Persia7

(550 BCE–330 BCE)
 * //Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persian Empire// **



The Achaemenid Dynasty of the Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) for the most part adheres by the Comrad-Demerast model of Empire. The Persians easily met the necessary ** preconditions for the rise of empires; starting with demonstrating a state-level government. Since the Empire was so large, it was divided in 23 regional **satrapies; each was ruled by a satrap who was appointed by the emperor, to whom all satraps were subordinate to. In order to keep in communication and maintain a unified empire, each satrapy was in charge of building quality roads which stretched from end to end of its territory. The Achaemenid Empire was incredibly vast, therefore had a lot of geographic variety. Lands such as Mesopotamia had excellent agricultural potential and were easily accessible for conquest. The empire continued to gain agricultural opportunities through its conquest of Egypt in 525 BCE. At the peak of its power, the Achaemenid stretched over approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, which today would span over three continents, this provided virtually unlimited resources as unavailable to most other empires of its time. The vastness of the empire created an increadibly diverse environmental mosaic, which included major rivers, such as the Indus, Nile, Tigris and Euphrates and their river valleys. These created a means of transportation as well as favorable  agricultural settings. Almost every major sea in the middle-east bordered the Achaemenid which provided sea ports and excellent trade routes. Mountain ranges that ran along the northern borders served as a natural barr ier against invaders. The empire certainly had a powerful military considering the many civilizations it had conquered, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, and eventually ruled over nearly all of the Middle East and some parts of Greece; making it the largest empire in history. Unfortunately, this great accomplishment will eventually lead to the empires destruction. The main ideology of Persia was to maintain a moral code and promote honesty and loyalty to the state without having such a strict military society, unlike that of their rivals the Spartans. The treacherous war with Greece coupled with monumental size of the empire made it  increasingly difficult to control which ultimately lead to its downfall.

Cyrus the Great, Start of Achaemenid Empire, 559 B.C.E. -530 B.C.E. - 553 B.C.E.: Zoroastrianism becomes official Persian religion - 550 B.C.E.: Cyrus II unifies Persia; Persia conquers the Medes - 547-546 B.C.E.: Persia conquers Lydia - 539 B.C.E.: Cyrus the Great conquers Babylon Kambiz II, 530 B.C.E. – 522 B.C.E. - 525 B.C.E.: Persia conquers Egypt Smerdis (the Magian), 522 B.C.E. Darius I the Great, 522 B.C.E. – 486 B.C.E. - 522 B.C.E.: Darius I suppresses revolt within Persia - 499 B.C.E.: Ionian revolt, beginning of Persian-Greek Wars - 490 B.C.E.: Persians defeated by Athenians at Battle of Marathon - By death of Darius I, Persia reached maximum size Xerxes I (Khashyar), 486 B.C.E. – 465 B.C.E. - 480 B.C.E.: Spartan army, under King Leonidas, is defeated by Persians at Battle of Thermopylae; Persian fleet defeated by Greeks at Battle of Salamis - 466 B.C.E.: Delian league defeats Persian fleet at Battle of Eurymedon River Artaxerxes I, 465 B.C.E. – 425 BC Xerxes II, 425 B.C.E. – 424 B.C.E. (45 days) Darius II, 423 B.C.E. – 404 B.C.E. - 405 B.C.E.: Persians aid Sparta in defeating Athenians at Battle of Aegospotami; Egypt overthrows Persian rule Artaxerxes II, 404 B.C.E. – 359 B.C.E. - 401 B.C.E.: Battle of Cunaxa, 10,000 Greek mercenaries retreat through Persia Artaxerxes III, 359 B.C.E. – 339 B.C.E. Arses, 338 B.C.E.– 336 B.C.E. Darius III, 336 B.C.E. – 330 B.C.E. - 336 B.C.E.: Persians defeated at Granicus River by Alexander the Great - 331 B.C.E.: Alexander the Great burns Persian capital of Persepolis - 330 B.C.E.: Alexander the Great conquers Persia; Darius III assassinated
 * __Achaemenes Dynasty: Timeline of Rulers and Events During Their Rule__**

 