How the Persian Empire Was Built - Documentary Films

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• published: 04 Apr 2015
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How the Persian Empire Was Built - Documentary Films The Persian Empire was created by Cyrus II, known as Cyrus the Great (559-529 BC). Cyrus first defeated another Iranian people called the Medes, then in 547 Cyrus defeated the kingdom of Lydia (in what is now Turkey) at the battle of Pterya and he became the ruler of most of Asia Minor. Soon afterwards Cyrus also defeated the Greek cities on the Turkish coast. (These had been founded by the Greeks as colonies many years before). However Cyrus adopted a policy of allowing conquered areas autonomy (a certain amount of independence) provided they paid their taxes. The Persians were also very tolerant of local religions. Later Persian rulers also followed this policy. Under Darius the Persian Empire was divided into areas called satrapies and each was ruled by a man called a satrap. In 539 BC the Persians conquered the rich and powerful city-state of Babylon. The king of Babylon had ruled Syria and Phoenicia (modern day Lebanon) and both of these were now added to the Persian Empire. Cyrus was followed by Cambyses II (529-522 BC). In 525 BC he conquered Egypt. He died in 522 BC and was replaced by Darius. For the first part of his reign Darius had to deal with rebellions in his empire. He then fought wars with Greece. In 499 BC the Greek cities on the coast of Turkey rebelled. Darius quickly crushed the revolt but in 490 BC he decided to invade Greece to punish the Greeks for assisting the rebels. However the Persians were defeated by the Athenians at the battle of Marathon. In 480 BC another Persian ruler, Xerxes, invaded Greece. This time the Persians captured Athens and they burned the Acropolis. However their fleet was crushed at a naval battle at Salamis. In 479 BC the Greeks won a decisive battle at Plataea, which assured Greek independence. Xerxes was assassinated in 465 BC. Despite its brilliance the Persian Empire declined after 400 BC. For one thing the empire suffered from its sheer size, which made it difficult to control. The empire suffered a series of rebellions. It also suffered from political instability. Another ruler, Artaxerxes III, was assassinated in 338 BC. Finally the great Persian Empire was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.more info visit:http://www.localhistories.org/persians.html