THE ANCIENT PERSIANS: A MULTICULTURED EMPIRE        back to early civilizations page

  1. Origins and Development:

 - originated in present-day Iran

 - developed cities like Susa and Persepolis  

 - expanded quickly under great kings like Cyrus the Great and Darius I until they had put together the biggest empire
    the world had seen to that date, which included almost the entire Near East

 2. Governing their Empire:

 - the empire was divided into 23 provinces or SATR     

 - each ruled by a governor or SATRAP appointed by the king

 - wandering officials ("the king's eyes and ears") were sent around the empire to check that the satraps were obeying
    the king's orders

 - the conquered people were allowed to keep their own languages, religions, customs and some local independence,
   as long as they paid their taxes and caused no problems. The Persians were mostly kind rulers once they conquered
   an area.

 - regular courts tried to be just. Punishments were usually not too harsh. They had the first group of people known as
   LAWYERS. They had rewards and punishments.

 - the empire therefore was a multicultured empire with all its advantages and disadvantages

 - a very rich (not meaning wealthy) culture, containing many different ways of life, skills, etc. – much cultural
   interchange

 - disunity : hard to communicate with each other, many different ways of doing things

  3. The Persian Army:

 - largest of ancient times (even up to World War I)

 - compulsory military service; all able bodied men had to serve

 - won many victories, but mostly be sheer force of numbers because it was hard to get such diverse groups to fight
   together efficiently - language problems, different weapons and tactics, etc.

 - the army was used to keep the peace and law and order.

 4. Law and Government:

 - the Persians had a regular system of courts which tried to dispense justice in a  fair way.

 - punishments for infractions of the law were usually very harsh so some groups willingly surrendered  to Persian rule,

 - knowing they would be treated fairly. A few rarely used punishments were horrible.    

 - Persian government tried to be efficient, which they defined as getting a good amount of tax money without ruining
   those they ruled

 5. Persian Society:

 - upper classes lived in great luxury 

 - lower classes were more comfortable than those of most other cultures

 - the cities were famous for their wealth and beauty

 6. Persian Impact on History:

 - they preserved the cultures of the people they conquered

 - they caused interchange in the empire : became spreaders of culture