a new trap for the Persians: he lured the Persian fleet into a narrow bay near and suddenly attacked the Persians.

Numerous Persian ships interfered with each other and could not maneuver. The heavy Greeks rammed the light Persians one after another.

This the battle decided the outcome of the war: defeated Xerxes retreated. From now on, the Persian Empire was no longer invincible.

He decided revive the "golden days" of Persia. He returned to the project started by his grandfather, Darius. Four decades after its founding, Persepolis was still unfinished. Artaxerxes personally oversaw the construction of the last great engineering project of the Persian Empire. Today we call him "Hall of a Hundred Columns".

The hall, measuring sixty by sixty meters, represented in plan almost perfect square. The most amazing thing about the columns of Persepolis is that if you mentally continue them upward, they will go tens and hundreds of meters into the sky. They are perfect, not the slightest deviation from the vertical. And they had only primitive tools at their disposal: stone hammers and bronze chisels. That's all! Meanwhile the columns of Persepolis are perfect. Real masters of their craft worked on them. Each column consists of seven to eight drums stacked one on top of the other. Scaffolding was erected near the column, and the drums were lifted using a wooden crane like a well crane.”

Any satrap, any ambassador of a given country, and indeed any person came to admiration at the sight of a forest of columns stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see.”

Engineering structures that were unheard of by the standards of the Ancient World were built throughout all empires.

In 353 BC. The wife of the ruler of one of the provinces began building a tomb for her dying husband. Her creation became not only a miracle of engineering, but also one of Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. , mausoleum.

The height of the majestic marble structure exceeded 40 meters. Stairs rose along the pyramidal roof - steps “to heaven”.

Two and a half thousand years later, a mausoleum was built on the model of this mausoleum in New York.

Fall of the Persian Empire

By the 4th century BC. The Persians remained the best engineers in the world. But the foundation under the ideal columns and luxurious palaces began to shake: the enemies of the empire were at the doorstep.

Athens supports uprising in Egypt. Greeks are included in Memphis. Artaxerxes starts the war, throws the Greeks out of Memphis and restores Persian rule in Egypt.

It was last major victory of the Persian Empire. In 424 BC Artaxerxes dies. Anarchy in the country has continued for no less than eight decades.

While Persia is busy with intrigue and civil strife, the young king of Macedonia studies Herodotus and the chronicles of the reign of the hero of Persia - Cyrus the Great. Even then it begins to dawn on him dream of conquering the whole world. His name is .

In 336 BC, a distant relative of Artaxerxes comes to power and takes the royal name. He will be called the King Who Lost the Empire.

Over the next four years, Alexander and Darius the Third met more than once in fierce battles. Darius's troops retreated step by step.

In 330 BC, Alexander approached the jewel in the imperial crown of Persia - Persepolis.

Alexander received from the Persians policy of mercy to the vanquished: He forbade his soldiers to plunder conquered countries. But how to keep them after defeating the greatest empire in the world? Maybe they were too excited, maybe they showed disobedience, or maybe they remembered how the Persians burned Athens?

Be that as it may, in Persepolis they behaved differently: they celebrated the victory, and what is a holiday without robbery?

The celebrations ended with the most famous arson in history: Persepolis was burned.

Alexander was not a destroyer. Perhaps the burning of Persepolis was a symbolic act: he burned the city as a symbol, and not for the sake of destruction itself.

The houses had a lot of draperies and carpets; the fire could have started accidentally. Why would a man who declared himself an Achaemenid burn Persepolis? There were no fire engines at that time, the fire quickly spread throughout the city and it was impossible to extinguish it.

Darius the Third managed to escape, but in the summer of 330 BC he was killed by one from the allies. The Achaemenid dynasty ended.

Alexander gave Darius the Third a magnificent funeral and later married his daughter.

Alexander proclaimed himself an Achaemenid- the king of the Persians and wrote the last chapter in the history of a gigantic empire that lasted 2,700 years.

Alexander found the murderers of Darius and delivered him from death with his own hand. He believed that only the king has the right to kill the king. But would he have killed Darius? Maybe not, because Alexander did not create an empire, but captured one that already existed. And Cyrus the Great created it.

Alexander could make his own an empire that existed long before his birth. And after his death, the cultural and engineering achievements of Persia would become the property of all mankind.

At the end of the 7th - beginning of the 6th centuries. BC. As a result of the defeat, Urartu captured vast areas of Western Asia from the Galisa River in Asia Minor to the deserts of Central Iran. The association she created, along with the areas of old civilizations, also included a number of territories that were inhabited by tribes that lived in conditions of a primitive communal system or had recently switched to a class society.

Among such territories was Persida(modern Farce), located in the southwest of the Iranian plateau. An early class society developed here, with its characteristic transformation of the tribal nobility into slave owners who sought military spoils and conquests.

Taking advantage of the conflict between the Median king Astyages and the Median nobility, dissatisfied with his policy of centralizing power, the Persian King Cyrus II (Kurush) as a result of a three-year war in 550, he seized power over the entire country. Thus, the Median Empire was replaced by the Persian Empire.

After defeating Astyages, Cyrus II united the entire west of Iran. He created a strong army, which was recruited mainly from free community members. In ancient Persian the army was called “ punishment" “Kara” also meant “people”. This expressed the peculiarity of the social system of Persia, which still retained, like other regions of Ancient Iran, vestiges of communal orders.

For a long time, Cyrus was praised as the organizer of an army that for two centuries did not know defeat and subjugated the entire Near and Middle East. This turned out to be possible despite the comparative small number of the Persians and Medes, whose total number did not reach a million.

The victories of the Persian army were facilitated to a certain extent by the fact that the city nobility, temples and trading circles of the ancient states of the Eastern Mediterranean were interested in creating such an association that would contribute to the expansion of trade.

The anti-Persian alliance concluded in 547 BC was a complete failure. between Asia Minor, Babylonia and Egypt. The failure was largely due to the betrayal of the overwhelming majority of the ruling elite of the allied countries. After the victory on the Lydian border in 546, Cyrus' troops occupied the territory of the Lydian state and captured its capital Sardis. Cyrus then subjugated the Greek city-states on the western coast of the peninsula.

After the conquest of Asia Minor, Cyrus launched an attack on Babylonia. Babylon was turned into a powerful fortress, practically impregnable for the military equipment of that time. Cyrus sought to gradually cut off Babylon from the outside world and thereby deal a blow to the trade that Babylon conducted in the east with Western Iran, and in the west with, and.

The Greek historian Herodotus and the Babylonian historian Berossus testify that Cyrus launched a direct attack on Babylonia after “he had conquered all Asia.” The Egyptian pharaoh Amasis failed to provide any serious military assistance to his ally, the Babylonian king. Nabonidus.

With the cessation of foreign trade, a group strengthened among the Babylonian ruling elite, which, for the sake of economic benefits, was ready to renounce the independence of the Babylonian state and come to terms with its inclusion in the Persian Empire. The mercenary units of the Babylonian army also turned out to be unreliable.

Despite all this, part of the Babylonian nobility associated with the army decided to resist the aggressor. The son of Nabonidus was placed at the head of the Babylonian army Belshazzar(Belsharrusur). In 538, Cyrus managed to capture the main part of Babylon; only the central, especially fortified part of the city, in which Belshazzar settled with a selected military detachment, resisted him for some time.

After the fall of Babylon, Cyrus set out to conquer the last of the great ancient states that were once part of the Assyrian power - Egypt. However, at this time Egypt was a strong and fairly united state, so the conquest of the Nile Valley was not an easy task. Cyrus began careful preparations for the invasion of Egypt. For this purpose, he returned to their homeland the Jews and Phoenicians, who had been in Babylonian captivity since the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar. He allowed the Jews to restore the city of Jerusalem, to which he granted autonomy. Thus, Judea turned into a convenient springboard for an attack on Egypt. By returning the captured Phoenicians, Cyrus hoped to win over the coastal city-states of Phenicia, which could assist him with a fleet in the upcoming war with the Egyptians.

Cyrus well understood the complexity of his campaign against Egypt, which could distract his main military forces for a long time, so he decided to first conquer Bactria and secure the eastern borders of the empire from the invasion of nomads.

After the capture of Babylon, Cyrus undertook a series of campaigns against the nomadic tribes of the Central Asian steppes. Success accompanied him as long as he limited the goals of his military expeditions to repelling the raids of nomads. When did he try to include tribes in his empire? Sakov-Massagetae, roamed the steppes east of the Aral Sea, then met stubborn resistance.

In one of the battles in 529 BC. Cyrus was defeated and killed. Power passed into the hands of his son Cambyses(in Persian - Kambujia), who was already his co-ruler during his father’s lifetime.

The accession to the throne occurred after a heavy defeat inflicted on the Persians by the Massaget Sakas.

Map of the original Persian territories and the territory of the Persian Empire after the conquests of Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses

The conquests of the Persian king Cambyses

Despite the severity of the defeat, Cyrus' successor, King Cambyses, managed to protect the borders of the eastern regions of his power from the danger of invasion by nomads. After this, he began to carry out a campaign in Egypt. At the end of 527, Cambyses sent his main forces to the west and stopped for some time in Judea. The Phoenician city-states also began preparing their fleet. Several ships were also sent by the cities of the island of Cyprus and the ruler of the Greek island of Samos, Polycrates.

Having learned from one of the commanders of the Greek mercenaries in Egypt, Fanet, about the dissatisfaction of the Egyptian nobility and priesthood with the internal policies of Pharaoh Amasis, who relied on the army in an effort to strengthen his sole power, Cambyses tried to establish relations with some of the representatives of the Egyptian nobility.

The Persian king also attracted to his side the Arab tribes that roamed the steppes and deserts between Southern Palestine and Egypt. Cambyses obliged them to provide assistance to the Persian army during the transition through their areas.

The help of the Arab nomads turned out to be very useful when in 525 the army of Cambyses set out on a campaign against Egypt. At this time the pharaoh dies Amasis. His son took the throne Psammetichus III. The decisive battle took place on the Egyptian border at Pelusium. Having suffered heavy losses, the Egyptian army retreated to Memphis and put up their last resistance here, but after some time they were forced to surrender to the mercy of the winner.

During the capture of Memphis, the Persians also captured Pharaoh Psammetichus III with his family and entourage. The entire Nile valley up to Elephantine submitted to the Persian king. Such a quick victory over Egypt was due to the betrayal of the Egyptian nobility and priesthood. The head of the traitors was Ujagorresent, who commanded the naval forces of Egypt at that time.

Ujagorresent opened the sea coast for the Phoenician fleet, which thanks to this was able to freely penetrate along the branches of the Nile into the depths of the Delta and subjugate it to Cambyses. In his autobiographical inscription, Udjagorresent is silent about the actions of the naval forces of Egypt and speaks only about the time when Cambyses’ power over the Nile Valley had already been established and the Persian, who became a pharaoh, ordered him “to be a friend and steward of the palace.”

For the representative of the Egyptian nobility Ujagorresent, the foreigner Cambyses who came from the east was the same desirable king as his father Cyrus was for the ruling elite of Babylonia.

The Libyan tribes living west of Egypt were frightened by the rapid victory of Cambyses over the Egyptians. The Libyans voluntarily recognized the dominance of the Persian king and sent him gifts. Having thus strengthened his power in the Nile Valley and in the adjacent areas, Cambyses made an attempt to move further west, into the possessions of Carthage, and south, into the Ethiopian kingdom.

Forced to abandon the attack on Carthage from the sea, because, according to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Phoenicians did not want to “go to war against their own children,” Cambyses decided to carry out a campaign by land. For this purpose, he prepared a military expedition to the northwestern part of the Libyan desert - to the oasis of Amun, which opened the route to Cyrenaica and Carthage.

This campaign of Cambyses ended in complete disaster. The Persian army died on the way as a result of a sandstorm. The campaign against the Ethiopian kingdom also ended unsuccessfully. Suffering heavy losses both from heat and thirst, and due to the resistance of the Ethiopians, Cambyses' army was forced to retreat.

As a result of the defeat in the Ethiopian war, rumors arose in Egypt about the death of the Persian king. These rumors led to unrest and uprisings, in which Psammetichus III, who was in honorable captivity in Memphis, was also involved.

Returning from the campaign, Cambyses dealt harshly with those who opposed his power. The Ujagorrecenta inscription reports “the greatest rage of the king..., the like of which had never been seen.” Cambyses put Psammetichus to death and ordered the names and titles of members of the pharaoh's family to be erased from the sarcophagi. He also ordered the destruction of those temples whose priesthood took part in the uprising.

But it was not only the unrest among the Egyptian population that explained the indescribable rage of Cambyses. In connection with rumors of his death in the Persian army left by Cambyses in the Nile Valley under the command of his younger brother Bardia, they began to look at the latter as a king.

Therefore, after the return of Cambyses from the Ethiopian kingdom, Bardiya was sent to Persia and secretly killed there. Fearing a conspiracy in the army, the top of which was dissatisfied with the despotism of the king, Cambyses put to death several other noble Persians.

Gaumata coup d'état and restoration of the Achaemenid dynasty

Soon after Bardiya's death, Cambyses received disturbing news from Iran, where an impostor had appeared, calling himself Bardiya. The impostor was a certain magician Gaumata. The Behistun inscription, which tells about these events, reports that when in 522 BC. Gaumata declared himself Bardiya, “The whole people rebelled and moved from Cambyses to him, both Media and other countries. Gaumata has seized the kingdom.”

However, the movement led by Gaumata began a little earlier, and not in Persia, but in Media. According to Herodotus, the usurpation of royal power by an impostor magician was considered as a transfer of power in the state from the Persians back to the Medes. The death of Cambyses, who died under mysterious circumstances in July 522 on the way from Egypt to Iran, strengthened the power of Gaumata.

Due to the scarcity of sources, it is impossible to find out the true reason for the impostor’s success. The usurping magician was a representative of the Median priesthood. Gaumata ordered the destruction of sanctuaries - centers of tribal culture - and took away pastures, property and "domestic people" (as researchers believe, slaves) from punishment "in communities".

In the interests of the Median nobility, Gaumata tried to destroy the still surviving communal organization of Persida in order to harm the Persian communal warriors. However, the significance of Gaumata's coup was not limited to this. Diverse and contradictory interests intertwined in a complex power. Herodotus reports that “the magician sent out an order to all the peoples of his kingdom about freedom from military service and from taxes for three years” and that when he died, “everyone in Asia regretted him, with the exception of the Persians themselves.”

The peoples of the countries conquered by Cyrus and Cambyses and individual factions of the ruling elite were embittered by heavy exactions and various duties in favor of the Persian state and supported Gaumata. At the same time, it was the policy of Gaumata, which differed little from the policy of the Achaemenids, that led to the uprising of the masses in Margiana.

The greatest dissatisfaction with the reforms of the False Bardiy was caused by the troops of Western Iran and the Persian nobility, which adjoined the royal family of the Achaemenids. The forces hostile to the impostor in western Iran were led by a 27-year-old military leader Darius, son of Hystaspes (in Persian - Darayavaush, son of Vishtaspa), representative of the younger branch of the Achaemenid royal family. With the help of six other representatives of the Persian tribal nobility, Darius organized the murder of the magician Gaumata in Media in the same 522 BC.

Upon his accession to the throne, Darius restored the ancestral sanctuaries of the Persians, destroyed by the impostor, and returned pastures and cattle taken from punishment. He returned the privileged position to the army, in which all the free people of Western Iran served, and deprived those conquered by Cyrus and Cambyses of the benefits that had been granted to them by the impostor.

On the Behistun rock, Darius immortalized the events of the beginning of his reign. This rock is the last spur of the mountain range that borders the valley of Kermanshah on the east, north of ancient Elam. Here, at a high altitude, a large inscription of 400 lines in Old Persian and its translations into Elamite and Akkadian were carved in cuneiform syllabary. Above the inscriptions is a relief depicting Darius triumphant over the bound magician Gaumata and eight leaders of the rebellious regions.

The return of the Achaemenid dynasty to a dominant position caused the uprising of a number of western regions of the state, primarily Babylonia. Elam soon submitted, but the revolt in Babylonia took several months to put down. Meanwhile, Elam, Media, Egypt and Parthia again fell away from Darius. Among the rebellious regions, Margiana is also named in the Behistun inscription.

The uprisings in the east of the Achaemenid Empire were different from those in the west. The riots in the west of the empire did not result in truly popular movements. This is evidenced by relatively small losses during their suppression. At the same time, in the east, Darius had to deal with a truly popular uprising against the nobility, which broke out in Margiana even under Gaumata.

In December 522, Margiana was defeated with boundless cruelty. The area rebellious to Darius was literally drenched in blood. The number of executed rebels exceeded 55 thousand people. 6,572 rebels were captured.

In the Behistun Inscription, Darius boastfully states that in just one year he won 19 victories, captured 9 “kings” and completely restored the Persian state.

State apparatus of the Persian Empire

If we keep in mind the reign of Cyrus II and Cambyses, then we can only talk about the military rule of the Persians over the conquered countries. According to Herodotus, “during the reign of Cyrus and then Cambyses in Persia there was no specific tax at all, but subjects brought gifts.” The Persian state was a fragile conglomerate of nationalities and tribes, which differed significantly in their level of development, forms of economic life, language and culture. In the western part of the empire, slave-owning relations dominated, and in the eastern part, many tribes still lived under the conditions of a primitive communal system.

The word “gifts” meant arbitrary levies, and not taxes firmly established by the permanent administrative apparatus. It was the lack of administration that led to such a rapid collapse of the Persian Empire after the death of Cambyses and Gaumata.

The introduction of a stable administrative system for governing the conquered countries is attributed to Darius I. The reforms carried out by Darius at the beginning of his reign were aimed at maximizing the strengthening of central power. Relying on the army, Darius achieved this goal. The character of the Persian monarchy clearly appears in one of the inscriptions compiled during the reign of Darius - in the so-called Nakshirustem inscription “B”, which is an apology for one-man rule.

Now only the king had the right to reward and punish. Disobedience to the “king of kings” threatened even the most noble Persians with cruel punishments. Thus, one of the six participants in the conspiracy against Gaumata was sentenced to death for neglecting the strict court ceremonial, contrary to Darius’ promise to “protect” the accomplices in Gaumata’s murder.

The population of Persia proper occupied an exceptional position in the Achaemenid state. The state apparatus and privileged units of the army were recruited primarily from Persians, therefore not only the Persian nobility, but to a certain extent also the Persian community members supported the royal power.

The basis of the budget of the Persian monarchy was made up of state taxes, as well as the income of the royal economy. The income of the Persian king, fabulous in the eyes of Greek historians, was used to maintain the magnificent royal court with its entire court staff, luxurious palaces and gardens.

The extensive bureaucratic staff also required large expenses, in particular, the royal office with numerous scribes who knew the various languages spoken in the empire, and an archive where office documents were stored.

At the head of the administrative apparatus was a council of seven noble nobles, which included participants in the conspiracy against Gaumata or their successors and, in addition, the highest dignitary of the state, who was called the commander of a thousand.

The intermediate link between the central administration and the regional administration was a major dignitary, who bore a very characteristic title - “the eye of the king,” as well as his assistants, who were called just as figuratively - “the eyes and ears of the king.”

Persian satrapies

Babylonia paid 1000, and Egypt - 700 talents of silver into the state treasury. Persia alone was exempt from taxes, and under Darius I, from construction and transport work, in which the population of other satrapies was involved. The total tax received annually from all satrapies was equal to 14,560 talents (over 400 tons) of silver. The entire state under Darius was divided into 20 regions - satrapies, each of which had to pay a certain amount of talents of silver as tax.

Only the satrapy of India, subjugated in the early years of Darius's reign, paid the tax not in silver, but in gold.

Under Darius and his successors this enormous amount of precious metal was largely accumulated as treasure. Herodotus reports that the metal received in the form of taxes was melted, and “The vessels were filled, then the clay shell was removed. Whenever money is needed, the king orders to cut off as much metal as he needs.”. Because Darius established a certain tax, the Persians called him a trader.

Satrap- the ruler of the region - was the unlimited ruler of its civilian population. Usually the satraps were noble Persians, but some regions, with the permission of the king, were headed by their former rulers. For example, in Egypt, in some places, old monarchs were preserved, who were essentially Persian governors. In all important matters they unconditionally submitted to the will of the satrap.

The main task of the satraps was to immediately ensure the execution of the king's orders and the regular receipt of taxes into the royal treasury. In his monarchy, Darius established a more complex and more clearly operating tax mechanism than that which existed in Assyria, although the Assyrian kings boasted in their inscriptions of the “heavy tribute” they imposed on the conquered peoples.

The taxes existing in the monarchy of Darius were a real disaster for almost all segments of the population.

The severity of taxes was aggravated by the way they were collected. The Persian state systematically farmed out the collection of taxes. Under this system, the tax farmer, who paid a set amount of taxes in advance, received for this the right to collect a significantly larger amount from the population.

Groups of rich people acted as tax farmers, for example, in Babylonia - representatives of the Murashu trading and usurious family. Archival documents of this kind eloquently testify to the farming methods of tax farmers.

Thus, in one document from 425 BC. It is reported that Murashu's agents destroyed two large settlements and a number of smaller settlements during the collection of taxes. Things got to the point that the Persian official Bagadat, who was in charge of the affairs of the affected settlements, sued these agents. The representative of the Murashu trading family protested the accusation, but “for the sake of peace,” in order to avoid a lawsuit, agreed to give Bagadat 350 measures of barley, 1 measure of spelt, 50 measures of wheat, 50 vessels of old and the same number of vessels of new date vodka, 200 measures of dates, 200 heads small livestock, 20 head of cattle and 5 talents of wool. Bagadata accepted this huge bribe and agreed to hush up the court case he raised.

This document, along with others similar to it, testifies to the complete defenselessness of the population in the Achaemenid state.

While maintaining the almost unlimited power of the satraps over the local population, Darius at the same time subordinated all the military garrisons located in the major cities of the satrapies to special military leaders completely uncontrollable by the satraps. Thus, the mutual control necessary for the central government was ensured, about which the Greek historian Xenophon reports the following: “If the military leader does not sufficiently protect the country, the chief of the (civilian) inhabitants and the manager of the cultivation of the land informs that it is impossible to work due to the lack of protection. If a military commander ensures peace, and the commander’s cultivated land is sparsely populated and uncultivated, then the military commander denounces the latter.”. Such control over the activities of the satraps was supposed to counteract their separatist aspirations.

The activities of the satrap were also controlled by the royal scribe assigned to him. In border governorships, for example, in Egypt and Asia Minor, the satrap was also a military leader. In such cases, the royal scribe remained the only observer of the satrap's activities.

Above all the military leaders of the individual satrapies there were five main military commanders, each of whom was subordinate to the main military forces of several satrapies. During the time of Darius I, the reliable core of the army was made up of Persian infantry and cavalry. Aware of the importance of the Persian people-army (punishment) for the security of the empire, Darius bequeathed to his successors: “If you think like this: I don’t want to be afraid of the enemy, then protect this people (Persian)”.

Along with the Persians, the army was replenished with Medes, representatives of eastern Iranian tribes and, finally, with units recruited from other conquered regions. Persian military leaders ensured that local natives were not included in the garrisons of the satrapies' fortresses.

Numerous papyri from the end of the 5th century have been preserved. BC. from Elephantine in Egypt, where there was a large border fortress. The papyri were written in and represent the archive of the Jewish community, some of whose members were in the garrison of the local fortress.

The Egyptians were not part of the garrison of the Elephantine fortress, and the admission of Egyptian soldiers into its boundaries was even considered a crime. There were few Persians and Iranians in general in Elephantine. They consisted mainly of the command staff of the garrison.

Administration of the Persian Empire

The vast Persian empire needed good roads - firstly, it was necessary to maintain constant communication with various parts of the empire, and secondly, to be able to quickly transfer troops to the unruly region. For these reasons, ancient Persian roads were no worse than ancient Roman ones.

Herodotus, who traveled along these roads and had the opportunity to get acquainted with a number of regions of Western Asia, described in detail the so-called “royal road” that connected Ephesus on the western coast of Asia Minor with Suzami- the main residence of the king in the distant past. In order to keep the population in obedience in a peaceful environment, the Persians had sufficient military forces in the satrapies. But during major uprisings or during an invasion by an external enemy, the main military commanders had to hastily transfer troops to the most dangerous areas.

Over a distance of two and a half thousand kilometers, approximately every twenty-five kilometers, there were stations with service premises. The satraps of the regions through which the road passed were obliged to monitor the safety of the movement of travelers, traders, etc. and severely punish criminals who threatened their lives and property.

The vast Persian state was also crossed by other roads. At a certain distance from each other there were posts of horsemen who served the royal mail on the principle of a relay race. Herodotus wrote that “among mortal creatures there is no one who would reach his destination faster than the Persian messenger.” In addition to the royal mail, in the Persian Empire, as in the Assyrian Empire, fire signaling was used as a means of communication.

Along with the expansion of the land road network, much attention was paid to waterways. In connection with the conquest of Northwestern India, the brave navigator Skilak from Carianda in Asia Minor was tasked with exploring the mouth of the Indus and establishing the possibility of direct maritime communication with Western countries.

Scylak's ships, departing from the shores of the Indus, arrived in the thirtieth month of their journey across the Indian Ocean to the northwestern coast of the Red Sea, from where the Phoenician sailors set off at the behest of Pharaoh Necho on their journey around Africa. The success of Scylak's expedition prompted Darius to complete the work begun by Necho to dig a canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea. After the completion of this grandiose project, large stone slabs with inscriptions were erected along the banks of the canal.

The monetary management of the state began to be conducted more orderly. A single minted coin was introduced, and the right to mint gold coins belonged exclusively to the king. Satraps could mint silver coins, and autonomous cities and regions issued copper money.

The gold coin of the Persian kings weighing eight grams and with the image of the king in the form of an archer was called Darik. It was in circulation not only in the empire itself, but also in neighboring countries, in particular in Balkan Greece, where it was highly valued. The spread of money in coin form facilitated the development of trade in the Persian state. It also led to the further enrichment of slave owners associated with it, especially in Babylon. Rich trading and moneylending houses, such as, for example, the Egibi family, which played a prominent role even during the independence of Babylonia, now significantly increased their operations.

Similar houses were founded not only in Babylon, but also in other cities of Mesopotamia and in other satrapies of the West. The trading and money-lending house of Murashu in Nippur, mentioned in connection with the tax farming system, was the same. Judging by the documents from the archives of the Egibi and Murashu clans, their trading houses served vast areas of the state and even had representatives of the royal family among their debtors.

Local large slave owners were the social support of the royal power in the conquered countries. They saw in the Achaemenid state apparatus a reliable defense against the uprisings of the poor and slaves. In addition, representatives of the Persian nobility in the satrapies were allocated large land holdings. These lands were cultivated by hundreds of slaves. The houses of the owners were powerful fortresses with walls made of eight mud bricks in thickness.

Darius sought to win over the local priesthood. To please the priests of Marduk, he made Babylon one of the capitals of his power, along with Persepolis, Susa and Ecbatana.

The Ujagorrecenta inscription reports Darius' restoration of the school of doctors at Sais. At the same time, Ujagorresent especially emphasizes that Darius included in it as “scribes” “the sons of a husband” (i.e., nobles) “and there were no sons of the poor among them.” Darius also restored a number of Egyptian temples and returned to them the income that had been taken from them by Cambyses. Like the pharaohs, the satrap of the Persian king appointed priests, making sure that they did not include random persons.

Darius showed no less concern for the Greek temples in Asia Minor. When the governor of the western part of Asia Minor, Gadath, did not take into account the privileges granted by the king to the temples, Darius threatened him with his disfavor: “because you are hiding my disposition towards the gods, if you do not change for the better, you will experience my just wrath...”.

The central government felt the need for legislative norms to guide the satraps and their assistants. In the inscriptions, Darius emphasized that the “law” he established restrained the countries that were part of his power, and that they were afraid of this “law.”

National legislation had to take into account the laws of the conquered countries in order to become acceptable to the ruling classes of individual satrapies. There is information that the Persian royal administration collected data on the laws that were in force in the countries they conquered, in particular in Egypt. Unfortunately, researchers do not have any data about the collection of laws of the entire Persian monarchy, if it was really compiled.

Foreign policy of the Persian king Darius I

Already in the first years of the reign of King Darius I, part of North-West India was conquered. At the same time, the islands of the Aegean archipelago became subject to the Persians. The preservation of the power of the Persian people-army, as well as rapprochement with the ruling elite of the conquered peoples, significantly strengthened the Persian state. This allowed him to move on to an active foreign policy.

The so-called Nakshirustem inscription “A” gives a list of countries and peoples that were part of the Persian Empire. Seven of them, mentioned last in the list, were conquered by the forces of Darius after 517 BC. First of all, these are the “Sakas who are beyond the sea,” identified with the Massaget Sakas, who inhabited the territory east of the Aral Sea.

The same inscription preserves evidence of the Persian conquest of the Thracians - a people who already lived in Europe, west of the straits connecting the Black and Aegean seas. According to Herodotus, this people, with the unanimity of all its tribes, “would be invincible and more powerful than all nations.” However, there was no unanimity among the Thracian tribes at that time, so Darius, following the “Sakas who are beyond the sea,” noted among the countries under his control also Thrace, called “Skudra” in Persian inscriptions.

Then the commander of Darius - Megabase conquered Greek cities on the northern coast of the Aegean Sea. Thus, among the peoples subject to the Achaemenids were the “shield-wearing Ionians.”

Having strengthened himself on the European shore of the Aegean Sea, Darius undertook in 514 - 513. trek through the Hellespont and Thrace to the Northern Black Sea region.

Having crossed the Danube, a large Persian army entered the Scythian steppes. The Scythians harassed Darius with constant attacks from their cavalry, but avoided a decisive battle. Retreating into the interior of the country and dragging the enemy with them, they set fire to the steppe on their way and filled up wells.

Having exhausted their strength, the Persians were forced to move back, leaving part of the army in Thrace. The failure that befell Darius greatly undermined the military authority of the Persian monarchy.

In 500 BC. in Miletus, the largest of the Greek cities of Asia Minor, an uprising broke out. All the Ionian cities immediately supported him. The Persian proteges were everywhere overthrown by the rebellious population. Anticipating an unequal struggle with the gigantic Persian Empire, the rebels appealed to the European Greeks for help. But only Athens, which sent 20 ships, and the city of Eretria on the island of Euboea, which sent 5 ships, responded to this call.

Despite the lack of a unified command and constant disagreements, the rebels were initially successful. They even managed to destroy Sardis, the residence of the Persian satrap in Asia Minor. But soon the Persians pulled up forces and captured a number of rebel cities.

In 494, the Persians completely defeated the Greeks in a naval battle off the island of Lada. That same year, the Persians took Miletus by storm. Most of its inhabitants were killed or sold into slavery. The city was devastated. This event made a strong impression on the Greeks. When Phrynichus’s tragedy “The Taking of Miletus” was staged in the Athens theater, the audience wept.

The fate of Miletus was shared by other Greek cities of Asia Minor. By the summer of 493, the uprising was finally suppressed. In addition to the numerical superiority of the Persians, the betrayal of the Ionian aristocracy also played a certain role in the failure of this uprising. The seven-year Ionian uprising gave rise to the beginning of the Greco-Persian wars, which played a huge role in the further history of Greece and the Persian state.

Features of the development of the Persian Empire

“...The earth was dug deep...gravel was poured in and bricks were shaped, and the Babylonians did the work. The tree, called cedar, was brought from the mountains of Lebanon. The Assyrians brought it to Babylonia. The Carians and Ionians brought it from Babylonia to Elam. The tree, called yaka, was brought from Gaidara and... Karmania. The gold used here was brought from Lydia and Bactria. The kapautaka (lapis lazuli) and sikaba stones used here were brought from Sogdiana. Akhshaina stone (hematite) was brought from Khorezm. The silver and bronze used here were brought from Egypt. The decorations of the fortress walls were brought from Ionia. The ivory used here comes from Ethiopia, India and Arachosia. The stone columns used here were brought from a city called Abiradouche in Susiana. The masons made them there. The Ionians and Lydians brought them here. The Medes and Egyptians worked in gold. Ishmala was made by the Lydians and Egyptians, bricks were made by the Babylonians and Ionians. The walls of the fortifications were decorated by the Medes and Egyptians.”

Trade was carried out along large highways that crossed the country in different directions. The main trade route began in Lydia at Sardis, crossed Asia Minor, reached the crossings on the Euphrates and then went to Babylon. From there several paths led into the interior of the country. One - to Susa and further to the Persian residences of the king, Pasargadae and Persepolis. Another route led from Mesopotamia to Ecbatana, the capital of Media, and further to the eastern satrapies of the state. In the direction from south to north, Western Asia was crossed by a route that went from the trading cities of Syria and Phenicia to the Black Sea and the countries of Transcaucasia. The canal dug under Darius I from the Nile to the Red Sea also played a significant role in trade.

The people were slaves. They consisted mainly of prisoners of war and were branded. In the royal households, in addition to performing agricultural and handicraft work, the towns were used in the construction of palaces. Already from the 5th century. BC. The city includes the poorest strata of the Persian community members, who performed duties for the king and were gradually reduced to the status of slaves.

Those employed in agriculture were settled in villages. For example, in Iran there were entire villages of Greek prisoners of war from one or another city. On the royal farms, the people received subsistence support in the form of sheep and wine, which they partly consumed themselves and partly exchanged for food, clothing and utensils. Part of the Iranian nobility, especially in the eastern regions, led a patriarchal economy. The mass of the Iranian population still consisted of free communal warriors.

The Persian conquest did not have a significant impact on the social structure of the regions of Central Asia. The settled population of these areas was engaged in cattle breeding and agriculture, which played a large role in their life. As in other areas, agriculture here was impossible without artificial irrigation, and therefore the Persians, having captured the irrigation system, thereby acquired an additional opportunity to exploit the local population.

In the V - IV centuries. Large cities with citadels and markets arose in Central Asia. Thus, Maracanda had 70 stadia in circumference, i.e. about 10 miles. The presence of citadels in cities indicates the existence of a government separated from the people. The rulers of the regions, who came from the tribal nobility, lived in impregnable fortresses and from time to time gathered for congresses in Bactria. Primitive state formations existed on the territory of Bactria even before the Persian conquest.

The Achaemenid government kept these satrapies subordinate through its administrative apparatus, exploited them, but kept their internal organization, in particular the military, intact. Both the settled agricultural population of Eastern Iran and Central Asia and the nomads played a significant role in the Achaemenid army.

Writing of the Persian Empire

The appearance of the signs used by the Persians for writing resembled the cuneiform signs of the Babylonians. However, the principle of designating the sounds of a language has become completely different. From verbal-syllabic writing, where each word or each syllable was indicated by a special sign, the Persians under the Achaemenids moved to a system close to the alphabetic. This semi-alphabetic system, borrowed from the Medes, was used to write the Old Persian language, which was used at the Achaemenid court. To govern a vast state, the Persian kings needed a developed writing system. The Persians were the heirs to the cultural wealth of the old states of the Ancient East. Therefore, they borrowed cuneiform, which was first created in Mesopotamia.

This language first received written form under Cyrus the Elder. But in a multi-lingual and multi-tribal country, it was difficult to limit oneself to one official language. The official language was also the language of the country closest to Persia with an old culture - Elamite and the language of the most important of the Western Asian regions - Babylonian, and in Egypt, along with these three, also Egyptian.

But in the economic life of the cities of Babylonia, the Akkadian language continued to be used. In Elam, and for business documents in Persis itself, the Elamite language was widespread. This is evidenced by the economic archive discovered in Persepolis. In addition, during the reign of the Achaemenids, one of the Semitic languages, which was widespread throughout the Near East, acquired leading importance as the language of business correspondence and international relations, namely the Aramaic language, or rather, one of its dialects (“Imperial Aramaic”, or Aramaic “Koine”), These languages were mainly used in inscriptions.

In the story of the victories of Darius, carved on the Behistun rock, in the inscriptions on the walls of the royal palaces, on gold and silver boards placed in the foundation of the building, on the stone steles that were erected on the occasion of the opening of the canal, on cylinder seals - the official language of the Achaemenid state was used everywhere .

Aramaic was no longer written in cuneiform, but in a special (Phoenician in origin) alphabetic script, which played a big role in the cultural history of Asia. For writing they used leather, papyrus or clay shards. This letter was the starting point for the development of a number of alphabets, some of which still exist in Asia.

Architecture and sculpture of the Persian Empire

In their residences, the Persian kings erected buildings that were supposed to demonstrate to the representatives of the conquered peoples the power and greatness of the rulers of the world power. The earliest monument of Achaemenid architecture is the Palace of Cyrus in Pasargadae. This palace was a whole complex of buildings surrounded by a wall.

In several places on the ruins, the oldest ancient Persian inscription has been preserved: “I, King Cyrus, Achaemenid.” There, in Pasargadae, the tomb of Cyrus was almost completely preserved. This is a small stone structure, similar to a residential building with a gable roof, standing on a foundation of six high steps. According to ancient authors, the embalmed body of Cyrus rested in this tomb on a golden bed.

The Tomb of Cyrus differs significantly from other known Achaemenid and Median royal tombs, which are not architectural structures in the true sense of the word, but niches carved into the rock, decorated with architectural details and sculptural reliefs.

In the Behistun Inscription, King Darius reported on the restoration of the sanctuaries destroyed by Gaumata. In Pasargadae and in modern Naqsh-i-Rustem, not far from Persepolis, where the royal tombs are located, strange buildings have been preserved in the form of high towers without windows and without any decorations. These are supposed to be temples.

The palace-type buildings in Persepolis, which became the royal residence since the time of Darius I, are located on an artificially raised platform and, despite the variety of architectural forms, represent a single ensemble. The purpose of creating this ensemble was to glorify the power of the Persian state.

All buildings, except one, erected in the second half of the 4th century. BC, built by order of Darius I and Xerxes I at the beginning of the 5th century. according to a single plan. Two types of palace buildings are well represented in Persepolis. One is a residential winter palace, the so-called “tachara”. The other is a ceremonial open hall with a wooden ceiling resting on high thin columns, the so-called “apadana”. Adjacent to the same type is the so-called hundred-columned hall, which was built under Xerxes.

A completely different type of structure is the palace of Darius in another royal residence - the ancient Elamite capital of Susa. There, the palace buildings are grouped around a central courtyard according to the principles of the ancient architecture of Mesopotamia. All these architectural structures of different types indicate that the style of the Achaemenid times was formed from many elements. These buildings were erected, as ancient Persian inscriptions report, by craftsmen of different peoples and tribes. Therefore, along with undoubtedly local Iranian elements, Mesopotamian, Greek and Egyptian elements were imprinted on them.

The royal niche tombs at Naqsh-i-Rustem are also adjacent to architectural monuments. The entrance to each niche was designed as a portico with four columns, which were marked in relief on the plane of the rock. This is an old tradition, since the same rock tombs, but from an earlier, Median time, were discovered in Iranian Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. The architecture of the royal rock tombs and palaces of Persepolis was based on the plan of an ordinary rural house, which has survived to this day as the basis of modern peasant housing in Central Asia, Iran and Transcaucasia.

Along with architecture, the most striking expression of Achaemenid art was monumental sculpture in the form of reliefs. Sculpture of the Persian monarchy adorned palaces in Pasargadae, Persepolis and Susa, tombs in Naqsh-i-Rustem, or existed as an independent monument, as evidenced by reliefs and inscriptions on the Behistun rock.

The rhythm of the rows of figures of warriors or tributaries, which was combined with the rhythm of the architectural structure itself, emphasized the majesty and ceremoniality of this art. In sculpture it is especially clear how much Persian art owes to Mesopotamia. Not only the interpretation of the human figure and technical techniques, but also individual images, for example, winged bulls at the entrance, are explained by the exceptionally strong influence of sculptors from Babylonia and Assyria.

Achaemenid art did not know round monumental sculpture. However, Greek writers reported that in the residences of the Persian kings there were statues made by Greek craftsmen. The buildings were decorated not only with stone reliefs, but also with colored tiles, as well as paintings, gold ornamental details, wood carvings and ivory inlays.

Artistic craft in the Persian kingdom reached a high level. In the artistic craft of Achaemenid times, there is a noticeable interweaving of several different elements than in official and ceremonial architecture and monumental sculpture. Although the craft, especially those made of precious metals, served the upper strata of Persian society, it nevertheless revealed aspects of the master’s artistic worldview that could not be reflected in the strictly canonical monuments of court art.

Thus, in monuments of artistic craft, elements of a kind of realism are noticeable, especially in the interpretation of animals. Along with the features of the Iranian, Greek and Babylonian, and partly Egyptian, many monuments of the Achaemenid period are characterized by features that connect them with the art of the nomads of Eastern Europe and Asia, conventionally called “Scythian”.

Persian seals, usually cylindrical, are also art monuments, the impressions of which were placed instead of signatures on business documents and letters. These seals were closely related to similar Babylonian-Assyrian ones both in their purpose and in the technique and artistic methods of production.

Religion of the Persian Empire and the religious policy of the Achaemenids

In the widely scattered, multilingual, culturally and ideologically diverse Achaemenid state, which was extremely weakly united economically, a single state religious system could not exist. Ideological influence on the conquered peoples in order to strengthen the existing social and state order took place in various satrapies of the kingdom in different forms, in accordance with the beliefs and traditions inherited by each country.

These circumstances largely determined the religious policy of the Achaemenids. The first Persian kings were adherents of the old Iranian cult Ahura-Mazda- recognized and supported local cults in Babylonia, Egypt, Palestine and Asia Minor. This is how Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius I acted before the uprising in Egypt.

During the reign Xerxes the situation is changing significantly. Xerxes feared the liberation movement in the conquered countries and therefore in some cases did not hesitate to replace local cults with the cult of the pan-Iranian deity Ahura Mazda. However, this did not at all mean the introduction of monotheism and the complete disappearance of other deities of the same Iranian pantheon.

Darius I in his inscriptions, turning all the time to Ahura Mazda and only calling him by name, he silently mentions “all other gods.” Artaxerxes II Along with the cult of Ahura Mazda, he introduces throughout the kingdom the cult of the fertility goddess Anahita and the solar deity Mithra. These deities are repeatedly mentioned in the inscriptions of subsequent kings.

The cult of Ahura Mazda, with the worship of fire and the dualistic teaching of the struggle between good and evil, a cult associated with the teachings of magicians, became in Iran and Central Asia the basis on which the religion of Zoroastrianism subsequently grew. Already at that time, teachings that were associated with the “prophet” Zarathushtra became widespread, although in the inscriptions of the reign of the Achaemenids the name of Zarathushtra was not yet mentioned.

Old local cults also continued to exist. It is characteristic that under Xerxes, as subsequently under Alexander the Great, magicians usually did not deny other people's cults. There were even known cases of magicians worshiping together with priests of other deities.

Traces of the cult of Ahura Mazda outside of Iran proper are found only in the eastern part of Asia Minor, Central Asia and Transcaucasia. No traces of the introduction of this cult were found in the leading countries of Western Asia and in Egypt.

The original cultures of the individual peoples of the Persian monarchy also experienced only relatively minor Iranian influence. In Babylonia, works of old secular and especially religious writing in Akkadian and even Sumerian continued to be read and copied. The Akkadian language and writing were still used by Babylonian mathematicians and astronomers, who significantly advanced their knowledge in these areas of science. The cults of Babylonian deities were performed here. The Babylonian religion was as successful in sanctifying the existing system within the country as the religion of Ahura-Mazda in Iran.

The religion of the Phoenicians, as well as the inhabitants of Syria, did not undergo any noticeable changes. The period of Persian rule became the time of the formation of the dogmatic religion of Judaism. In order to preach this religion, old Jewish-Israeli literature was revised, and the canon of the Bible was formalized. This period includes the speeches of the later “prophets” that are associated with the construction of Jerusalem, as well as historical books that are attributed to the organizers of the Jerusalem community - Ezra and Nehemiah (Nehemiah). The events in these books are presented from the point of view of the Jerusalem priesthood. They contain authentic Aramaic documents of the Persian royal administration. These works are composed in Hebrew, while Aramaic is becoming increasingly established as the spoken language in Palestine.

There is a new phenomenon in the religion of Judaism. It was determined not only by the internal history of the Jews themselves, but also by the influence of official ideological movements in the Achaemenid state. If earlier the god Yahweh was put forward as the main, and then as the only god only for his own country, and the existence of gods of other countries was not denied, now Yahweh begins to come forward as a universal god, as a single parallel to the single king of Asia, who claimed to be king of the world.

True, Yahweh was not directly identified with Ahura Mazda. But already Cyrus, to whom the Jewish priesthood owed the creation of its self-governing temple state, was clearly identified with the messiah - the anointed of God, the expected king-deliverer. The idea of waiting for a coming semi-divine deliverer was also present in the religion of Iran. It was precisely this kind of savior that Xerxes I tried to present himself as.

The Persian state on the eve of destruction

The breakdown of the Persian state system clearly made itself felt already at the turn of the 5th and 4th centuries. BC. This was reflected in the loss of Egypt by the Persians, as well as in the events that played out in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.

The satraps of Asia Minor, despite the quarrels that existed between them, continued to pursue a policy that was aimed at weakening Athens, the main enemy of the Persians. At the end of the 5th century. BC. Among the satraps of Asia Minor, an energetic administrator and a deft diplomat stood out Tissaphernes.

In 407 BC. one of the sons of King Darius II, Cyrus, known in history as Cyrus the Younger. The prince showed remarkable abilities. He raised the prestige of Persian power in Asia Minor, successfully maneuvered between the warring Spartans and Athenians, waiting for the moment when he could benefit from the civil strife of the Greeks.

After the death of Darius II, Cyrus began secretly preparing to fight his brother, who took the throne under the name of Artaxerxes II. Cyrus disguised his military preparations by the need to fight the rebellious Tissaphernes. According to Xenophon, the Persian king, accustomed to the civil strife of the satraps, “did not worry at all when they fought, especially since Cyrus sent the income that came from those cities that Tissaphernes had previously owned to the king.”

Cyrus was supported by the Spartans, who hoped that after victory they would force the new Persian king to make a number of concessions. They sent a significant military detachment under the command of Clearchus to Cyrus's disposal. The events that followed - the campaign of Cyrus, the battle of Kunax and the retreat of a ten-thousand-strong Greek detachment through a hostile country - were of great importance, as they clearly showed the military weakness of the Achaemenid empire.

By this time, the Achaemenids had lost extensive possessions in the eastern part of the state. Soon after the Peace of Antalcides, an uprising of King Evagoras broke out in Cyprus, which was actively supported by the Egyptians. The Egyptians also helped the Asia Minor tribe of Pisidians in the fight against the Persians. In 365 BC. The satrap Ariobarzanes rebelled in Syria.

In the last years of the reign of Artaxerxes II, almost all Western satrapies fell away from the Persian kingdom. In this “great uprising of the satraps,” which was led by the satrap of Cappadocia Datamus, the satrap of Armenia Orontes, the ruler of the city of Daskyleia in Asia Minor Ariobarzanes, the Egyptian pharaoh Tax, some Phoenician cities, as well as the Cilicians, Pisidians and Lycians took part.

The reign of Artaxerxes III Oxa, who reigned from 358 to 338, was filled with stubborn struggle against rebellious tribes and rebellious satraps. Both warring sides increasingly resorted to the help of hired Greek soldiers. Artaxerxes III pacified the uprisings in Asia Minor, Palestine, Phenicia, and Syria. For some time he restored Persian power in Egypt. In order to curb the rebellious satraps, he tried to deprive them of the right to maintain independent troops.

Because of these desires to strengthen central power, Artaxerxes was killed by his confidant - the head of the court clique, the eunuch Bagoi. Arsis was placed on the throne. However, soon Arsis seemed too independent to the courtiers. In 336 BC. Arsis was killed along with his entire family. Kodoman, a representative of one of the lateral lines of the Achaemenid house, was placed on the throne, who took the throne name of Darius III. The history of the reign of Darius III, from 336 to 330, is essentially the story of the death of the Achaemenid power under the blows of Alexander the Great.

The collapse of the Achaemenid monarchy, like the collapse of its predecessor, the Assyrian Empire, can be explained by the fact that no one was interested in preserving it. While the power of the Persian kings was still able, with the help of military force, to keep the dependent population of a multi-tribal power in subjection, while it was able to protect trade routes, relegating wars to the periphery of the state, until then this power was needed not only by the military service directly associated with it know, but also wider layers of entrepreneurs in economically developed countries and regions - in Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Babylonia.

However, these circles were also burdened by the despotism of the Persian kings, who sought to siphon as much money as possible from rich cities not only through taxes, but also through direct robbery. Large landowners, as well as the tribal nobility of those peripheral regions that were not economically connected with each other and had their own economic interests, were even less interested in preserving the Achaemenid state. For example, Egypt did not need Western Asia at all. He had sufficient supplies of his bread, his raw materials and his handicrafts. The western part of Asia Minor was much more closely connected economically with Greece than with Babylonia or Iran. Central Asia with its subsistence economy could only be kept within the Persian kingdom only by military force.

However, the force that ensured the success of the Achaemenids in their grandiose conquests was no longer available by the end of Persian rule. Initially, the Persian army consisted of a mass of free community members. However, the influx of treasures and slaves into Persia led to rapid property and social stratification, the exorbitant enrichment of the nobility and the ruin of some of the community members who fell into debt bondage.

Over time, the ratio between the cavalry, which consisted of the nobility, and the infantry, which was mainly recruited from the free rank and file, changed in favor of the cavalry. Already in the 5th century. The Persian army consisted mainly of forcibly recruited contingents of subject peoples. The royal guard and command staff were mainly recruited from the Persians themselves.

Gradually, mercenaries, especially the Greeks, began to play an increasingly important role. The troops, composed of Persian subjects, decreased in number. It became increasingly difficult to maintain military spirit and discipline in them. By the time of the Greco-Macedonian campaigns, the Persian army was no longer able to provide long-term and serious resistance. The external conquest of the Persian state by Alexander the Great only revealed and completed its internal collapse.

The Achaemenid city-states, which arose in different historical conditions, were very heterogeneous both in terms of social structure and in terms of the scope of rights, as well as the extent of their autonomy. Individual cities and temple-urban communities were isolated from each other, fenced off by ethnic partitions.

There was an influential movement among the Achaemenid administration that believed that autonomous entities within the state only weakened it. In this regard, the example of Jerusalem is typical - permissions and prohibitions to build the city changed continuously.

There was no urban planning in the Persian kingdom. Existing cities and temples more or less retained their privileges, however, no new self-governing cities were built. Because of this, the despotic Persian monarchy became the strongest obstacle to further economic progress.

Conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great

In the spring of 334 BC. Greco-Macedonian army. It was small, but perfectly organized. It consisted of 30 thousand infantry and 5 thousand horsemen. consisted of heavily armed infantry - the Macedonian phalanx, Greek allies and mercenaries. Alexander left part of the fighters and several thousand infantry in Macedonia under the command of one of the outstanding commanders of the older generation - Antipater.

In May 334 BC. The first meeting with the enemy took place on the Granicus River near the Hellespont. The Macedonian cavalry played a decisive role in it. Alexander enslaved the captured Greek mercenaries, about 2 thousand people who were in the service of the Persians, and sent them to Macedonia, since by the decisions of the Corinthian Congress the Greeks who were in the service of the Persians were considered traitors to the common cause.

The victory at Granin made possible the further advance of the Macedonian army along the coast of Asia Minor. Most of the Hellenic cities voluntarily submitted to Alexander. However, there were exceptions. Halicarnassus and Miletus resisted the Macedonians especially stubbornly. The external orientation of the Hellenic cities in Asia Minor was determined by the struggle of parties in these cities, as well as by the presence or absence of Persian garrisons and Greek mercenaries.

The mercenaries offered fierce resistance to Alexander's troops. Only gradually, as a result of the success of the campaign of the Macedonian army, did the Greek mercenaries realize that it was more profitable for them to serve Alexander than to fight against him. In relation to the Hellenic city-states in Asia Minor, which submitted to him, Alexander pursued a “liberation” policy, guided primarily by tactical considerations.

In the liberated cities, the democratic system was restored, the Persian henchmen were expelled. However, the “freedom” of the poleis in Asia Minor turned out to be even more illusory than in Greece. The liberated policies of Asia Minor were not even included in the Union of Corinth. The conquest of Asia Minor was reduced mainly to the seizure of the coast, the main military and trade routes, as well as the establishment of general control over local government and finance.

Through the mountain passes the Macedonian army moved into Northern Syria. The meeting with the Persians and a new major battle took place in the fall of 333 BC. at Issus, in a narrow valley between the sea and the mountains. The position of the Persian troops, led by Darius III himself, was strong, as it cut off the Macedonian army from its rear, and the difficult terrain facilitated the defense, although, on the other hand, it prevented the Persians from using their numerical superiority.

With a swift attack from the right flank, the Macedonians achieved decisive success. The frightened Darius fled, abandoning his entire baggage train. His mother, wife and children were at the mercy of Alexander. Huge booty fell into the hands of the winners. The Persian king turned to Alexander with peace proposals. However, Alexander rejected them and quickly moved his troops south - into Southern Syria, Palestine and the Nile Valley.

The large trading centers of Phenicia and Palestine - Tire and Gaza - put up stubborn resistance to the Macedonians. It was impossible to take such a fortress as Tyre on the move. Alexander began a systematic siege. Siege engines were brought in, large-scale siege operations were carried out, and a large embankment was built that connected Tire, located on the island, with the mainland.

In 332 BC, after a seven-month siege. The shooting gallery was taken by storm. The rich city was plundered, almost the entire male population was killed, and women and children were sold into slavery. Some time later, Gaza suffered the same fate.

In Egypt, which was always burdened by Persian rule, Alexander met no resistance. The Persian satrap gave him the fortress in Memphis, the state treasury and surrendered himself with his army. The Egyptian priesthood welcomed the new ruler. Alexander made an expedition to the oasis of Amon, where in the temple of this deity the priests declared him the son of Pa - “the lover of Amun.” Thus, the subjugation of Egypt received religious sanction. Alexander's power was vested in traditional forms for Ancient Egypt.

In Egypt, the Greek-Macedonian troops spent the winter of 332 - 331. BC. In the Nile Delta, between the sea and the vast Lake Mareotis, Alexander founded a new city, which was named after him Alexandria. The location for Alexandria turned out to be unusually well chosen. Already by the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd centuries. BC. Alexandria becomes the largest center of trade and craft, the most important cultural center of the Hellenic world. The capture of Egypt and the founding of Alexandria contributed to the establishment of complete Macedonian dominance over the Eastern Mediterranean.

In the spring of 331 BC. The Macedonians left Egypt along the ancient route through Palestine and Phenicia and further to the Euphrates. Darius made no attempt to delay the advance of the Macedonian army and prevent its crossing of the Euphrates and Tigris. Only on the other side of the Tigris, on the territory of Ancient Assyria, near the village of Gaugamela, a new battle took place between the Persians and Hellenes.

Battle of Gaugamela in September 331 BC was one of the largest battles of antiquity. A successful attack by superior Central Asian and Indian cavalry on the left flank of the Macedonian troops could not prevent the defeat of Darius III. This time the center of the Persian army could not withstand the onslaught of the Gaiters and the phalanx.

The entire huge Persian camp with convoys, elephants, camels, and money fell into the hands of the winners. The defeat was crushing. Darius fled to Media, and then to mountainous, sparsely populated and inaccessible areas south of the Caspian Sea. The path to the capitals of Babylonia and Susiana was open to the Macedonians. With the seizure of Darius's treasury at Gaugamela and especially the treasures that were stored in Babylon and Susa, Alexander's monetary resources increased many times over.

By order of Alexander, in revenge for the devastation of Hellas during the campaign of Xerxes in 480 BC. The magnificent palace of the Persian kings was burned in Persepolis. From Persepolis, the Macedonians moved through the mountain passes to Media, to its capital Ecbatana. There, in connection with the end of the war “for revenge on the Hellenes,” Alexander released the Thessalian horsemen and other Greek allies to their homeland. However, many of the Greek soldiers remained in the service of Alexander, since participation in the further campaign promised enormous benefits.

Alexander's immediate task was to pursue Darius. But after the defeat at Gaugamela, Darius became a hindrance to the rulers of the eastern regions, who had long been loosely connected with the Central Asian satrapies of the Achaemenid monarchy. Therefore, in the summer of 330 BC. they killed the last Achaemenid, and they themselves went further east.

Soon after this, the satrap of Bactria, Bessus, proclaimed himself the “great king,” taking the name of Artaxerxes IV. Alexander declared Bessus a usurper, considering himself henceforth the only legitimate successor to the power of the Persian kings. Continuing his campaign to the east, Alexander with the most mobile parts of the army headed to Hyrcania, where Darius’s Greek mercenaries had retreated.

The Macedonian offensive forced the mercenaries to stop resistance and surrender. This circumstance was also facilitated by the fact that Alexander’s policy towards Greek mercenaries had changed. He released those who served the Persians before the Corinthian Congress to their homeland. Alexander included those Greeks who entered the service of the Persians after the congress into his army. The former contingent of this army quickly melted away in continuous battles. The Macedonians needed more and more reinforcements.

From Hyrcania the Macedonian army moved to Parthia and Areia. Having captured the main centers, taken possession of colossal treasures, and subjugated the most populated, rich and cultural part of the Persian kingdom, the Greco-Macedonian army continued to move further and further into desert or mountainous regions. This aggressive movement was explained by a change in the composition and character of the army. The success of Alexander's campaign at first and, especially, the capture of the treasures of the Persian kings caused a large influx into the Macedonian army not only of new warriors, but also of businessmen who enjoyed great influence in the troops. They all thirsted for new conquests and booty.

Many Persian satraps and other representatives of the Iranian nobility with the military detachments accompanying them went over to the side of the Macedonian king. Alexander had already conquered the western part of the territory of the Achaemenid state. Now he sought complete mastery of her heritage. However, he did not clearly understand the vastness of the remaining territory and the difficulty of conquering it.

At the same time, the possibility of a further offensive in the East largely depended on the situation in the West. By 331 BC. The main center of the anti-Macedonian movement on the Balkan Peninsula was Sparta. The Spartan king Agis managed to win over some other states of the Peloponnese to his side.

The growth of this movement could become a serious threat to Macedonian hegemony in Greece. However, the victory of the Macedonian governor Antipater over his allies at Megalopolis and the death of Agis provided Alexander with a strong rear in the West. He had complete freedom of action in the East. Moving deeper into Asia, the Macedonians first of all sought to seize military and trade routes, as well as the main centers of the country. The exploited population, scattered over a vast territory and loosely connected with these centers, did not offer serious resistance to the invaders.

However, in the regions of Eastern Iran and Central Asia, which were still predominantly populated by free communalists and retained strong vestiges of military democracy, the Macedonians had to face significant difficulties. Alexander had to spend three years, filled with fierce struggle with the local population, to conquer the Central Asian regions.

The warlike mountain and desert tribes fought hard to defend their independence, raising uprisings again and again. As soon as the main forces of the Macedonian army left the conquered region, detachments of local residents attacked small Macedonian garrisons, exterminating them almost completely, and disrupted communications.

So, in Areya, the satrap Satibarzan laid down his arms and submitted to Alexander. But as soon as the main forces of the Macedonian army headed for Bactria, Satibarzan again rebelled. Alexander had to return to Areia to suppress the rebellion.

In winter 330 - 329 BC. Alexander, pursuing Bessus, entered Bactria and descended through the Hindu Kush to the Oxus (Amu Darya) valley. Having devastated the country, Bess retreated across the river, but neither the local population nor other leaders supported him. Ptolemy, sent forward with a small detachment, surrounded the village where Vese was located and captured it without difficulty. The “Great King” Bessus was tortured and then sent to Ecbatana, where he was executed.

Persia existed for more than two and a half thousand years. It was once a great and powerful state with rich cultural achievements. But today not everyone knows what happened to it and where it is located today.

Today, the modern country of Persia, as in former times, is a fairly developed state economically and culturally. But let's look into the past...

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History of Persia

In the 6th century BC in the territory Middle East Persian tribes appeared. In a short period, under the leadership of King Cyrus II, they managed to achieve significant military successes. The power of the Persian army became so great that Babylon surrendered to the Persians without a fight.

Cyrus II personally participated in battles and died in one of them in 530 BC. His successor Cambyses the second led the Persian army and it successfully conquered ancient Egypt. The territories of Persia began to extend from India to the Aegean Sea. Persia held a huge amount of land under its influence for more than two hundred years until the 4th century BC. The history of this ancient country is well described on Wikipedia.

Dark times came for Persia with the campaigns Alexander the Great. The desire to avenge the sack of Athens led to large-scale battles in which Persia suffered many defeats. The entire royal family of the Achaemenids ceased to exist, and Persia was subjected to humiliating oppression by the Greeks for two long centuries.

Parthians managed to overthrow the Greeks, after which Artaxerxes became ruler. He tried to return the former greatness to the lands of ancient Persia and revived the empire.

In fact, this is the beginning of the era of the second Persian Empire. Persia existed in this format until the seventh century AD, after which its influence greatly weakened and it was absorbed Arab Caliphate.

After the advent of the Islamic period, Persia was divided into several separate lands with their own rulers, who came to power through violent means, and were at war with each other. The fragmentation allowed the Mongol invasion to easily raid and plunder Persian cities.

The country officially began to be called in 1935. For many, the name has become completely unknown and not everyone always understands what kind of state it is. But not for the Persians themselves. This decision was made in rather difficult times in order to free itself from the past trace of the Persian empire. The word Aryān itself appeared around the 6th century AD. This is what the Persians called themselves because they were Aryans or Aryans. Over time, the language changed and the name also changed to its current form.

Where is Persia

It is quite difficult to answer exactly where Persia is located on a modern map. After all, countries have constantly undergone territorial changes. At the height of its influence, Persia controlled large areas of the following modern countries:

This is an incomplete list of countries in which Persia once existed. But these days, when talking about Persia, there is most often a reference to Iran. That's what it's called now. It was on the soil of this country that the key events in the existence of the Persian state took place.

This is where the greatest cultural influence of the once great empire remains. A more detailed map of the location of ancient Persian possessions can be studied on Wikipedia.

Country today

Modern is not a scary revolutionary country with nuclear developments as it is described in many media. The interweaving of several cultures at once is concentrated here: Western, Islamic and Persian proper.

The people of Iran are very courteous and friendly towards guests. Thousands of years of invasion by different peoples have taught the native Iranians to get along with almost everyone. But behind the external friendliness lies the intention to find out in detail for what purpose the interlocutor arrived.

This behavior allowed the Iranian people to preserve their rich cultural traditions, while taking the best of each of the cultures of the alien peoples.

While under the control of the Arab Caliphate for centuries, the Iranians managed to preserve their language. Nowadays, although Islamic culture dominates in the country, the Persians continue to preserve knowledge about their ancient identity.

Today Persia is a distinctive country with a large number of ancient sights and cultural monuments.

What the ancient Iranians were like can be judged by the ideas of the peoples who lived next to them. For example, Herodotus wrote that the Persians originally wore clothing made from skins, as well as felt caps called tiaras. We didn't drink wine. They ate as much as they had. They treated gold and silver with indifference. They differed from neighboring peoples in their tall stature, strength, courage and incredible unity.

It is interesting that the Persians, even having become a great power, tried to follow the behests of their ancestors.

For example, during the coronation ceremony, the newly-crowned king had to wear simple clothes, eat some dried figs and wash them down with sour milk.

At the same time, the Persians could marry as many women as they saw fit. And this does not take into account concubines and slaves. It is also interesting that the laws did not prohibit marrying even close relatives, be they sisters or nieces. In addition, there was a custom according to which a man did not show his women to strangers. Plutarch wrote about this, pointing out that the Persians hid from prying eyes not only their wives, but even concubines and slaves. And if they needed to be transported somewhere, then closed carts were used. This custom is reflected in art. For example, in the ruins of Persepolis, archaeologists were unable to find a single relief with a female image.

Achaemenid Dynasty

The era of Persian omnipotence began with King Cyrus II, who belonged to the Achaemenid family. He managed to quickly subjugate the once mighty Media and several smaller states. After this, the king's gaze fell on Babylon.

The war with Babylon turned out to be just as quick. In 539 BC. Cyrus marched with his army and fought with the enemy army near the city of Opis. The battle ended with the complete defeat of the Babylonians. Then the large Sippar was captured, and soon Babylon itself.

After this triumph, Cyrus decided to curb the wild tribes in the east, who could disturb the borders of his power with their raids. The king fought with the nomads for several years, until he himself died in 530 BC.

The following kings - Cambyses and Darius - continued the work of their predecessor and further expanded the territory of the state.

So, Cambyses managed to capture Egypt and make it one of the satrapies.

By the time of Darius' death (485 BC), the Persian Empire occupied a vast territory. In the west, its borders abutted the Aegean Sea, in the east - India. In the north, the power of the Achaemenids extended to the deserted deserts of Central Asia, and in the south - to the rapids of the Nile. It is safe to say that Persia at that time subjugated almost the entire civilized world.

But like any empire that possessed such a vast territory, it was constantly tormented by internal unrest and uprisings of conquered peoples. The Achaemenid dynasty collapsed in the 4th century BC, unable to withstand the test of the army of Alexander the Great.

Sasanian power

The Persian Empire was destroyed, and its capital, Persepolis, was sacked and burned. The last of the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty, Darius III, and his retinue went to Bactria, hoping to gather a new army there. But Alexander managed to catch up with the fugitive. To avoid being captured, Darius ordered his satraps to kill him and to flee further.

After the death of the king in conquered Persia, the era of Hellenism began. For ordinary Persians it was like death.

After all, there was not just a change of ruler, they were captured by the hated Greeks, who quickly and harshly began to replace the original Persian customs with their own, and therefore completely alien.

Even the arrival of the Parthian tribe, which occurred in the 2nd century BC. didn't change anything. The nomadic Iranian tribe managed to expel the Greeks from the territory of ancient Persia, but they themselves fell under the influence of their culture. Therefore, even under Parthian rule, exclusively Greek was used on coins and in official documents.

But the worst thing was that the temples were built in the Greek image and likeness. And most Persians considered this blasphemy and sacrilege.

After all, Zarathushtra bequeathed to their ancestors that it was impossible to worship idols. Only the unquenchable flame should be considered as a symbol of God, and sacrifices should be made to it. But the Persians were unable to change anything.

Therefore, out of impotent anger, they called all the buildings of the Hellenic period “buildings of the Dragon.”

The Persians tolerated Greek culture until 226 AD. But eventually the cup overflowed. The revolt was launched by the ruler of Pars, Ardashir, and he managed to overthrow the Parthian dynasty. This moment is considered to be the birth of the second Persian power, headed by representatives of the Sassanid dynasty.

Unlike the Parthians, they tried in every possible way to revive the very ancient culture of Persia, which was started by Cyrus. But this turned out to be difficult, since Greek dominance almost completely erased the Achaemenid heritage from memory. Therefore, the society about which the Zoroastrian priests spoke was chosen as a “guiding star” for the revived state. And it so happened that the Sassanids tried to revive a culture that in reality never existed. And religion came first.

But the people of Persia enthusiastically accepted the ideas of the new rulers. Therefore, under the Sassanids, the entire Hellenic culture began to quickly dissolve: temples were destroyed, and the Greek language ceased to be official. Instead of statues of Zeus, the Persians began to build fire altars.

Under the Sassanids (3rd century AD), there was another clash with the hostile Western world - the Roman Empire. But this time this confrontation ended in victory for the Persians. In honor of the significant event, King Shapur I ordered a bas-relief to be carved into the rocks, depicting his triumph over the Roman Emperor Valerian.

The capital of Persia was the city of Ctesiphon, once built by the Parthians. But the Persians essentially “combed” it to match their newfound culture.

Persia began to develop rapidly thanks to the competent use of land irrigation systems. Under the Sassanids, the territory of ancient Persia, as well as Mesopotamia, became literally permeated with underground water pipelines made of clay pipes (kariza). Their cleaning was carried out using wells dug at intervals of ten kilometers. This modernization allowed Persia to successfully grow cotton, sugar cane and develop winemaking. At the same time, Persia became perhaps the world's main supplier of a wide variety of fabrics: from wool to silk.

Death of an Empire

The history of the Sasanian dynasty ended after a fierce and bloody war with the Arabs, which lasted almost twenty years (633-651). It is difficult to blame the last king Yezdeget III for anything. He fought the invaders until the very end, and was not going to give up. But Yazdeget died ingloriously - near Merv, he was stabbed to death by a miller in his sleep, encroaching on the king’s jewelry.

But even after the official victory, the Persians kept uprisings, albeit unsuccessfully. Even internal unrest in the caliphate did not allow the ancient people to gain freedom. Only Gugan and Tabaristan lasted the longest - the last fragments of a once great power. But they too were captured by the Arabs in 717 and 760, respectively.

And although the Islamization of Iran was successful, the Arabs were never able to assimilate the Persians, who managed to maintain their self-identity. Closer to the 900s, under the new Samanid dynasty, they managed to gain independence. True, Persia was no longer able to become a great power again.