One of the greatest and oldest civilizations in the world, Persia is truly mysterious and unique and is the object of close attention of many historians. ancient persia occupied a vast territory from the southern foothills of the Urals, the Volga and the Black Sea steppes to the Indian Ocean.
According to many scholars, this most powerful of states reached its highest peak during the reign of the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty in 558-330 BC. e. shortly after King Cyrus II the Great (? - 530 BC) became the ruler of the local tribes, and later - King Darius I and his son Xerxes I.
creed
At the heart of the power of any state, as you know, is ideology. The teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathushtra), who lived in the 7th-6th centuries BC. e., served as the fundamental principle from which in ancient Persia the belief in Ahura Mazda, “the wise lord”, and the gods subordinate to him, called to help the Supreme Theologian, was born. These included the "holy spirit" - the creative hypostasis of Ahura Mazda, "good thought" - Vohu Mana, "truth" - Asha Vakhishta, "piety" - Armatai, "integrity" - Khaurvatat as the fullness of physical existence and its opposite - old age. , illness, death and, finally, the goddess of the underworld and immortality - Amertat. It is no coincidence that on the frieze of one of the Achaemenid palaces in Susa (modern Shush, Iran) the following words were inscribed: “I, the son of Darius the King, Achaemenides, built this palace as a heavenly abode. Ahura Mazda and other gods keep me from all filth and what I have done.
The Iranian rulers Cyrus, Darius and others were tolerant of the religions of the peoples they conquered. The kings understood that religious tolerance was the key to their calm and prosperous life. At the same time, they worshiped the sacred fire, which was kindled in specially built sanctuary towers - chortags (hence the name - royal palaces). ancient Persians they also worshiped winged bulls, horses, and some wild animals. In addition, they believed in the existence of the mythical Shah Jamshid, who had an amazing bowl that reflected everything that happens in the world. At any moment, the son of the lord of the solar sphere, Shah Jamshid, could find out what was happening where, one had only to look into the bowl. It is not surprising that with such a "baggage" the Persians managed to achieve a lot both in science and in art, not to mention state government.
Behinstun Chronicle
One of the achievements of Darius I was the construction of the "royal road" with a length of 2700 kilometers! Considering that most of it was laid in mountainous and semi-desert areas, and it was possible to ride horses along it at good speed, given that the road was served by 111 post stations (!), And proper security was designed to protect travelers from robbers , there is no doubt that the taxes from the conquered countries, collected by the satraps (deputies of the king in the regions), entered the treasury without any delay. The remains of this path have survived to this day, and if you follow this route from Tehran to Baghdad, then in one of the mountainous regions you can see a huge rock, on which, at a height of about 152 meters from the ground, huge bas-reliefs and some writings are clearly visible today. .
Scientists have long figured out the bas-reliefs. Unknown masons sculpted in stone nine captive kings with their hands tied and a noose around their necks, and Darius tramples the tenth with his feet. Thanks to the efforts of the English archaeologist G. Rawlinson, it was possible to read an ancient inscription there, made in three languages - Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. On the “page” of the stone book, 8 meters wide and 18 meters high, it tells about the deeds of Darius I, about his formation as a king who was not used to doubting his innocence. Here are some excerpts from a text that reports on the construction of one of his luxurious palaces: “A mountain cedar tree from Lebanon has been delivered ... Gold from Sardis and Bactria has been delivered ... Lapis lazuli gem and carnelian from Sogdiana have been delivered. Blue gem - turquoise from Khorezm delivered ... Silver and bronze from Egypt delivered. The craftsmen who hewed the stone were the Medes and the Ionians. The goldsmiths were the Medes and the Egyptians. The people who made bricks - they were Babylonians ... "This record alone is enough to understand how rich and powerful the Achaemenid king Darius I was. It is not surprising that the capital of ancient Persia, Parsastakhra, which the Greeks called Persepolis, was also fabulously rich.
paradise abode
The city of Persepolis was founded by Darius in the area of Pars in 518 BC. e. The main construction took place between 520 and 460. The white-stone city was built on the plain of Merv-Dasht, and nature itself emphasized its beauty - the black basalt mountains of Mercy, approaching the valley from the north and south. For more than half a century, thousands of slaves of different nationalities built the capital of the Persian kings night and day. Darius was convinced that it was here that the mythical Shah Jamshid with his cup stayed. The city was supposed to serve religious and representative purposes. On a powerful foundation-podium up to 20 meters high, 15 majestic buildings were erected, of which the most luxurious were the Ceremonial Hall - Amadaha, Throne Hall, Xerxes Gate, Harem, Treasury, as well as a number of other premises, including housing for the garrison, servants and accommodation for guests - diplomats, artists and others. Diodorus Siculus (about 90-21 BC), an ancient Greek scholar, author of the famous Historical Library, wrote about Persepolis in one of 40 books: “The built city was the richest of all existing under the sun. The private houses of even the humblest people were distinguished by their comfort, were furnished with all kinds of furniture and decorated with various fabrics.
The entrance to the palace was decorated with the Propylaea of Xerxes (Gate of Xerxes), which were 17-meter-high columns, forming, as it were, a tunnel. They were decorated with figures of winged bulls facing in and out in pairs. One pair of bulls had human bearded heads in tiaras. At the entrance of the guests, the inscription of Xerxes struck: “With the help of Ahura Mazda, I made this gate of all countries. Many other beautiful buildings were erected here in Pars, I built them and my father (Darius) built them. And what was built became beautiful.”
Wide stone stairs, decorated with bas-reliefs on religious and mystical themes, as well as scenes from the life of Persian kings, led to the podium and further to the reception hall of the palace - Apadana, whose area was 4000 square meters! The hall was decorated with 72 slender columns 18.5 meters high. From the hall, using special ladder devices on a chariot (an invention of the Persians), harnessed by eight bay horses, the king could rise to meet the sun on one of the main holidays of the empire - the Spring Equinox Day, celebrated as the New Year - Nauruz.
Unfortunately, little has survived from the Hundred-Column Hall. Its walls were decorated with reliefs depicting warriors from the king's guard and tributaries carrying gifts to the throne. The doorway was decorated with carvings of royal victories in battles. The stone-cutting artists performed their work so masterfully that those who admired the reliefs had no shadow of a doubt that the king himself, sitting on the throne, was the messenger of God on earth and that there were an infinite number of gifts brought from all over the empire.
Until now, historians find it difficult to answer the question of what treasures the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty possessed, and how many wives they had. It is only known that in the royal harem there were beauties from many Asian countries conquered by the Persians, but the Babylonians were considered the best mistresses in love. Historians are also sure that the Treasury contained a myriad of unique items made of gold, silver and precious stones. After Persepolis was taken by the troops of Alexander the Great in 330 BC. e., it took three thousand camels and ten thousand mules (!) In order to take out the huge treasury of the rulers of Iran. A significant part of the priceless treasures of the Achaemenid dynasty (for example, dishes, drinking rhytons, women's jewelry) is now kept not only in the St. Petersburg Hermitage, but also in museums around the world.
The territory of Persia before the formation of an independent state was part of the Assyrian Empire. 6th century BC. became the heyday of the ancient civilization, which began with the kingdom of the ruler Persia Cyrus II the Great. He managed to defeat a king named Croesus of the richest country of antiquity, Lydia. It went down in history as the first state formation in which silver and gold coins were minted in the history of the world. It happened in the 7th century. BC.
Under the Persian king Cyrus, the borders of the state were significantly expanded and they included the territories of the fallen Assyrian Empire and the powerful. By the end of the period of the reign of Cyrus and his heir, Persia, which received the status of an empire, occupied an area from the lands of Ancient Egypt to India. The conqueror honored the traditions and customs of the conquered peoples and accepted the title and crown of the king of the occupied states.
In ancient times, the Persian emperor Cyrus was considered one of the most powerful rulers, under whose skillful leadership numerous successful military campaigns were carried out. However, his fate ended ingloriously: the great Cyrus fell at the hands of a woman. Near the northeastern border of the Persian Empire lived Massagetae. Small tribes were very savvy in military affairs. They were ruled by Queen Tomyris. She answered Cyrus' proposal for marriage with a decisive refusal, which made the emperor extremely angry and he undertook a military campaign to capture the nomadic peoples. The queen's son died in the fight, and she promised to force the king of an ancient civilization to drink blood. The battle ended with the defeat of the Persian troops. The head of the emperor was brought to the queen in a leather fur filled with blood. Thus ended the time of despotic rule and conquests of the king of Persia, Cyrus II the Great.
After the death of the mighty Cyrus, his direct heir came to power Cambyses. Militia began in the state. As a result of the struggle, Darius I became the emperor of Persia. Information about the years of his reign has come down to our days thanks to Behistunskaya inscriptions, which contains historical data in Old Persian, Akkadian, and Elamite. The stone was found by an officer of Great Britain G. Rawlinson in 1835. The inscription testifies that during the reign of a distant relative of Cyrus II the Great Darius, Persia turned into an oriental despotism.
The state was divided into 20 administrative divisions, which were ruled by satraps. The regions were called satraps. Officials were in charge of administration and their duties included control over the collection of taxes to the main treasury of the state. The money went to the development of infrastructure, in particular, roads were built connecting areas throughout the empire. Postal posts were established to convey messages to the king. During his reign, extensive construction of cities and the development of handicrafts were noted. Gold coins - "dariki" - are introduced into monetary use.
One of the four capitals of the ancient civilization of Persia was located on the territory of the former Lydia in the city of Susa. Another center of social and political life was in Pasargada, established by Cyrus the Great. The residence of the Persians was also located in the conquered Babylonian kingdom. Emperor Darius I was put on the throne in a city specially established as the capital of Persia persepolis. Its wealth and architecture amazed the rulers and ambassadors of foreign countries, who stayed in the empire to bring gifts to the king. The stone walls of the palace of Darius in Persepolis are decorated with drawings depicting the immortal army of the Persians and the history of the existence of the "six peoples" living in the ancient civilization.
In ancient times in Persia there was polytheism. The adoption of a single religion came with the doctrine of the struggle of the god of good and the generation of evil. The name of the prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster). In the tradition of the Persians, in contrast to the religiously strong Ancient Egypt, there was no custom of erecting temple complexes and altars for performing spiritual rites. The sacrifices were made on the hills, where the altars were arranged. god of light and goodness Ahura Mazda depicted in Zoroastrianism in the form of a solar disk, decorated with wings. He was considered the patron saint of the kings of the ancient civilization of Persia.
The Persian state was located on the territory of modern Iran, where ancient architectural monuments of the empire have been preserved.
Video about the creation and fall of the Persian Empire
Plan
Introduction
1 Description
2 Length
3 The royal road as a metaphor
Introduction
The Royal Road is a paved road known from the works of Herodotus, built by the Persian king Darius I in the 5th century BC.
1. Description
The fifth and eighth books of the History of Herodotus describe the length of the road that connected the distant parts of the Achaemenid state. Pointing out which cities it passed through, the historian admiringly describes the structure of the Persian postal service and the speed with which the messengers of Darius moved:
There is nothing in the world faster than these messengers: the Persians have such a clever postal service! They say that throughout the whole journey they have horses and people arranged, so that for each day of the journey there is a special horse and person. Neither snow, nor downpour, nor heat, nor even the night time can prevent each rider from galloping at full speed for the designated segment of the path. The first messenger conveys the news to the second, and the latter to the third. And so the message passes from hand to hand until it reaches the goal, like torches at the Hellenic feast in honor of Hephaestus. The Persians call this equestrian mail "angareion".
2. Length
The length of the Royal Road is reconstructed according to Herodotus, other historical evidence and archaeological data. It started in Sardis (about 90 km east of the modern city of Izmir in Turkey) and ran east to the Assyrian capital of Nineveh (today's Mosul in Iraq). Then, as it is believed, it was divided into two parts: one led to the east, through Ecbatana to the Silk Road, the other - to the south and southeast, to Susa and Persepolis.
Since the Royal Road was not laid along the most convenient route that could connect the largest Persian cities, historians believe that sections of roads laid by the Assyrian kings were used during the construction. In the east, it practically merges with the Silk Road.
The quality of the paved road was so high that it continued to be used at least until the Roman era; in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir, a bridge rebuilt by the Romans, which was part of the Royal Road, has been preserved. Its construction contributed to the flourishing of Persian trade, which reached its peak during the time of Alexander the Great.
3. Royal road as a metaphor
The expression “royal road” or “royal path” became a catch phrase in antiquity, denoting the fastest, easiest and most reasonable way to achieve something. The phrase of Euclid, addressed to the Egyptian king Ptolemy, who wanted to learn the sciences, is famous: “There are no royal roads in geometry!”. Freud spoke of dreams as "the royal road to the unconscious."
In Christian theology, the expression "royal way" has been used as a metaphor for moderation. An excerpt from an article by Hieromonk Seraphim Rose:
“The doctrine of this “royal path” is explained by St. Basil the Great: “He is right in heart, whose thought does not deviate either into excess or into deficiency, but is directed only towards the middle of virtue.” But, perhaps, this teaching was most clearly expounded by the great Orthodox father of the 5th century, St. John Cassian. He faced a task similar to the one facing Orthodoxy today: to expound the pure teaching of the Eastern Fathers to the peoples of the West, who were then spiritually immature and did not yet understand the depth and subtlety of the spiritual teaching of the Orthodox East. In applying this teaching to life, they tended either to be relaxed or too strict. St. Cassian expounds the Orthodox teaching on the “royal path” in his discourse “On Sobriety”: “With all our strength and with all the effort, we must strive to acquire, through humility, the good gift of sobriety, which can keep us intact from excess on both sides. . For, as the fathers say, extremes exist on both sides - on the right there is a danger of being deceived by excessive abstinence, and on the left - to be carried away into carelessness and relaxation. And the temptation from the “right” is even more dangerous than from the “left”. “Excessive abstinence is more harmful than saturation, because through repentance one can pass from the latter to a correct understanding, but not from the former” (that is, because pride in one’s “virtue” stands in the way of repentant humility, which can serve the cause of salvation).
John Cassian, in his teaching on the royal path, speaks of overstressed preservation of oneself from excessive abstinence and relaxation, but then the royal path began to mean moderation among the Orthodox, which can hardly be distinguished from lukewarmness.
In the middle of the VI century. BC e. the Persians entered the arena of world history - a mysterious tribe, about which the previously civilized peoples of the Middle East knew only by hearsay.
About manners and customs ancient Persians known from the writings of the peoples who lived next to them. In addition to their mighty growth and physical development, the Persians had a will hardened in the fight against the harsh climate and the dangers of nomadic life in the mountains and steppes. At that time they were famous for their moderate way of life, temperance, strength, courage and solidarity.
According to Herodotus, Persians wore clothes made of animal skins and felt tiaras (caps), did not drink wine, ate not as much as they wanted, but as much as they had. They were indifferent to silver and gold.
Simplicity and modesty in food and clothing remained one of the main virtues even during the reign of the Persians over, when they began to dress in luxurious Median outfits, wear gold necklaces and bracelets, when fresh fish was delivered to the table of Persian kings and nobility from distant seas, fruits from Babylonia and Syria. Even then, during the coronation ceremony of the Persian kings, the Achaemenides who ascended the throne had to put on the clothes that he wore when he was not a king, eat some dried figs and drink a cup of sour milk.
The ancient Persians were allowed to have many wives, as well as concubines, to marry close relatives, such as nieces and half-sisters. Ancient Persian customs forbade women to show themselves to strangers (among the numerous reliefs in Persepolis there is not a single female image). The ancient historian Plutarch wrote that the Persians are characterized by wild jealousy not only in relation to their wives. They even kept slaves and concubines locked up so that outsiders could not see them, and carried them in closed wagons.
The Persian king Cyrus II from the Achaemenid clan conquered Media and many other countries in a short time and had a huge and well-armed army, which began to prepare for a campaign against Babylonia. A new force appeared in Western Asia, which managed in a short time - in just a few decades- completely change the political map of the Middle East.
Babylonia and Egypt abandoned their long-term hostile policy towards each other, because the rulers of both countries were well aware of the need to prepare for war with the Persian Empire. The start of the war was only a matter of time.
The campaign against the Persians began in 539 BC. e. decisive battle between the Persians and the Babylonians took place near the city of Opis on the Tigris River. Cyrus won a complete victory here, soon his troops took the well-fortified city of Sippar, and the Persians captured Babylon without a fight.
After that, the eyes of the Persian ruler turned to the East, where for several years he waged a grueling war with nomadic tribes and where he eventually died in 530 BC. e.
The successors of Cyrus - Cambyses and Darius completed the work begun by him. in 524-523 BC e. Cambyses marched on Egypt, as a result of which established the power of the Achaemenids on the banks of the Nile. became one of the satrapies of the new empire. Darius continued to strengthen the eastern and western borders of the empire. By the end of the reign of Darius, who died in 485 BC. e., the Persian state dominated over a vast area from the Aegean in the west to India in the east, and from the deserts of Central Asia in the north to the rapids of the Nile in the south. The Achaemenids (Persians) united almost the entire civilized world known to them and owned it until the 4th century BC. BC e., when their power was broken and subjugated by the military genius of Alexander the Great.
Chronology of the rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty:
The tribes of the Aryans - the eastern branch of the Indo-Europeans - by the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. inhabited almost the entire territory of present-day Iran. Samo the word "Iran" is the modern form of the name "Ariana", i.e. land of the Aryans. Initially, these were warlike tribes of semi-nomadic pastoralists who fought on war chariots. Part of the Aryans moved even earlier and captured it, giving rise to the Indo-Aryan culture. Other Aryan tribes, closer to the Iranians, remained nomadic in Central Asia and the northern steppes - Saks, Sarmatians, etc. The Iranians themselves, having settled on the fertile lands of the Iranian Highlands, gradually abandoned their nomadic life, took up farming, adopting skills. It reached a high level already in the XI-VIII centuries. BC e. Iranian craft. His monument is the famous "Luristan bronzes" - skillfully made weapons and household items with images of mythical and really existing animals.
"Luristan bronzes"- cultural monument of Western Iran. It was here, in the immediate neighborhood and confrontation, that the most powerful Iranian kingdoms were formed. The first of them Mussel intensified(Northwest Iran). The Median kings participated in the crushing of Assyria. The history of their state is well known from written monuments. But the Median monuments of the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. very poorly studied. Even the capital of the country, the city of Ecbatany, has not been found yet. It is only known that it was located in the vicinity of the modern city of Hamadan. Nevertheless, two Median fortresses already explored by archaeologists from the time of the struggle with Assyria speak of a rather high culture of the Medes.
In 553 BC. e. Cyrus (Kurush) II, the king of the subject Persian tribe from the Achaemenid clan, rebelled against the Medes. In 550 BC. e. Cyrus united the Iranians under his rule and led them to conquer the world. In 546 BC. e. he conquered Asia Minor, and in 538 BC. e. fell. The son of Cyrus, Cambyses, conquered, and under King Darius I at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. before. n. e. Persian power reached its greatest expansion and prosperity.
The monuments of its greatness are the royal capitals excavated by archaeologists - the most famous and best studied monuments of Persian culture. The oldest of them is Pasargada, the capital of Cyrus.
In 331-330 years. BC e. the famous conqueror Alexander the Great destroyed the Persian Empire. In retaliation for Athens once ravaged by the Persians, Greek Macedonian soldiers brutally looted and burned Persepolis. The Achaemenid dynasty ended. The period of Greek-Macedonian dominion over the East began, which is usually referred to as the era of Hellenism.
For the Iranians, the conquest was a disaster. The power over all neighbors was replaced by humiliated submission to old enemies - the Greeks. The traditions of Iranian culture, already shaken by the desire of kings and nobles to imitate the vanquished in luxury, were now completely trampled. Little changed after the liberation of the country by the nomadic Iranian tribe of the Parthians. The Parthians expelled the Greeks from Iran in the 2nd century BC. BC e., but they themselves borrowed a lot from Greek culture. The Greek language is still used on the coins and inscriptions of their kings. Temples are still built with numerous statues, according to Greek models, which seemed to many Iranians blasphemy. Zarathushtra in ancient times forbade the worship of idols, commanding to honor the inextinguishable flame as a symbol of the deity and to make sacrifices to it. It was religious humiliation that was the greatest, and it was not for nothing that the cities built by the Greek conquerors were later called “Dragon buildings” in Iran.
In 226 AD e. the rebellious ruler of Pars, who bore the ancient royal name Ardashir (Artaxerxes), overthrew the Parthian dynasty. The second story begins Persian Empire - Sassanid Powers, the dynasty to which the winner belonged.
The Sassanids sought to revive the culture of ancient Iran. The very history of the Achaemenid state by that time had become a vague legend. So, as an ideal, the society that was described in the legends of the Zoroastrian priests-mobeds was put forward. The Sassanids built, in fact, a culture that had never existed in the past, thoroughly imbued with a religious idea. This had little in common with the era of the Achaemenids, who willingly adopted the customs of the conquered tribes.
Under the Sassanids, the Iranian decisively triumphed over the Hellenic. Greek temples completely disappear, the Greek language goes out of official use. The broken statues of Zeus (who was identified with Ahura Mazda under the Parthians) are being replaced by faceless altars of fire. Naksh-i-Rustem is decorated with new reliefs and inscriptions. In the III century. The second Sasanian king Shapur I ordered his victory over the Roman emperor Valerian to be carved on the rocks. On the reliefs, the kings are overshadowed by a bird-like farn - a sign of divine patronage.
Capital of Persia became the city of Ctesiphon, built by the Parthians next to the empty Babylon. Under the Sassanids, new palace complexes were built in Ctesiphon and huge (up to 120 hectares) royal parks were laid out. The most famous of the Sasanian palaces is Taq-i-Kisra, the palace of King Khosrov I, who ruled in the 6th century. Along with monumental reliefs, palaces were now decorated with fine carved ornaments made from lime mixture.
Under the Sassanids, the irrigation system of Iranian and Mesopotamian lands was improved. In the VI century. the country was covered by a network of kariz (underground water pipes with clay pipes), stretching up to 40 km. The cleaning of karizs was carried out through special wells dug every 10 m. Karizs served for a long time and ensured the rapid development of agriculture in Iran in the Sasanian era. It was then that Iran began to grow cotton and sugar cane, and horticulture and winemaking developed. At the same time, Iran became one of the suppliers of its own fabrics - both woolen and linen and silk.
Sasanian power was much less Achaemenid, covered only Iran itself, part of the lands of Central Asia, the territory of present-day Iraq, Armenia and Azerbaijan. She had to fight for a long time, first with Rome, then with the Byzantine Empire. Despite all this, the Sassanids lasted longer than the Achaemenids - over four centuries. Ultimately, exhausted by continuous wars in the west, the state was engulfed in a struggle for power. The Arabs took advantage of this, carrying by force of arms a new faith - Islam. In 633-651. after a fierce war, they conquered Persia. So it was over with the ancient Persian state and ancient Iranian culture.
The ancient Greeks, who got acquainted with the organization of state administration in the Achaemenid Empire, admired the wisdom and foresight of the Persian kings. In their opinion, this organization was the pinnacle of the development of the monarchical form of government.
The Persian kingdom was divided into large provinces, called satrapies by the title of their rulers - satraps (Persian, "kshatra-pawan" - "guardian of the region"). Usually there were 20 of them, but this number fluctuated, since sometimes the administration of two or more satrapies was entrusted to one person and, conversely, one region was divided into several. This mainly pursued the goals of taxation, but also sometimes took into account the characteristics of the peoples who inhabited them, and historical features. Satraps and rulers of smaller areas were not the only representatives of local government. In addition to them, in many provinces there were hereditary local kings or possessing priests, as well as free cities and, finally, "benefactors" who received cities and districts for life, and even hereditary possession. These kings, governors, and high priests differed in position from the satraps only in that they were hereditary and had a historical and national connection with the population, who saw them as bearers of ancient traditions. They independently carried out internal administration, preserved local law, a system of measures, language, imposed taxes and duties, but were under the constant control of the satraps, who could often intervene in the affairs of the regions, especially during unrest and unrest. The satraps also resolved border disputes between cities and regions, litigation in cases where the participants were citizens of various urban communities or various vassal regions, and regulated political relations. Local rulers, like the satraps, had the right to communicate directly with the central government, and some of them, such as the kings of the Phoenician cities, Cilicia, Greek tyrants, maintained their own army and fleet, which they personally commanded, accompanying the Persian army on large campaigns or performing military orders of the king. However, the satrap could at any time demand these troops for the royal service, put his garrison in the possessions of local rulers. The main command over the troops of the province also belonged to him. The satrap was even allowed to recruit soldiers and mercenaries on his own and at his own expense. He was, as they would call him in an era closer to us, the governor-general of his satrapy, ensuring its internal and external security.
The supreme command of the troops was carried out by the heads of four or, as during the subjugation of Egypt, five military districts into which the kingdom was divided.
Persian system of government gives an example of amazing respect by the winners of local customs and the rights of conquered peoples. In Babylonia, for example, all documents from the time of Persian rule do not differ legally from those relating to the period of independence. The same thing happened in Egypt and Judea. In Egypt, the Persians left the former not only the division into nomes, but also the sovereign families, the location of troops and garrisons, as well as the tax immunity of temples and priesthood. Of course, the central government and the satrap could intervene at any time and decide matters at their own discretion, but for the most part it was enough for them if the country was calm, the taxes were being paid properly, the troops were in order.
Such a system of governance took shape in the Middle East not immediately. For example, initially in the conquered territories it relied only on the force of arms and intimidation. The areas taken "with a fight" were included directly in the House of Ashur - the central region. Those who surrendered to the mercy of the conqueror often retained their local dynasty. But over time, this system turned out to be ill-suited to managing a growing state. The reorganization of government carried out by King Tiglath-Pileser III in the UNT c. BC e., in addition to the policy of forced migrations, it also changed the system of administration of the regions of the empire. The kings tried to prevent the emergence of overly powerful families. To prevent the creation of hereditary possessions and new dynasties among the rulers of the regions, to the most important posts often appointed eunuchs. In addition, although large officials received huge land holdings, they did not form a single array, but were scattered throughout the country.
But still, the main support of the Assyrian domination, as well as the Babylonian later, was the army. Military garrisons literally encircled the entire country. Taking into account the experience of their predecessors, the Achaemenids added to the force of arms the idea of a "kingdom of countries", that is, a reasonable combination of local characteristics with the interests of the central government.
The vast state needed the means of communication needed to control the central government over local officials and rulers. The language of the Persian office, in which even royal decrees were issued, was Aramaic. This is explained by the fact that in fact it was in common use in Assyria and Babylonia back in Assyrian times. The conquests by the Assyrian and Babylonian kings of the western regions, Syria and Palestine, further contributed to its spread. This language gradually took the place of the ancient Akkadian cuneiform in international relations; it was used even on the coins of the Asia Minor satraps of the Persian king.
Another feature of the Persian Empire that admired the Greeks there were great roads, described by Herodotus and Xenophon in the stories about the campaigns of King Cyrus. The most famous were the so-called Royal, which went from Ephesus in Asia Minor, off the coast of the Aegean Sea, to the east - to Susa, one of the capitals of the Persian state, through the Euphrates, Armenia and Assyria along the Tigris River; the road leading from Babylonia through the Zagros mountains to the east to another capital of Persia - Ecbatana, and from here to the Bactrian and Indian border; the road from the Issky Gulf of the Mediterranean Sea to Sinop on the Black Sea, crossing Asia Minor, etc.
These roads were laid not only by the Persians. Most of them existed in Assyrian and even earlier times. The beginning of the construction of the Royal Road, which was the main artery of the Persian monarchy, probably dates back to the era of the Hittite kingdom, located in Asia Minor on the way from Mesopotamia and Syria to Europe. Sardis, the capital of Lydia conquered by the Medes, was connected by road with another large city - Pteria. From it the road went to the Euphrates. Herodotus, speaking of the Lydians, calls them the first shopkeepers, which was natural for the owners of the road between Europe and Babylon. The Persians continued this route from Babylonia further east, to their capitals, improved it and adapted it not only for trading purposes, but also for state needs - mail.
The Persian kingdom also took advantage of another invention of the Lydians - a coin. Until the 7th century BC e. subsistence economy dominated throughout the East, money circulation was just beginning to emerge: the role of money was played by metal ingots of a certain weight and shape. These could be rings, plates, mugs without chasing and images. The weight was different everywhere, and therefore, outside the place of origin, the ingot simply lost the value of a coin and had to be weighed again each time, that is, it became an ordinary commodity. On the border between Europe and Asia, the Lydian kings were the first to switch to the minting of a state coin of a clearly defined weight and denomination. Hence the use of such coins spread throughout Asia Minor, to Cyprus and Palestine. The ancient trading countries -, and - retained the old system for a very long time. They began to mint coins after the campaigns of Alexander the Great, and before that they used coins made in Asia Minor.
Establishing a unified tax system, the Persian kings could not do without the minting of coins; in addition, the needs of the state that kept the mercenaries, as well as the unprecedented flourishing of international trade, caused the need for a single coin. And in the kingdom a gold coin was introduced, and only the government had the right to mint it; local rulers, cities and satraps, in order to pay mercenaries, received the right to mint only silver and copper coins, which remained an ordinary commodity outside their area.
So, by the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. in the Middle East, through the efforts of many generations and many peoples, a civilization arose that even the freedom-loving Greeks was considered ideal. Here is what the ancient Greek historian Xenophon wrote: “Wherever the king lives, wherever he goes, he makes sure that everywhere there are gardens called paradises, full of everything beautiful and good that the earth can produce. He spends most of his time in them, if the season does not interfere with this ... Some say that when the king gives gifts, first those who distinguished themselves in the war are called up, because it is useless to plow a lot if there is no one to protect, and then they cultivate the land in the best possible way, for the strong could not exist if there were no workers ... ".
It is not surprising that this civilization developed precisely in Western Asia. It not only arose earlier than others, but also developed faster and more vigorously, had the most favorable conditions for its development due to constant contacts with neighbors and the exchange of innovations. Here, more often than in other ancient centers of world culture, new ideas arose and important discoveries were made in almost all areas of production and culture. Pottery wheel and wheel, bronze and iron making, war chariot as fundamentally new means of warfare, various forms of writing from pictograms to the alphabet - all this and much more genetically goes back to Western Asia, from where these innovations spread to the rest of the world, including other centers of primary civilization.
Persian Empire (Achaemenid Empire, 550 - 330 BC) Cyrus II is considered the founder of the Persian Empire. He began his conquests in 550 BC. e. from the subjugation of Media, after which Armenia, Parthia, Cappadocia and the Lydian kingdom were conquered. Did not become an obstacle to the expansion of the empire of Cyrus and Babylon, whose powerful walls fell in 539 BC. e. Conquering neighboring territories, the Persians tried not to destroy the conquered cities, but, if possible, to preserve them. Cyrus restored the captured Jerusalem, as well as many Phoenician cities, by facilitating the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity. The Persian Empire under Cyrus stretched its possessions from Central Asia to the Aegean Sea. Only Egypt remained unconquered. The country of the pharaohs submitted to the heir of Cyrus Cambyses II. However, the empire reached its heyday under Darius I, who switched from conquests to domestic politics. In particular, the king divided the empire into 20 satrapies, which completely coincided with the territories of the occupied states. In 330 B.C. e. the weakening Persian Empire fell under the onslaught of the troops of Alexander the Great.
Ancient Persia is a fearless, formidable, inexorable empire, unparalleled in conquest and wealth, headed by outstanding, ambitious and powerful rulers. Since its inception in the 6th c. BC. before the conquest by Alexander the Great in the 4th century. BC. for two and a half centuries, Persia occupied a dominant position in the ancient world. Greek domination lasted for about a hundred years, and after its fall, the Persian state was revived under two local dynasties: the Arsacids (Parthian kingdom) and the Sassanids (New Persian kingdom). For more than seven centuries, they kept Rome in fear, and then Byzantium, until in the 7th century. AD the Sassanid state was not conquered by Islamic conquerors.
Persian Empire was created Achaemenid dynasty(Map 1 "The Achaemenid Empire at its height"), which traces its origins to Achaemen, the leader of the union of Persian tribes. Persians are the settled descendants of the Indo-European Aryan nomadic people, who c. XV century BC arrived in Eastern Iran from Central Asia and from there occupied Persis around the 10th century BC, displacing the Assyrians, Elamites and Chaldeans from there.
Persian religion. In ancient times, the Persians worshiped different gods. Their priests were called magicians. At the end of the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e. magician and prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra) transformed the ancient Persian religion. His teaching was called Zoroastrianism. The sacred book of Zoroastrianism is the Avesta.
Zoroaster taught that the creator of the world is the god of goodness and light, Ahura Mazda. His enemy is the spirit of evil and darkness Angra Mainyu. They are constantly fighting among themselves, but the final victory will be for light and goodness. Man must support the god of light in this struggle. Ahura Mazda was depicted as a winged solar disk. He was considered the patron saint of Persian kings.
The Persians did not build temples or erect statues to the gods. They built altars on high ground or on hills and made sacrifices on them.
Descendant of Achaemen Cyrus the Great(c. 590-530 BC), who ruled (558-530 BC) in Pars and Anshan (Northern Elam - a historical region and an ancient state (III millennium - mid-VI century BC) BC), located east of the lower reaches of the Tigris River and northeast of the Persian Gulf, in the southwestern part of the Iranian Highlands (the territory of the modern Iranian provinces of Khuzestan and Luristan)), founded the huge Persian Empire. Cyrus founded the city of Pasargada (located 87 km northeast of Persepolis, 130 km from Shiraz), which became the first capital of the Persian state. When Cyrus, after the death of his father in July 558, became the king of the Persian tribes, there were four major powers in the Middle East: Media, Lydia, Babylonia and Egypt (map 2 “Lydia, Media and the Neo-Babylonian kingdom at the time of their capture by Persia”), which were destined to later become part of the empire. The later empire of Alexander the Great included almost no territories that would not have previously belonged to the Persians.
The beginning of the creation of the state was in 553 BC. Persian uprising against Media. Cyrus captured the Median capital of Ecbatana and declared himself king of both Persia and Media, while taking the official title of the Median kings. Having conquered in 550 BC. Media, Cyrus over the next two years (550-548) captured the countries that were previously part of the former Median state: Parthia and, probably, Armenia. Hyrcania submitted to the Persians voluntarily. In the same years, the Persians captured the entire territory of Elam.
Cyrus began to expand his possessions. First, he made a campaign (546 BC) against the rich and powerful Lydia, a state in Asia Minor. Croesus, king of Lydia, anticipated the Persian attack by occupying Cappadocia and enlisting the support of the Babylonians and Egyptians. The battle of Pteria did not bring victory to either side, and then Cyrus decided to take the initiative in his own hands and, as a result of several rapid transitions, caught Croesus by surprise at his winter residence in Sardis. Besieged in his capital, the Lydian king turned to the Babylonians for help. Only the Spartans responded to his calls, but the Spartan fleet did not have time to go to sea, when the news came of the fall of Sardis (546 BC). Croesus and his family were taken prisoner, but, according to Greek sources, he was treated generously. The Babylonian chronicler, hostile to Cyrus, claims that the Lydian king was executed.
After the news of the fall of Sardis, the Greek cities of Asia Minor hastened to send ambassadors to the Persian king. Cyrus demanded the complete and unconditional surrender of all Ionian cities, with the exception of the seaport of Miletus, to which he granted special privileges. Soon the generals of Cyrus conquered Caria, Lycia, and then the rest of Asia Minor.
Between 545 and 539 Cyrus subjugated Drangiana, Aria, Arachosia, Sattagidia, Bactria, Gandhara, Gedrosia, the territory of the Haumavarg Scythians and penetrated into Central Asia, conquering Margiana, Sogdiana and Khorezm there. Unfortunately, we know almost nothing about these campaigns of Cyrus, but, apparently, the conquest of these lands was not easy. So, for example, according to available information in Gandhara, Cyrus lost a significant part of his army. Thus, Persian dominance in the east reached the northwestern borders of India, the southern spurs of the Hindu Kush and the Syrdarya river basin.
Only one rival remained - Babylonia, a great power that divided the Middle East with the Medes and still controlled the Tigris and Euphrates valleys, Syria, Palestine and Arabia, as well as trade routes to Egypt and the West. Nabonidus, the king of Babylonia, did not enjoy the love of his subjects, so in 539 BC. the inhabitants of the capital opened the gates and greeted Cyrus, who entered the city. Cyrus demonstrated wisdom and generosity. The inhabitants of the Babylonian cities were promised peace and inviolability. He recognized Marduk (the Babylonian god) and was crowned king of Babylonia. Cyrus formally retained the Babylonian kingdom and did not change anything in the social structure of the country. Babylon became one of the royal residences, the Babylonians continued to occupy a predominant position in the state apparatus, and the priesthood got the opportunity to revive the ancient cults, which Cyrus patronized in every possible way. Cyrus restored temples and acted as a defender of the rights of the people. The Jews, who were once taken captive by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, were allowed to return from exile to Jerusalem, and promulgated in 538 BC. the decree allowed them to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. After the capture of Babylonia, all the western countries up to the borders of Egypt - (Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia) - submitted to the Persians voluntarily.
Cyrus the Great undertook his last campaign against the Massagets - nomads who lived in the steppes between the Caspian and Aral Seas, on the northeastern borders of his state. Here, the luck that had accompanied the Persian king for so long changed him: during the battle on the eastern bank of the Amu Darya, Cyrus suffered a complete defeat and died himself. According to Herodotus, the triumphant enemies cut off his head and threw it into a bag of blood. However, since it is known for certain that Cyrus was buried in Pasargadae, this episode is considered unreliable. The image of Cyrus left a deep mark in ancient Eastern and ancient literature. Cyrus was considered the ideal ruler not only by the Persians, but also by the Greeks. Herodotus (known as the author of the first historical treatise of Western civilization - Herodotus' History - describing the Greco-Persian wars and the customs of many modern peoples) indicates that the Persians called Cyrus "father". The popularity of the personality of Cyrus in ancient times was so great that phenomenal abilities were attributed to him (for example, that he knew his soldiers by name). Cyrus reigned for 28 years and died at the age of 70.
At Murgab (near the ancient capital of Cyrus Pasargad, the stone tomb of Cyrus in the form of a house has still been preserved, with a relief depicting the king and the inscription: “I, King Cyrus, Achaemenid.” At least until the time of Alexander the Great, the body of the king was preserved in it and burned eternal flame. During the anarchy that came during the campaign of Alexander in India, the tomb was plundered, but the Macedonian conqueror, returning, executed the robbers. However, they found almost no values in it, and Alexander was surprised at the modesty with which such a great conqueror.When the area was occupied by the Arabs, a belief spread among them that the tomb belongs to the mother of the prophet Suleiman (King Solomon).Legend connected other structures of Pasargad with the name of Solomon, which, perhaps, saved them from the destruction that befell other Achaemenid antiquities.
Cyrus did not name his successor, and after his death, a struggle broke out for the throne, on which for a short time was first the son of Cyrus Cambyses II, then the magician Guamata, who carried out a coup d'état against Cambyses. But the winner was Darius I (550-486 BC), a member of the younger line of the Achaemenids, who was proclaimed king after the assassination of Guamata (522 BC). Upon accession to the throne, he was 28 years old. To finally consolidate his rights to royal power, Darius married the daughter of Cyrus II Atossa.
Darius became a worthy successor to Cyrus. He got the rebellious Persia, which he was able to subjugate. During 20 battles, in which about 150 thousand rebels died, the power of the Persian king was restored throughout the territory of the state. Darius' victories over the rebels are explained not only by his gift as a commander, but, to a large extent, by the lack of unity between peoples. Darius was supported by regiments of the royal guard, an army of satraps who remained loyal to him, and garrison troops, which, as a rule, consisted of foreigners in every region. Darius used these troops very skillfully, accurately determining which rebellion was most dangerous at the moment. Not being able to conduct punitive operations simultaneously in all directions, Darius suppressed one uprising, and then the same army, with the help of which he suppressed the first uprising, was thrown against other rebels.
Under Darius, the Persian Empire further expanded its borders and reached its highest power. Between 519 and 512 BC. e. - the islands of the Aegean Sea, Thrace, Macedonia and the northwestern part of India were captured. Although Darius strengthened and expanded the conquests of his ancestors, he left his mark on Persian history precisely as an administrator.
Darius spent a series of reforms. He divided the state into 20 administrative-tax districts, which were called satrapies. Basically, the borders of the satrapies coincided with the old state and ethnographic borders of the countries that were part of the empire. At the head of the districts were the satraps as before, only now they were appointed not from local officials, but from among the Persians, in whose hands all the leading positions of the country were concentrated. Under Cyrus II (the Great) and Cambyses II, civil and military functions were combined in the hands of the satraps. Now the satraps have become exclusively civil governors.
Darius set new nationwide tax system. All satrapies were obliged to pay strictly fixed monetary taxes for each region, established taking into account the amount of cultivated land and the degree of its fertility. For the first time, temples in conquered areas were also taxed.
The country has introduced official language, which became Aramaic, which facilitated communication between the multinational population of the country.
Darius introduced in the Achaemenid state monetary unit, which forms the basis of a single monetary system for the entire empire, namely a gold darik weighing 8.4 g. The minting of a gold coin was the prerogative of only the Persian king. Due to the fact that the darik contained only 3% impurities, for several centuries it occupied the position of the main gold coin in the trading world.
In order for the orders of the king to reach the provinces faster and more reliably, Darius established state mail.
It was also necessary to solve the issue of communication between parts of the vast empire: wide, stone paved roads. The main one led from Susa to Ephesus. A road 6 m wide and 2500 km long. called the "royal way". This outstanding engineering structure was built to last for centuries. To prevent groundwater from eroding the road, it was laid along an embankment, which either absorbed or diverted water. All the way there were 111 outposts every 30 km. They could rest and change horses. The road was guarded. It contributed, first of all, to the development of international trade, which reached unprecedented proportions at that time. Roman roads had no drainage, and this road lies on a bed of rubble and is ideal for horseback riding and horse-drawn transport.
Darius I built a new capital, Parsa, known to the Greeks as Persepolis ("City of the Persians"), which became the fourth residence along with Pasargada, Ektbatan and Susa.
Persepolis was built on an artificial platform that was built by Darius the Great between 520 and 515 BC. and Artaxerxes I (reigned 465-424 BC).
In the royal palace there was a huge throne room, where the king received ambassadors. On the walls, rising along the wide stairs, the guard of the "immortals" is depicted. This was the name of the elite royal army, numbering 10 thousand soldiers. When one of them died, another immediately took his place. "Immortals" are armed with long spears, massive bows, heavy shields. They served as the "eternal" protection of the king. Persepolis was built by all of Asia. This is evidenced by an ancient inscription.
On the walls of Persepolis, the "procession of the peoples" that were part of the Persian state is immortalized. Representatives of each of them carry rich gifts - gold, precious items, lead horses, camels, cattle. Before the city was built, a water supply and sewerage system was developed - the first in the ancient world. The construction work was primarily done by slaves. But Darius, like Cyrus, paid for their work. The city was protected by a triple system of fortifications, including a line of walls and towers that ran along the crest of the mountain.
Darius needed to control a remote territory - northern Africa, he decides to pave the way there too. Engineers developed a project for a canal connecting the Red and Mediterranean Seas with a length of 200 km. The dug channel was cleaned of sand and lined with stone. The way was open to the courts. Construction lasted 7 years, mainly by Egyptian diggers and masons. Part of the canal was land. Through the hills, the ships were dragged by drag. When the relief went down, they were again launched into the water. To the beginning 5th century BC. Persia became the greatest empire in history. It surpassed the Roman one during its dawn.
In 494 BC an uprising broke out on the Turkish coast, which was supported by Athens. And Darius decided to teach them a lesson - to go to war with them. But Athens is beyond the sea. And he builds a pontoon bridge over the Bosphorus on the basis of many boats, which are held by anchors of a certain weight. They have already made a solid flooring. Over this bridge, 70,000 soldiers entered Greece. Darius captured Macedonia and approached Marathon. The Greek army was 10 times smaller than the Persian one, it needed reinforcements. The legendary messenger ran the distance from the marathon to Sparta in two days (hence the origin of the phrase marathon run). The two armies were facing each other. In an open battle, the Persians would simply crush the Greeks. But the Greeks were divided: part of the army went to the Persians, and the main army, divided into two detachments, attacked from the flanks. After suffering heavy losses, the Persians retreated. For the Greeks it was a great victory, for the Persians - an unfortunate misunderstanding. Darius decided to return to his capital, but never got there. In 486 BC. Darius dies on a campaign against Egypt at the age of 64. Decorated with numerous works of sculpture, the tomb of Darius is located in the rocks of Nakshe-Rustam near Persepolis. He prevented chaos by naming a successor in advance - his son Xerxes, the last great monarch of the Achaeminid dynasty.
To stand on a par with Cyrus and Darius was not easy. But Xerxes possessed a remarkable quality: he knew how to wait. First, he crushed the uprising in Babylon, then in Egypt, and only then went to Greece. They say he wanted to finish the job started by his father. But the Greeks no longer felt fear of the Persians after the battle of Marathon. Xerox enlisted the support of Carthage and decided to attack the Greeks from the sea. The world was on the verge of a second Persian war, the outcome of which would lay the foundation for the modern world.
Xerxes is energetically preparing for a new campaign against Greece. He used all the engineering experience accumulated before. For several years, work was underway to build a canal across the isthmus in Halkidiki. Numerous workers from Asia and the adjacent coast were driven to the construction. Food warehouses were created along the coast of Thrace, two pontoon bridges 7 stages long (about 1360 m) each were thrown across the Hellespont. The reliability of the bridge allowed Xerxes to move troops back and forth as needed. For a while, Europe joined with Asia. In the summer of 480, the Persian army, numbering about 75 thousand people according to the studies of modern historians, began to cross the Hellespont. The idea was simple: to use the numerical advantage on land and at sea. The Greeks knew that they could not defeat the Persians on land and decided to lure them into a trap. They withdrew the main force, leaving only 6,000 Spartans to meet the Persians. In August 480, the Persians approached the Thermopylae Gorge. The Persian army was stuck in the gorge for several days. At the cost of huge losses, the Persians broke through the gorge and went to Athens. But when Xerxes entered Athens the city was empty. He realized that he had been tricked. For centuries, mercy to the vanquished was the hallmark of Persian kings, but not this time. He burned Athens to the ground. The next day, Xerxes regretted it, but it was too late. What is done is done. After 2 centuries, his anger brought disaster to Persia itself. But this was not the end of the war. The Greeks were preparing a new trap: they lured the Persian fleet into a narrow bay at Salamis. Numerous Persian ships interfered with each other and could not maneuver. The heavy Greek triremes rammed the Persian light galleys one after the other. This battle decided the outcome of the war. The defeated Xerox retreated. Henceforth, the Persian Empire was no longer invincible. In the battle at Salamis, the only woman took part - Artemisia - the only woman captain of the Persian fleet (Carian queen). She rammed one of her ships, doomed to destruction, and managed to get away in the confusion. Athens enters its golden age and the Persian empire becomes vulnerable. The last crushing blow will be dealt to her by the king, who has admired the kings of Persia since childhood.
Persia lost the halo of invincibility in the battle of Salamis but she still had days of greatness and glory ahead. After 15 years, Xerxes dies, the throne is inherited by his son Artaxerxes. He decided to revive the golden days of Persia. He returned to the project of his grandfather Darius, 4 decades after the founding of Persepolis had not yet been completed. He personally supervised the construction of the last outstanding engineering project of the Persian Empire - today it is called the Hall of a Hundred Columns. The 60x60 meter hall represented an almost perfect square in plan. The columns do not have the slightest deviation from the vertical. But the builders had at their disposal primitive tools - stone hammers and bronze chisels. Each column consists of 7-8 reels placed one on top of the other. Scaffolding was erected at the columns, and the drums were lifted with a wooden crane, like a well crane. Everyone was delighted with the forest of columns, stretching into the distance as far as the eye can see. Throughout the empire, hitherto unseen engineering structures were built. In 353 BC the wife of one of the rulers of the province of Caria began to build a tomb for her dying husband in her capital, Halicarnassus (Bodrum, Turkey). Her creation was not only a miracle of modern engineering, but also one of the seven wonders of the world of the ancient world: tomb of King Mausolus (mausoleum). This monumental 24-step stone pyramid 49 meters high was erected by the most talented architect and theorist of architecture Pytheas. The mausoleum consisted of two tiers. The first housed a mortuary chamber, the second - a mortuary temple. Between its thirty-six columns were sculptures, and above everything towered a pyramid with a quadriga - a sculpture depicting a group of horses harnessed to a chariot driven by King Mausolus. Eighteen centuries later, an earthquake destroyed the Mausoleum to the ground. In 1489, the Christian knights - Johnites began to use its fragments for a castle, which they built nearby. A few years later, the knights discovered the tomb of Mausolus and Artemisia. But they left the burial unguarded for the night, and it was plundered by marauders, who were attracted by gold and jewelry.
Another 300 years passed before archaeologists began excavations here. They uncovered parts of the base of the Mausoleum, as well as statues and reliefs that had not been smashed or stolen. Among them were huge statues, depicting, as archaeologists believe, the king and queen. In 1857 these finds were transferred to the British Museum in London. In recent years, new excavations have been carried out, and now only a handful of stones remain at this site in Bodrum. After 2500 years, a memorial to President Ulysses Grant was built on its model in the USA (New York). By the 4th century B.C. Persians remained the best engineers in the world. But the foundation under the ideal columns and palaces trembled. The enemies of the empire were at the door.
Athens supports the revolt in Egypt. The Greeks enter Memphis, Artaxerxes starts a war and throws the Greeks out of Memphis and restores the power of the Persians in Egypt. This was the last major victory for the Persian Empire. In May 424, after nearly 41 years of reign, Artaxerxes died. Anarchy in the country has been going on for 8 decades. Persia is torn apart by civil strife. Meanwhile, the young king of Macedonia is studying Herodotus and the chronicles of the reign of the Persian hero Cyrus the Great. Even then, he had a dream to conquer the whole world.
In 336, a distant relative of Artaxerxes comes to power and takes the royal name Darius III. He will be called the king who lost his empire. In the next four years, Alexander the Great and Darius III met more than once in fierce battles. The troops of Darius retreated step by step. In 330, Alexander approached Persepolis. Alexander adopted from the Persians a policy of mercy towards the vanquished. He forbade soldiers to plunder the conquered countries. But how to keep them after the victory over the greatest empire, maybe they remembered the burned Athens? This time they behaved differently: they began to celebrate the victory with robbery, and ended with arson. Persepolis was burned. Darius III fled, but was soon killed by one of the allies. Alexander gave him a magnificent funeral and married his daughter, and proclaimed himself Achaemenid - the king of Persia, and wrote the last chapter in the history of a gigantic empire. Alexander tracked down the murderers of Darius and put them to death with his own hand. He believed that only the king had the right to kill the king. Alexander did not create an empire, but captured the one that already existed long before his birth, and Cyrus the Great created it.
