The Persians achieved unity
under the leadership of Achaemenes, whose descendant
Cyrus brought the Achaemenian Empire onto the centre stage
of world history. Cyrus was the descendant of a long line of
Persian kings and should be referred to as Cyrus II, having been
named after his grandfather.
According to the writings of
Herodotus, the last ruler of the Medes, Astyages (585 - 550
B.C.) was defeated and captured by Cyrus in 549 B.C.. In all
probability Cyrus had the support of the Babylonian sovereign
Nabonidus. The Persian king overthrew the Median empire and
seized Ecbatana (Place of Assembly), which became his capital.
He spared the defeated ruler, preferring not to indulge in the
mass killings, which until then had been a feature of Assyrian
victories. On the contrary he brought nobles and civilian
officials, both Median and Persian, into the government of his
kingdom.
From 546 B.C., Cyrus II
applied himself to the task of attacking the powerful kingdom of
Lydia, where the famous Croesus ruled. There were two battles,
then Cyrus besieged and captured Sardis before going on to
subdue the rich Greek cities. From this point onwards Cyrus was
master of all Asia Minor. He now turned his attention towards
his eastern frontiers and conquered a string of provinces one
after the other, even crossing the Oxus in order to reach
another river, the Jaxartes, which flows into the Aral Sea. A
number of fortresses were then built for the purpose of keeping
out the nomads of Central Asia.
In 539 B.C., the Persian
sovereign assembled the bulk of his army and left his capital,
Ecbatana, to follow the course of the Tigris down to Babylon,
where he attacked Nabonidus. The city which had been capital of
Mesopotamia for a thousand years offered little resistance, and
welcomed Cyrus as a liberator.
As usual, Cyrus showed
magnanimity in victory. The respect he showed for the religions
of others earned him the homage of all Babylonians; Syria and
Phoenicia thus came under Achaemenian law. Cyrus the Great now
held sway over all the kingdoms of the Near and Middle East. In
the space of less than twenty years he had assembled the
greatest empire the world had ever seen. All he needed now was
Egypt! However, soon after his son Cambyses had been entrusted
with making the preparations for such a campaign, Cyrus himself
was killed in battle on the eastern frontier of his empire.
When Cyrus died in 530 B. C.,
the Achaemenian Empire was well established. The sovereign had
founded a new capital city at Pasargadae in Fars. Similarly, he
had worked out the administration of the empire, appointing a
governor, or satrap, to represent him in each province. He
imposed an annual tax in the form of a tribute on all the races
he conquered, to which the Achaemenian power owed much of its
wealth and magnificence.
Cyrus was succeeded by his son
Cambyses II (530-522 B.C.). After a victorious campaign against
Egypt, he annexed the country to his father's empire, but during
his absence the throne was seized by the Magus Gaumata, and the
King died mysteriously. However, Darius I (522-486 B.C.) ended
this reign, when he proclaimed himself the legitimate king. He
then continued the work of Cyrus, creating 23 provinces, or
satrapies, and building the administrative and religious cities
of Susa and Persepolis.
The magnificent palace complex of Persepolis
was founded around 518 B.C., although more than a century passed
before it was completed.
Through his military campaigns, Darius
extended the frontiers of the empire; in the east, around 512
B.C., he conquered Gandhara and the Indus Valley, while in the
west, he attacked the Scythians, whom he never managed to
subdue, and then turned against Greece.
While attempting to put down a rebellion in
Egypt in 490 B.C., Darius suffered a humiliating defeat at
Marathon, near Athens. He died in 486 B.C. without renewing his
attack on Greece.
After the death of Darius, the immense empire
established under the first Achaemenian rulers was threatened,
as Persian authority could no longer contain the rebellions of
the satrapies.
Xerxes (486-465 B.C.), the son of Darius, put
down revolts in Egypt and Babylonia with great severity and
renewed the struggle against Greece. He quickly subdued Thessaly
and Macedonia, then captured Attica and Athens, which he burned
down; however, in 480 B.C. the Persian fleet was destroyed at
Salamis.
Discouraged, Xerxes returned to Persia, and
never left again. Gradually, the immense empire disintegrated;
the Greek cities in Ionia, Egypt, then Pheonicia and Syria broke
away, followed by the regions to the west of the Euphrates.
Artaxerxes III (358-338) made one last attempt to reunite the
empire, brutally taking back Egypt and quelling the revolt of
the satraps, but a new power was already emerging in
West-Macedonia.
The last Achaemenian ruler, Darius III (336 -
330 B.C.) was weak, and his cowardice at two major campaigns,
the first at Issus (333 B.C.) and the other at Gaugamela two
years later surrendered the empire to Alexander.
