Persia

=Persia= media type="custom" key="7783939" toc

Cyrus the Great
- Founder of Persian Empire - Leniency towards conquered lands:high positions to Median generals and officials, kept capital city, Astyages honored, "Land of the Medes and the Persians

- __Conquests__:
- Rebellion against Medes - Defeated King Croesus of Lydia: consulted the oracle at Delphi- if you cross the Hayls River, a great empire will be destroyed (King Croesus assumed it would be a Lydian victory) - Subdued the Greek city-states on the Ionian coast - Welcomed into Babylon: Nabonidus favored moon god Sin instead of the sun god Marduk - Died before invasion of Egypt- Cambyses conquers Egypt

Cambyses (Bardiya, Gautama)
-son of Cyrus the Great (smooth transition) -invaded Egypt -mysteriously died, son Bardiya is supposed to inherit throne -Bardiya/Gautama scandal: either Gautama, who said he was Cambyses younger brother, Bardiya, and was overthrown by the nobles for being too harsh or reformed too quickly. . He then ruled for 7 months until the nobels replaced him for ruling harshly. OR Bardiya, who was Cambyses younger brother who had a reputation for kindness, but was replaced by the nobels after 7 months because he made too many changes too quickly.

Darius I
positives: - reorganized satrapies- unlike Cyrus, satraps had no military authority - Standardized Taxation: Persians didn't have to pay taxes - Coinage: darics, based off Lydian coinage - Royal Roads- Susa to Sardis - Canal- Nile to the Red Sea -minor conquests negatives: -expense of mercenaries: mercenaries are hired military professional troops, loyal to whomever will pay them the most. If it looks like their side is going to lose or they will be killed, they flee. -inequity of taxation: those ho are ethnically Persian don't have to pay taxes (those in Fars), those who are a conquered people but now part of Persia do. -costly and luxurious palaces: one at each capital -Decadent and distant lifestyle- didn't develop a relationship with the people -Failed invasion of Greece
 * well guarded
 * inns along the way
 * Thrace
 * Macedonia

Xerxes

 * son of Darius I
 * invaded Greece in 480 BCE
 * assembled the largest military force in ancient times (250,000)
 * had to build two boat bridges to get his huge military across the Hellespont
 * he also builds a canal to get ships across the land to avoid sailing where his father's fleet had been destroyed
 * his strategy was to overwhelm the Greeks with military numerical superiority
 * 3 battles: Thermoplyae, Salamis, Platea
 * won at Thermoplyae, lost at Salamis and Platea
 * accomplished little despite the wealth and power of his empire
 * assassinated by conspiring military officers (Megabyzus and Artibanus)

Artaxerxes

 * younger son of Xerxes
 * was put into power by conspirators
 * weak incompetent and manipulated first by Artibanus and then by his mother
 * gave too much power to his subordinates
 * had a long, but lackluster reign

Darius III
- The last of the Persian Kings who was conquered by Alexander the Great

Men:
- Polygamy and concubines- sign of wealth - Young boys lived in women's quarters to spare the father distress if he died - Taught to ride, use the bow, and tell the truth

Women:
- Inferior - Restricted to the home - Not educated - Not permitted to work- unlike Greek women, Persian women thought work was degrading

Geography
Rugged Terrain. Finding water meant traveling a long distance. To transport water, they used underground canal/irrigation systems called Canats. The land slopes towards the Persian Gulf. Persia was located in modern day Iran. Over time, their borders extended. First to be conquered was The Median Empire, which was the largest empire. Second was the Kingdom of Lydia, located in the modern day Asian Turkey. Third to be conquered was the New Babylonian Empire, located below the Median Empire. Egypt was the forth to be conquered. The Persians also conquered The Ionian city states, Greek by heritage, but formerly part of Lydia; they are located off the coast of the Asia Minor. The Median Empire, the Kingdom of Lydia, and the New Babylonian Empire were conquered by the Persian King, Cyrus the Great. Egypt was conquered by Cambyses. Under the rule of Darius I and Xerxes I, Persian attempted to capture Greece in a series of battles, but they never succeeded.

Capitals: Persepoli(3), Susa(1), and Pasargadae(2). They also took the capitals of the kingdoms they conquered.
 * Important: The Persian Heartland is called Fars.

Military
-mandatory for males between the ages of 20-24 -troops supplied by satrapies -break ino groups -the immortals: a military sector where everytime one dies, they are immediately replaced so their numbers never decrease -increase sparabara:1 shield, 9 archers, stand in a line - diversity of uniforms and equipment

Social Classes
- the great king: theoretically owned all the land, and held absolute power limited only by tradition and expectation that he consult the nobility - satraps: the 20 satrapies were each ruled by a satrap of Persian decent with king like power - key officials: the top military, administrative, and financial officials within each satrapy reported directly to great king, as did his network of spies -nobles: Persian decent outranks, held highest posts, part of cavalry -mercants, artisans, and skilled freemen: while merchants could become rich from international trade, skilled workers made up a lower class -unskilled freemen, serfs, and slaves: free laborers paid for their work whereas serfs worked to pay off debt and had less chance of freedom. Slaves are not agricultural workers and are better off than serfs because they can earn to be free. Serfs are never freed, but they sometimes get to keep a small fraction of what they grow

Religion
- Fars are Zoroastrian; the farther you get from the heartland, the less Zoroastrianism is present. -monotheistic cosmic battle between forces of good and evil -individuals must make moral choices -at the time, the good and evil will be judged -lower classes tend to be uneducated and polytheistic still -variation of religion depending of social class are demonstrated by burial practice: magi: leave bodies out and let animals pick them apart common people: sipped in wax and buried in the ground -even bad kings practiced religion king and high classes: burry in stone tombs -religion determined by social class - Avesta: book of Zoroastrainism -Zoroaster preached pure monotheism, but polytheism persisted. Belief and religious practice seem to have varied by social class -while Zoroastrian themselves, the Persian kings maintained a practice of religious tolerance

Architecture
tombs: -stone blocks -cyrus: Series of steps leading up to a small room, undecorated -later kings cut tombs into cliff sides -not trying to conceal them; nothing to steal

palaces -Cyrus began a tradition of building walled rectangular ornamental gardens called paradaisia - Darius 1's palace at persepolis imitated imitated a tradition tent structure, but in stone with tall columns and a cedar roof. The columns cosisted of stacked stone drums raised by cranes - the plumbing was contructed forst, then covered over. fresh water was brought in through underground canats -construction was done by paid workers

The Rise of Perisa
Sumerians -> Absorbed by the Babylonians o Canals and roads o Countryside regular plots o Wood plows, seed drills, stone hoes o Mud-brick walls o Fruit trees- date palms 1st major Iranian culture- Elamite: ruled by the Sumerians - Eventually became an independent state- great prosperity - > Invaded by Babylonians (NebuchadrezzarI) Assyrians: - Banks of northern Tigris -> (9th century BC) include eastern Iranian plateau, Babylonia and the rest of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, and parts of Western Egypt -Ruled by fear of intimidation - Chariot: light and maneuverable- wooden frame, rectangular shape, 3 people: driver, archer or lancer, and shield- shock attack or assist cavalry -Sparabara - Siege Tactics: o Surround city, starve them out o Siege Towers- ladder on a platform with wheels on it and is covered in animal hides to protect from arrows o Battering ram- karate chop motion o Sappers-destroy bottom of wall so that it collapses - New areas: initial tribute followed by annual payment to ensure good behavior: materials, animals, weapons, loyalty-treaty, local official backed by guard to send intelligence reports - Ashurbanipal I: the model Assyrian leader o Tortured Babylonians -flayed them (skining a human in one piece hopefully) o Burned some war captives, dismembered others - Defeated by Cyaxares II- weakened by rebellions by subject peoples Babylonians: - Chaldeans and Medes combine to overthrow Assyria- now New Babylonians - Led by Nebuchadnezzar II, the new Babylonians expanded westward conquering Judah and destroying Soloman’s temple-> Jews forced to march to Babylon where they wrote down their faity-> Diaspora - Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt Babylon- surpassing former glory under Hammurabi and built the Hanging gardens -Hanging Gardens were built for the Amytis who was a Median Princess (the marriage strenthned the alliance between Media and Babylonians) and were built in order to make her feel at home - Domesticated Honey bee - Short-lived

Fall of Assyria/ Rise of the Medes: - (mid-9th century BC) Aryans: migrated nomadic peoples from the central Asian steppes- Medes - Medes: settle in the northwestern portion of Iranian plateau around Ecbatana (capital) - Nomadic roots- cap, long spear and wicker shield, archers on horseback, missile weapon fortresses - Cyaxares II  o Organize spearmen, archers, and cavalry into distinct units o Standardized military uniforms- tunic, laced shoes, felt cap o Troops: native Medes and minor Iranian peoples (vassals- exchange allegiance for protection) o Conquer Armenia o Far flung empire o Attempted to invade Lydia Median Conquests -Assyria -successful -New Babylonians helped -Cadusii -successful -inhabited the thick woodlands on the southern border of Caspian Sea -Aremenia (590 BCE) -successful -mountainous region between Asia Minor and the Caspian Sea -Lydia (589 BCE) -failed -Lydian King -King Ayalattes -5 years of fighting (a large number of both Median and Lydain victories) -total solar eclipse (May 28, 585 BCE) -Ionians fighting for Lydia predicted it so Lydians knew it was coming -Medes took this as a bad omen that the sun god withdrew so fighting stopped and Medes left and did not return

- Median allegiance with Babylonian king Nabopolassar- fell Assyria’s largest and most important city, Nineveh - Assyria weakened rebellions by subject peoples- Medes and Babylonians divided Assyrian lands and coexisted in Peace: Babylonian king Nebuchadrezzar II (son of Nabopolassar) married Median princess Amytis- hanging garden of Babylon- theater (ascending terraces), water form river - Invasion of Lydia- Alyattes (Lydian king), May 28, 585- eclipse of sun (foretold by Ionians)- omen of ill fortune- Cyaxares left and died - Astyages (Cyaxares successor) disliked- indulge in Median court and compulsory military service- discontent of subjects and nobles therefore was vulnerable to attack Fall of Media/ Rise of Persia (Cyrus): - Cyrus marched to Media’s capital Ecbatana- Median army: few did duty, deserted to Persians, or ran away- Asytages battled Persians- taken alive - Cyrus leniency: o Media wasn’t destroyed o Median nobles given high positions in court and in army o Median homeland- 1st province or satrapy of empire- Mada (Ecbatana and Pasargadae I the hills of Fars- 2nd capital) o Astyages allowed to attend court (Lydia) - Eventually conquered by Persians