Achaemenid Empire Was The World’s Largest Ancient Empire

A. Sutherland  – MessageToEagle.com – The Achaemenid Empire, better known as the First Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great, one of the most outstanding figures in human history.

Cyrus the Great became king of Persis in 559 B.C and created the largest empire of ancient history.

The Achaemenid Empire included parts of Central Asia, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and even European territories such as ancient Thrace and Macedonia. In 480 B.C, the empire accounted for approximately 49.4 million of the world’s 112.4 million people. At that time, the number was equal to 44% of the world’s entire population!

Cyrus the Great’s military tactics were different in a number of ways. He developed a reputation for sparing conquered rulers so he could ask their advice on how best to govern their lands. He considered co-operation to be not a sign of weakness, but strength. Cyrus the Great did not take the world’s greatest ancient city Babylon by force. Instead, he fought a propaganda campaign to exploit the unpopularity of its king,

Nabonidus. Babylon’s traditions would be safer with Cyrus, was the message. The gates were opened and palm fronds were laid before him as he entered the city.

The Persian Empire was created by nomadic Persians who originally referred to themselves as parsua. The name Persia is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the name Parsua, referring to people originating from Persis (or in Persian, Pars), their home territory located north of the Persian Gulf in southwestern Iran.

Despite its success and rapid expansion, the Achaemenid Empire was not the first Iranian empire.

See also: 

Legacy Of The Ancients: Cyrus the Great Cylinder – The Charter Of Human Rights

Codes Of Ur Nammu: World’s Oldest Known Law Code

By 6th century BC, another group of ancient Iranian peoples had already established the Median Empire. The Medes had originally been the dominant Iranian group in the region, rising to power at the end of the 7th century BC and incorporating the Persians into their empire.

The Iranian people had arrived in the region c. 1000 B.C and had initially fallen under the domination of the Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC). However, the Medes and Persians (together with the Scythians and Babylonians) played a major role in the defeat of the Assyrians and the establishment of the first Persian empire – the Achaemenid Empire.

Written by – A. Sutherland  – MessageToEagle.com Senior Staff Writer

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