Page 163 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol IV

1464 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

N
PERSIAN EMPIRE
at 500 BCE

Aral
Sea the Greeks the battle with the Persians was a threat to
Black Sea CAUCASUS their very existence, for the Persians it was only a minor
affair that was hardly worthy of being mentioned in the
MTS.
Greece WEST ASIA
Caspian Sea
Crete Media imperial inscriptions.The Persians never sent the bulk of
Cyprus Babylon Susa Persia
Mediterranean Sea
Jerusalem their force to battle the Greek city-states, and the number
Persepolis
Egypt supplied by the Greek authors are exaggerated.
Persian
Gulf
Nile R. Red Sea ARABIAN Later Achaemenid Rule
DESERT
The rule of Xerxes ushered in the later part of Achae-
menid Persian empire, during which religious toleration
began to wither away. Xerxes I was killed in 465 BCE; he
Ar abian
Sea was succeeded by Artaxerxes, who reigned until 424
BCE. He was followed by Darius II (423–404 BCE), and
0 800 mi Artaxerxes II, also called Mnemon (404–359 BCE), who
0 800 km had the longest rule of any Persian ruler.
It at this time that we hear of two important women
of the court, Stateira and Parysatis, who attempted to
exert influence on the king. Artaxerxes II’s wife, Atossa,
make known to the people under what circumstances he also was to become quite powerful.What we hear about
had come to power—his version was that he had the decadence and the decline of power in Persia from
wrested the throne from an imposter who was imper- the Greek sources is probably biased—the result of
sonating Bardiya—leaving us a long cuneiform inscrip- Greek historiography.The reign of Artaxerxes III Ochus
tion (the Bisitun inscription) in the modern-day province (reigned 350–338 BCE) was dominated by the suppres-
of Kermanshah in northwestern Iran. (That inscription, sion of revolts and the reconquest of Egypt and the con-
when deciphered in the 1840s, made possible the trans- quest of Phoenicia and Cyprus. The last Achaemenid
lation of Assyrian and Babylonian records.) He then had king of kings was Darius III (reigned 336–330 BCE). It
copies of this inscription translated into different lan- was at this time that Philip II of Macedon (reigned 359–
guages of the empire on parchment and leather and sent 336 BCE) conquered the Greek city-states. His military
to the different areas to be read to his subjects. innovations greatly improved the Macedonian (and then
Greek) military, and under the command of Alexander of
The Greco-Persian Wars Macedon (reigned 336–323 BCE), they became a potent
During the rule of Darius I, the Ionian Greeks revolted force. Alexander is said to have wanted to take revenge
against Persian rule and asked aid from the Athenians on for what the Persians had done in Greece a century ear-
the Greek mainland. This action started off the long lier. He was able to defeat the Persian forces at three deci-
period of warfare known as the Greco-Persian Wars. Dar- sive battles at Granicus, Issus, and Gaugamela. Darius III
ius’s son, Xerxes I (reigned 486–465 BCE) had to retake fled to eastern Iran and was murdered there by his own
Egypt, which had revolted, and then set out to conquer countrymen.
Greece in 480 BCE. While he was successful initially, he
was later defeated at the battles of Thermopylae, Sala- Persian Society
mis, and the Plataea. In order to destabilize the Greeks, The basic unit of the Persian family was known as
the Persians then developed the strategy of using the Greek tauma. Several taumas formed a clan, and a conglomer-
city-state rivalries to their advantage, now supporting one ation of clans formed the Persian tribe. At the court the
side, now the other. It is important to note that while for king of kings reigned supreme. An important office be-