Achaemenians

Achaemenian Period 550 - 330

The first great development of ancient Iran took place under the Achaemenid dynasty during the Persian Empire. The dynasty was named after Achaemenes, ruler of Anshan in the 7th century BC, but the real founder of the dynasry was Cyrus the Great, creator of the Persian Empire. At the zenith of their power the Achaemenids ruled an empire extending from the Indus River in the east to Libya and Thrace in the west and from the Persian Gulf in the south to the Caucasus and the Jaxartes River (modern Syr Darya) in the north.
They provided Persia with superb administration, a comprehensive code of laws, reliable currency, and efficient postal service. Achaemenians were tolerant toward other religions, and under their rule, art and architecture flourished.

590 Cyrus II was born.
Cyrus II's father was Cambyses I, son of Cyrus I, King of the Persians, and his mother was Mandane, daughter of the Median king.
- Zoroastrianism was taking root in Persia at this time. - Some Persian tribes were settled and some were moving
from nomadism to settled agriculture.
586 The forces of the Babylonian Empire conquered Jerusalem. Babylonians destroyed their Temple and carried off a portion of the Jewish population into exile. The captives consisted mainly of educated and upper class people, and  the royal family.
584 Astyages became king of Media.
563 Buddha was born in India.
561 Croesus became king of Lydia.
560 Croesus subdued Greek cities in Asia Minor.
559 Cyrus II inherited his father's position as king of the Persians.Persian territory was within the Median Confederation up to this point.
555 Nabonidus became king of Babylonia.
551 Confucius was born in China.
550 Having defeated the assault of Astyages at Pasargadae,
Cyrus II deposed Astyages, united the Persians and Medes, and founded the first Persian Empire.
Cyrus II, also known as Cyrus the Great, was an outstanding leader and skillful strategist. Cyrus was faced with two political objectives: He aimed at occupying the Mediterranean coast, and securing the defense of his eastern frontier. The Mediterranean coast and its seaports were terminals of the great trade routes crossing Persia. Nomadic tribes in the east were a potential threat to Persia's safety.
- Sparta became supreme in the Peloponnesus, Greece.
- Cyrus II made an offer to Cilicia and Lydia, in southern and western Anatolia, to accept Persian sovereignty.
At the Lydian capital of Sardis, the Lydian king, Croesus, sensed an impending threat from Persia.
-Darius, the future king of kings, was born.
547 Croesus mobilized his famous cavalry to attack Persia.
546 Cyrus II assembled his troops in Assyria, crossed the Tigris,
marched towards Cappadocia, entered the seemingly impregnable Sardis, and defeated Croesus.
Lydia was aided by Egypt, Babylonia and Sparta in the battle against Cyrus ,Cyrus admired the beauty and grandeur of Lydia's
 architecture.
- Cyrus II established his capital city at Pasargadae.
- Cyrus II once more took up wars of defense and conquest. - Asiatic Greek cities were conquered by Persia.
- Cyrus II began his assault on Babylonia.
- Cyrus II conquered Babylonia without any major clash of
arms. Cyrus was about to play the part of intermediary between the western and eastern civilizations.
- Cyrus II liberated Babylonia from the oppressive rule of Nabonidus.
- Nabonidus was taken prisoner, but Cyrus II treated him with clemency. In his conquests Cyrus adhered to the mandate of justice. He believed that God had entrusted him with the task of uniting the people in one kingdom of justice and peace. Cyrus had the wisdom to leave unchanged the institutions of each kingdom he annexed to the Persian Crown. He seized the hands of the statue of the city god Marduk as a signal of his willingness to rule as a Babylonian and not as a foreign conqueror. Cyrus presented himself to the Babylonian people as the legitimate successor to the Crown. Control of Babylonia meant overlordship of its dependencies, particularly Syria, towards which he pursued a benevolent policy.
- The Phoenician rulers submitted to Cyrus II.
They offered their ships to Cyrus for military use against the Greeks.
- Cyrus II issued a decree allowing the Jews to return home. - Cyrus II was acknowledged as a Liberator and a Messiah. - Nabonidus, the iast king of the Babylonian Empire, died in captivity.
- Cyrus II returned Jerusalem to the liberated Jews.
More than 40,000 Jews left Babylonia and returned to the
Promised Land, but not all the Jews decided to go home.
The adaptable Jewish people had established themselves in Mesopotamia, settling there and engaging in business and even politics. While remaining devout Jews, many of them decided to carry on their lives in their new home. Some of them even rose to high positions of service in the Persian imperial court.
This was the first significant contact made between the Jewish and Persian cultures. For a decade the efficiently administrated empire generally lived in peace. In a mere one generation Cyrus built an empire that stretched from Africa to China.
- Cyrus II planned to conquer Egypt from Babylonia.
- Cyrus II was forced to resume military operations against the nomads on the eastern borders of the empire.
- Cyrus II left his son, Cambyses II, in charge of the military preparations for the Egyptian campaign.
534 Buddha propagated his teachings.
-Cyrus II led his army across northeast where it engaged the Massagetaes.
The Massagetaes were a nomadic and hostile branch of the Scythians.
- Cyrus II was killed in his battle against the Massagetaes.
- His body was brought to Pasargadae and laid to rest. Cyrus the Great was 'father' to Persians and magnanimous towards a defeated enemy, whom he endeavored to convert into a friend.
- Cambyses II, who was unlike his father in temperament
 and attitude, succeeded Cyrus II.
- Cambyses II felt it necessary to murder his brother, Bardiya.
His intention was to protect his rear while leading the Egyptian campaign.
525 Cambyses II conquered Egypt and defeated pharaoh Psamtik III of the 26th dynasty.
The rapidity with which Cambyses II initiated this successful campaign suggests that preparations for such an attack were well advanced under Cyrus. The sole achievement of Cambyses was in fact the conquest of Egypt.
522 News reached Cambyses II of a revolt in Persia led by an imposter claiming to be Bardiya.
The usurper was in fact a magus named Gaumata.
522 On his way back from Egypt, Cambyses II quelled all challenge to his rule.
522 Darius raced homeward with his troops in order to crush the rebellion.
Darius was a leading army general and one of the princes of the Achaemenian family.
522 Darius in alliance with six satraps defeated and killed Gaumata.
522 Darius married both Cyrus Irs daughter, Atossa, and the
 widow of Cambyses II.
-Eight years after the death of Cyrus II, Darius was proclaimed the legitimate king, and ascended the Achaemenian throne.
Darius was in the mold of Cyrus, a powerful personality and a dynamic ruler. During the first two years of his reign, he fought nineteen battles and suppressed all rebellions. He recorded his victory in a gigantic bas-relief cut on a high cliff at Bisotun, in western Persia.
519 Xerxes, Darius' eldest son by Queen Atossa, was born. 518 Darius began the construction of the ceremonial capital of Persepolis.
-Darius victoriously led his army into India.
516 Expansion in the west began when Darius moved against the Hellespont, now Dardanelles in northwestern Turkey.

This was the first step toward an incursion against the Scythians along the western and northern shores of the Black Sea.
515 The new temple was dedicated at Jerusalem after the return of Jews from the Babylonian captivity.
512 Darius drove the Persian army as far as the lower Danube. - Darius successfully led the campaign against the Scythians. - The empire that Cyrus the Great built and Darius defended and expanded was celebrated at Persepolis. Persepolis was an elevated stage on which Achaemenians displayed the glories of Persia. On vernal equinox the Immortals, numbering 10,000, stood in attendance as the subject nations of the empire bearing gifts and tribute paraded past the Achaemenian throne.
The subject nations were the Medes, Susians, Armenians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Parthians, Cappadocians, Sagartians, Lydians, Gandarians, Scythians, Aryans, Arachosians, Cilicians, Drangianians, Indians, Ionians, Bactrians, Sogdians, Skudrians, Arabians, Libyans, and Ethiopians.
500 Monarchy ended in Rome and the Republic was founded.
-The Ionian Greek cities on the west coast of Asia Minor revolted against Persian rule.
The Persians were apparently taken by surprise, and at first the rebellion succeeded.
498 The Ionians received limited assistance from the Athenians and felt strong enough to take the offensive.
Darius negotiated with one hand; with the other, he assembled a counter attack.
496 The first Persian military onslaught against the Ionians proved only partially successful.
The Ionians enjoyed another short-lived period of peace.
494 A renewed Persian offensive proved successful.
The Greek fleet was badly defeated off Miletus, western
Anatolia. The Persian army began a systematic reduction of the rebellious cities.
492 Mardonius, a son-in-law of Darius, was made special
commissioner to Ionia. "Having crushed the local tyrants, Mardonius recovered Persian Thrace and Macedon, and permitted a form of
democratic government in many cities.
-Darius was defeated by the Greeks, under Miltiades, at the
battle of Marathon.
Having realized that the Greek problem would require a more concerted and m~ssive effort, Darius began preparations for an offensive against Greece on a grand, coordinated scale.
486 Darius the Great died at 63.
Darius was the first monarch to understand that an imperial state could only exist if it evolved a coherent technological policy to keep the empire closely knit. Darius united and reshaped the nation, organized a highly efficient army and an administrative system, conquered and governed territories through satrapies held to Persia by means of an unmatched communication network of roads, of which the royal road stretching 2500 km (1500 miles) from Pasargadae to Sardis was the most important. He also undertook the construction of the precursor to the Suez Canal.
During the reign of Darius, the first steps were taken towards organizing a national economy. The introduction of a merchant navy, a banking system, coinage, a uniform weight and measures standard, as well as devising a perfectly balanced system of tax collection, were instrumental for more rapid internal trade development than foreign commerce.
A highly exceptional feature of the administration of Darius was its judicial system where royal judges interpreted national laws, judged cases, and were appealed to in all disputes throughout the empire.
A particular philosophical trait that Darius the Great evolved for the Persians was the spirit of nationalism.
486 Xerxes, another outstanding ruler, became king of Persia. Xerxes continued to oversee the cross-fertilization of Persian culture encouraged by his fathers.
- Xerxes put the skills and talents of local and foreign architects and artisans to work at Persepolis.
By this time Zoroastrianism that had gained influence since the reign of Cyrus II had systematized the empire's administration as a result of which a distinctive Persian culture had established itself.
- Xerxes married Esther.
At the time of Esther, many Zoroastrians became Jews and most probably brought with them influences from their former religion.
- The first Roman Land Reform was sanctioned by Spurious Cassius.
- Darius' death together with a serious revolt in Egypt, interrupted the plans against Greece.
485 Xerxes suppressed the revolt in Egypt in a single campaign. 483 Buddha died at the age of 80.
482 Plans for the invasion of Greece, begun under Darius, were
still further delayed by a major revolt in Babylonia.
- The revolt in Babylonia was crushed.
Xerxes marched out of Susa while in command of the biggest war machine ever mobilized in Asia to engage the Greeks.
He spent the winter in Sardis and led a combined land-sea
invasion of Greece.
480 Northern Greece fell to the Persians.
Persian forces marched on Athens, and burned the Acropolis.
- The Persian fleet lost the Battle of Salamis.
The invasion lost its momentum, and Xerxes returned home, leaving Mardonius in charge of further operations.
479 The real end of the invasion came with the Battle of Plataea, the fall of Thebes, which was a stronghold of pro
Persian forces, and the Persian naval loss at Mycale.
479 Confucius, Chinese philosopher, died.
477 Confederacy of Delos was founded by Athens for defense against Persia.
-Battle of Eurymedon, in which Persians were defeated by Greeks under Cimon, was fought.
465 Xerxes was murdered by a palace conspirator.
Achaemenian Persia began to decline. The occasional flashes of vigor and intelligence displayed by some of Xerxes' successors were too infrequent to prevent eventual collapse of the empire.
- Artaxerxes became king of Persia.
- During the reign of Artaxerxes cultural relations with Greece extended. 462 Sophocles and Euripides flourished in Athens.
- Greek historians and scientists traveled in Egypt, Babylonia and Persia, and acquired further knowledge of the history,religion and sciences of the east.
- Herodotus, born a Persian subject, wrote his history.
458 Ezra returned with many Jews from Babylonia to Jerusalem.
454 Athenian expedition to Egypt failed after initial success.
453 Treasury of Confederacy of Delos was removed to Athens
and Athenian Empire reached its peak.
447 After the Greek victories over the Persians, construction of the Parthenon, an excellent example of Doric architecture,was commenced by Pericles.
445 Nehemiah began rebuilding walls of Jerusalem.
431 Peloponnesian War broke out between Athens and Sparta.
This war lasted, with some occasional pauses, for about 37 years. Initially, the Persians lured Athens against Sparta which resulted in the treaty of Callias.
431 Herodotus, the Greek historian, died.
424 Artaxerxes died, and Xerxes II became king of Persia. 423 Xerxes II died, and Darius II became king of Persia.
422 Athenians were defeated by Spartans in the Battle of Amphipolis.
421 Peace of Nicias was maintained between Athens and Sparta.
418 Athenians were defeated by Spartans in the Battle of Mantinea.
413 After the disastrous Athenian campaign against Sicily, the Persians intervened on Sparta's side.
412 Persia recovered complete freedom in western Asia Minor.
This was in return for consenting to pay seamen to steer
the Peloponnesian fleet. 406 Euripides and Sophocles died. 405 Egypt revolted and Persia failed to maintain its sovereignty over it.
From this point on Egypt remained an independent state.
404 Persian gold and Spartan soldiers facilitated Athens' fall.
Peloponnesian War ended, and Spartans entered Athens and set up the Thirty Tyrants.
- Darius II died, and Artaxerxes II became king of Persia. 403 Thirty Tyrants were overthrown in Athens. 401 Cyrus the younger, Artaxerxes II's brother, unsuccessfully revolted to contest the throne by marching eastward from where he was ruling in Asia Minor.He was supported by 10,000 Greek mercenaries, and was defeated and killed by Persian forces at the Battle of Cunaxa in Mesopotamia. The Greeks were led through Persian territory back to Greece by Xenophon who described the account in his book 'Anabasis'.
399 Socrates died having consented to drink poison.
394 Spartan fleet was destroyed by a combined Persian and Athenian fleet in the Battle of Cnidus.
387 Peace of Antalcidas between Sparta and Persia was established.
- Aristophanes, Greek dramatist, died.
384 Aristotle was born.
379 Greek mercenaries gathered to mount a campaign against Egypt.
373 The Greeks' offensive against the native Egypt failed,
359 Artaxerxes II died, and Artaxerxes III became king of Persia.
356 Alexander was born.
350 An attempt by Persians to reclaim Egypt proved futile.
This setback encouraged revolt in Sidon and eventually in all of Palestine and Phoenicia.
347 Plato died,
He was the second of the great trio of ancient Greeks (Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle), who between them laid the philosophical foundations of Western culture, 345 Another attempt by the Persians to reclaim Egypt failed. 343 A new wave of offensives on Egypt, led by Artaxerxes III
himself, succeeded.
338 Philip of Macedon, Alexander's father, launched his attack
on Greece. - Philip became supreme in Greece.
- Artaxerxes III was poisoned by his physician upon the order dynasty of the eunuch Baogas.
338 Baogas made Arses king in hope of becoming the power behind the throne. Arses did not condescend easily to Baogas' will.
336 Arses attempted to poison the kingmaker, Baogas, but was himself killed in retaliation.
Baogas then engineered the accession of Darius III, a 45year-old Satrap of Armenia who probably held the closest blood claim to the throne by virtue of being the grandnephew of Artaxerxes II.
336 Darius III ascended the Achaemenian throne.
- Philip planned an expedition against the Achaemenians.
335 Aristotle founded his academy and began teaching in Athens.
Aristotle began tutoring Alexander.
was assassinated and Alexander, having been elected the supreme general of the Greeks, took over command of Philip's army,Alexander's army consisted of two elements, the Macedonians and the Greeks. The Macedonians were the finest military organization of the time. The Greeks had been forced to join and were prepared by Alexander's army might be compared to the one that Napoleon led to Egypt. It had historians, scientists, engineers, surveyors, generals, officers and soldiers. Alexander had the most capable commanders that any army could wish for, The officers and soldiers were well trained and highly experienced. Alexander's army was an excellent disciplined fighting machine.
-334 Alexander crossed Hellespont, and defeated Darius Ill's army at Granicus.
The Persians occupied the far bank of the Granicus River (modern Kocabas, flowing into the Sea of Marmara), Alexander's shock troops forded the stream and clambered up the bank under a shower of javelins. Alexander followed and charged the generals, who were concentrated in the left center of the Persian line. Darius III was saved from death by his cavalry commander.
333 Alexander defeated the Persians again at Issus.
This was one of the decisive victories by which Alexander conquered the Achaemenian Empire. Issus is a plain on the coast of the Gulf of Iskenderun, in present-day southern Turkey. The Macedonian forces, with an infantry phalanx in the center and cavalry on the sides, approached the army of Darius III, which was drawn up on the opposite bank of the Pinarus River. Alexander led the charge across the river, shattering the Persian left wing before turning against the Greek mercenaries who formed the Persian center. His army in confusion, Darius escaped, but his family was captured.
331 Alexander founded Alexandria.
- Babylonia submitted to Alexander.
330 Alexander gave the Persians the final blow at Gaugamela. Attempting to stop Alexander's incursion into the Persian empire, Darius III prepared a battleground on the Plain of Gaugamela, near Arbela (present-day Irbil in northern Iraq), and posted his troops to await Alexander's advance. Darius had the terrain of the prospective battlefield smoothed level so that his many chariots could operate with maximum effectiveness against the Macedonians. His total forces greatly outnumbered those of Alexander. Alexander's well-trained army faced Darius' massive battle line and organized for attack, charging the left of the Persians' line with archers, javelin throwers, and cavalry, while defending against Darius' outflanking cavalry with reserve flank guards. During the combat, so much of Darius' cavalry on his left flank were drawn into the battle that they left the Persian infantry in the center of the battle line exposed. Alexander and his personal cavalry immediately wheeled half left and penetrated this gap and then wheeled again to attack the Persians' flank and rear. At this Darius took flight, and panic spread through his entire army, which began a headlong retreat while being cut down by the pursuing Greeks.
Darius III fled before Alexander, and was later assassinated by two of his own men, Barsantiz and Bessus, who were themselves later executed for betraying their king by order of Alexander.