Achaemanid Empire

Kourosh II (Cyrus) son of Kambodhia (Kambeses) King of Persia, and maternal grandson of Dahak, last king of Media, was initialy the ruler of Anshan, a province of Persia roughly corresponding to present day Lorestan and Northern Khuzestan provinces of Iran. After succeeding Kambodhia as king of Persia, Cyrus started building a strong military in order to expand his territory. After conquering and submitting all of the sattelites of Persia and establishing himself as strong man of the southern Iranian plateau, he decided to take over his grandfather's kingdom. The people of Medes , hoping he will save them from Dahak's unjust and wasteful rule, helped him in his conquest. Cyrus did not disappoint them by deposing his grandfather and giving them back their freedom, only within his Persian Empire. There started rumours about Dahak's brutalities, stories that might have been supported by the Persian court.

Unstoppeble and hyperactive, Cyrus turned his attention to Babylon, the strongest power of the ancient world.. Putting a long siege around the walls of the great capital, he waited there for over three months, during which Shalamnazar of Babylon took his time partying! Finally Cyrus gave up the siege and entered the city through the opening under the wall, made for the Tigris to pass through. Unlike what was expected and norm, he did not salughter the people and did not older a plunder, rather, he ordered the freedom of the Jews who have been there for 170 year and funded their return to their homeland. He issued the first declaration of Human Rights, in which he banned his soldiers to treat the inhabitants of the conquered lands as inferiors. In this law code, now kept in London's British Museumit, he guaranteed the freedom of religions, something that his great admirer, Alexander the Great copied from him gladly.

Cyrus' next destination was the small, but rich central Asian state of Lydia. Ruled by Crosus, the richest man of the ancient worled, Lydia was a natural target. The story of Crosus' councilation with the Oracle of Delphie is well known, as is the story of his defeat from Cyrus. Cyrus was now the master of half of the ancient civilised world when he decided to take on the uncivilised ones. They were Massaghets, Scythian nomads of North Eastern Iran, ruled by a Queen. This was the end for Cyrus. He was killed in the battle, and buried in his hometown of Pasargadae, where his tomb is still the Mecca of admirers.

Cyrus left a serious impact of Iran, he created it! He was the first unifier of all Iranian tribes, and the conqueror of the world. Still perhaps his most powerful impact was his way of thinking and ruling. As mentioned in Xenophones' biogrophy of Cyrus (Cyropaedia), he was a world conqueror unlike any other. He was a truly civilised ruler who guaranteed the human rights of his subjects. He was the first ruler to grant freedom of religion, and he even coronated himself with the blessing of the Babylonian god, Shamash. Cyrus is remembered in Iran and in world as the perfect king and the ideal ruler.

Cyrus was succeeded by his son, Kmabodia III (529 BC). kambodhia is known to the history as the mad kingof Persia, and probably responsible for the first version many "false" claiments to the throne stories. Kambodhia's first act after claiming the throne was to kill his brother Bardia, and then to set of for Egypt. He He invaded Egypt (525 BC) and created the dynasty of Persian kings in Egypt. He also sent a navy for the invasion of Carthage , but since the navy was made mostly of Phoenician sailors and Carthage was essentialy Phoenician, the mission faced a defeat. The stories about him goes on to say that Kambodhia commited several crimes in Egypt and ordered the massacre of the defeated people. There is also a story about him killing the sacred Egyptian cow, Apis. kambodhia's invasion of Egypt ended the rule of the last Egyptian Pharaoh and established the Persian rule in Egypt until 330 BC. Kambodhia supposedly commited suicide when on his way back home he heard the rumours of an imposter who claimed to be Kambodhia's brother Bardia. The imposter, originally a Mogh (magi) named Geomata (Greek: Smerdis), ruled the country for a year in unexpectable manner, and then was dethrones and killed by Darius, Cyrus' distant cousin, and seven other Persian nobles.

Traditionally, historians have treated this story by face value. Yet, careful observations about the sources mentioning Smerdis' regin and also reading what has been left afetr him may suggest otherwise. Smerdis was the first historical imposter, and his similarities to other imposters also rises a question, was he really an imposter? Comparing with the later examples such as False Dmitri Ivanivich of Russia and what happened between him and Boris Gudonov and Prince Shuiskii, the story of Smerdis seems interestingly similar. First, we have a single source about all of these, Darius' famous carving explaining them all. All of later sources such as Herodotus have got their information from similar, governmental sources. Second, Kambodhia's supposed "madness" seems rather unbelievable, since Cyrus' would not have left the country to a mad man, and a mad man should not be able to conquer a country like Egypt! In my oppinion, the story goes as followed:

Darius, son of Vishtaspa, and grandson of Aryaramna, saw himself as the true successor of Cyrus, since his grandfather Aryaramna was the original king of Persia who was deposed and replaced by Cyrus' father, Kambodhia II. Thus, Vishtaspa, Darius' father should have been in place of Cyrus, and Darius was certainly more deserving than kambodhia III! Since Kambodhia went to Egypt and was actually not a good king, his true brother Bardia was chosen by some courtiers to be the new king. Bardia was somehow very liberal, as most of foreign sources suggest, and very much people oriented. There are sources that talk about him giving more rights to the peasants and removing many taxes as well as creating a parliamental style government. This was of course unacceptable for the Persian caste system, so Darius along with his friends, deposed and killed the king, and called him an imposter. This was strengthened by Darius' marriage to Atosa, wife of the "imposter" and sister of Kambodhia (the institution of marrying sisters and daughters was well established in ancient Persia). For gaining popular acceptance, Darius' needed a good story, and calling Bardia an imposter and claiming that kambodhia was mad would do the trick! Plus the fact that Bardia's unusual acts and governing system was a good prove for this accusation.

Darius the Great (Dariush, Dayara-Vahusha) was the Greatest ruler of his time. He created a major road system for Iran, coined money(Darik), and finished Cyrus’ incomplete job of invasion. He conquered North India and some parts of Greece, as well as whole of Asia minor and southern Europe. He also re-captured Egypt, and ordered the first version of Suez Canal to be digged! In one case, he even ventured to Northern Black Sea region and fought the Scythians, who inturn retreated from his sight and made him realise that conquering steppe is not a good idea! Darius captured all of southern Europe and established his Eskodara Satrapi (province).

The famous account of Darius' unbelievable defeat in the Marathon from the Athenian army is well known. This "defeat" has been immortalised by the myths about the runner who ran to Athens to give the news of the victory. Although widely accepted as fact, I doubt these accounts, which have been mainly retold by Herodotus. Generally what is known to the Greek and western world as "Great Persian Wars" is nothing more than a footnote in the Achaemenid governmental records. Marathon, although most likely happened the way it was told, has been greatly exaggeretad. The army of Darius was certainly not as large as reported, since Darius used much smaller armies for invading countries like Egypt, and Greeks were not particularly reputated for being invincable! The battle of Marathon was not a struggle for the Persian emperor to invade Athens, since it was financialy and strategically insignificant. It was, as reported by other historians and witnesses, motivated by a deposed Athenian official and the desire of the Great King to support him in regaining his position. Anyway, this battle has become a major chapter in the history of the west, as the small but much exaggereted defeat of Roland became a legend for Charlemagne and French history.

At this time, Darius was the master of the largest empire the world had ever known to itself . Having one end by the banks of the River Indus to Nile on the other end, and from the Nobian desert to Volga and Danube, administering such a gigantic land was the job of a wise ruler, and Darius was just that. Maybe not a great army general, but certainly the greatest of politicians, Darius recognised the first need for the rule of his empire, and that was roads. Wide and long roads connceted all of the Persian empire together, and along wiht the first postal system in the world (Barid), helped facilitate the communication. His political plays with his neighbors like Greek chiefs and Scythian kings and Indian Raja's show the extent of his political knowledge. He established the institution of political marriage by marrying his son and his brother to minor foreign sovereigns. He conquered Massagets through marriage to their Queen, and he was more successful in that than Cyrus. He also was the first ruler to ask for sons and heirs of the defeated kings as the hostages and guarantors of their father's loyalty. By educating these sons in the Persian way, he created a network of Perso-phile kings who were always faithful the the Great King. Darius is known in Iranian history as the greatest of the politicians.

After Darius his son Khashayar(Xerxes) inherited the throne. Khashayar aimed for the full invasion of Greece, especially Athens and Sparta who were suspicious of encouraging Greek provinces of Iran to rebel against the great king. Khashayar was stopped in Salamis because of his lack of sea power, although he had success in burning the famous Acropolis and stopping Greeks from any furthure attempts to irritate Iranian provinces. Mardonius, Khashayar's General and best friend, stayed in Northern Greece for several years to ensure the Greek peace!!! Khshayar's reign was the hight of the Achaemenid power. the empire was at it largest extent, and the internal affairs were perfect, thanks to Darius' wise plannings. Khshayar himself was a powerful and able sovereign, but not as sharp as his father. His extravagant ways set the basis for the world famous stories about the riches of Persia and established the legendary reputation of the Great Kings. He was the party king who would get serious when needed.

Ardeshir the Long-Armed (Artaxerxes Langimanus) was son and successor of Khashayar. He was one of the best rulers of Achaemenids and responsible for strengthening of the Persian power even in the farthest lands. Ardeshir sent ambassadors to Early Rome and Carthage and treated his subjects well. His reign was the last prosperous of Achaemenids, and he is generally considered the last great of the "Great Kings".

Ardeshir's reign was followed by a period of unrest caused by the struggle between his sons. Khashayar II, the youngest of Ardeshir's son was chosen as the new emperor since he was the only one with a Achaemenid mother. On the other hand, Ardeshir's other sons, Soghdian and Darius saw that as a bad excuse. Soghdian became the regent for the young Khashayar, and eventually murdered him. Since Soghdians mother was a slave, Darius became the new emperor as Darius II Nothus. Darius eliminated Soghdian and became the sole ruler. Darius II's rule was a peaceful one, despite its uneasy start, and he is remembered as a good king, although far from his name sake.

Darius' sons, Ardeshir and Cyrus the Younger started a struggle after their father's death. Despite being the eldest son and also Achaemenid from both mother and father, Ardeshir lacked the support of his powerful mother, Paroshat. This woman, comparable with Catherine de Medici of France, was a great politician and a Machiavelist preceeding Machiaveli. She sided with her younger son, Cyrus, and fought against her elder son. When Cyrus was killed in a war by mistake, Ardeshir forgave his mother because of that unfortunate accident, and paroshat returned to her palace in peace. Ardeshir II ruled from 404-359 BC and was known the the Greeks as Mnemon, since he never forgot anything.! He was a pious but weak ruler whose wrong decisions left the country in a state of chaos upon his death.

Ardehsir III, son of Ardeshir II, became emperor after slaughtering his brothers and nephews. He ruled for 20 years, and has been often compared with Caligula, atlhough he did not the bad habits of him! The last of Achaemenids was Darius III. He was a person born NOT to rule! His reign was matched with the beginning of Alexander's reign in Macedonia, a great disadvantage. Alexander defeated Darius in Isus battle and captured all of the Persian Empire in less than 5 years. Darius was killed by his guards while hiding. His murderors were severly punished by Alexander, who considred Persian kings as respectable.

Alexanders's conquest and reign is out of our means. Just to mention that he burned the beautiful and legendary capital of Persia, Persepolis, and died in Babylon at 32. His successors in Iran were Selucids , descendants of Selucus Nicator, Alexander's general. They ruled the country from 312 to 247 BC, when Antiochus II was defeated by Arsaces the Parthian.