Originally, the Achaemenid Empire began when the Persian kingdom, which was subordinate to the Medes, one of the four countries in which the Assyrian kingdom was separated, reversed its subordination and conquered it.
This time I would like to explore such Achaemenid Persia.
Where is Persia? ??
The map above is the current map of the Middle East, of which the old name for Iran is Persia. It is said that the term originally used to refer to the Fars region in southwestern Iran (also an old name) and the current Fars region has changed to refer to Iran.
The beginning of the Achaemenid dynasty
Originally, the Achaemenid dynasty "Achaemenid" is taken from the name of a person called the founder of the royal family. However, since it is a legendary person who does not know whether it actually existed or not, I will omit the details.
The land of Persia united the Orient world Assyrian Kingdom Media that expanded its territory not only to present-day Iran but also to parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan after the collapse of Was dominated by
Achaemenid Empire Opened Cyrus II Is media Born as a prince of the Persian kingdom, a small country that belonged to the kingdom, he later became king in 559 BC.
Cyrus II in 552 BC His and his father Cambyses I Rebelled against the Medes, and two years later, the aristocrats within the Medes also fought together, destroying the Medes and conquering the Iranian Plateau.
Then
- 549 BC Lydia
- 539 BC Neo-Babylonian
Is destroyed and the territory is surely expanded. Cyrus II Releases Jews displaced to Babylon, the capital of Neo-Babylonian as Babylonian captivity when they destroy Neo-Babylonian doing.
Unification of the Orient World by Cambyses II
Cambyses II is Cyrus II The son of Achaemenid Empire, the second king of the Achaemenid Empire. His father Cyrus II Is Achaemenid Egypt, where his son and second king, Cambyses II, remains the only one, as he has destroyed and ruled three of the four nations of the Orient world that had risen before the rise of the nation. It's no wonder trying to beat it.
On the other hand, there was one thing I had to hold down to attack Egypt.
As can happen in any country or era, Cambyses II has one younger brother.
It may be interesting to read it again because it was the original story of One Piece Dressrosa ... If copyright is an issue, I will replace it later.
I thought, "I might be robbed of the throne." There, Cambyses II secretly killed his younger brother and is said to have prepared for the throne.
However, it is backfired that he secretly killed his younger brother.
A person named Gaumata, a Persian priest (=Magi) who calls himself his younger brother Smerdis, rebelled.
Cambyses II's expedition to Egypt went well, but he retreated due to lack of water even though he attacked the Kingdom of Kush further south. The result was that he was unable to enter the Phoenician colonial city of Carthage, west of Egypt.
Nevertheless, Cambyses II's fall of Egypt marked the unification of the Orient world for the first time since the Assyrian Empire.
Eventually, partly due to the rebellion at his base, he abandoned expanding control in Africa. Cambyses II returns to Persia and attempts to subdue the rebels, but fails. He realized that there was little chance of suppression, and finally in 522 BC he committed suicide.
Was the spoofing by Gaumata true? ??
A person named "Gaumata" who named himself his younger brother while Cambyses II was away. In recent years, Gaumata is his younger brother, and it is Darius the Great who has seized the throne. Did you? ?? That is becoming influential.
That's what it is.
Apparently, the case of Gaumata is that propaganda was passed down to posterity as it was.
Suppression of the Rebels and the coronation of Diores I
The true story of his successor is unknown, but the actual successor to Cambyses II was Darius the Great , one of the aristocrats who quelled the rebellion in Persia.> was.
Darius the Great has improved his internal affairs, succeeded in the eastern expedition, and established control of India and a route from India to Egypt.
The person you should remember when studying the Achaemenid Empire is Cyrus II And Darius the Great .. Darius the Great is said to have completed the Achaemenid political system that he has cultivated so far. Let's summarize what we actually did.
Building a centralized national system
Divided into 20 to 29 states (=Dasa), and governors (= Satrap ) in each state ) Is deployed. " King's Ear " to monitor the Satrap " King's Eyes We are patrolling an inspector general who reports directly to the king.
Unify the units of length and quantity to create a strong centralized nation. Unifying the units of length and quantity is quite helpful in collecting taxes. We also issue gold and silver coins by incorporating a monetary system that activates trade, if not completely.
The Achaemenid Empire also protected the Phoenicians who were active in the Mediterranean trade and the Arameans who were active in trade in the desert, and the protection of not only the monetary system but also the ethnic groups engaged in trade was also a factor in establishing a commercial base. It seems that. In this way, the financial base was set up under the reign of King Diores I.
Improvement of road network
Although it is closely related to trade, on land, the national highway " Royal Road " connects important points throughout the country. "Is maintained. In addition, we have developed a post-horse system centered on Susa, the capital.
Regarding the post-horse system, it is not the first system introduced by the Achaemenid Empire, and it seems that it has already been established in the Assyrian Kingdom, but in terms of name, the "Royal Road" of the Achaemenid Empire is more famous. I think it can be said that the "Royal Road" was completed by connecting the roads made in Assyria.
Post-horses have made it possible to fly Hayauma for messengers, enabling rapid transportation and information transmission.
Religion
The Iranians who lived in the Achaemenid Empire respected the religions of the peoples of the territory, while the royal family worshiped Zoroastrianism (fire worship).
What is Zoroastrianism ...
It is said to be a religion.
Perhaps Zoroastrianism was also respected by those of other religions because it respected other religions. It is said that the teachings of Zoroastrianism also influenced Judaism and Christianity.
As mentioned above, while accepting the good parts of the Assyrian kingdom, which was the unified dynasty of the Orient world, the bad parts (=oppressive, intolerant parts) will carry out generous governance of the Achaemenid dynasty. However, it seems that there were some areas that were dissatisfied just because they were more generous than Assyria.
Persian War
Since the middle of the 6th century BC, the distortion that expanded the territory at once from Cyrus II to the third generation appears. The Persian War.
In the first place, the Persian War began with a rebellion in the Ionian region of the Anatolian Peninsula (when you look at the Anatolian Peninsula on a map, you can see the letters "IONIE"). On the map, the orange part is the Achaemenid dynasty.
There are many Greek colonial cities such as Miletus in the Ionian region, and such colonial cities had friendly relations with Athens and other Greek city-states (Police).
As you can see on the map, the Ionian region is a great place to trade in the Mediterranean, and the Achaemenid Empire at that time was competing for command of the sea with numerous police in southern Greece.
The tyrant (sovereign) of Miletus tried to gain control of the sea by plunging his head into the internal turmoil in a large city-state in the Aegean Sea. Although the Achaemenid side is also a generous rule, it seems that it has restricted it because it is very important for this area, so the tyrant side may have been impatient to increase its influence on the Achaemenid dynasty.
However, Miletus was defeated despite the fact that he had a mitres and rushed into the war expenses in this civil war. The tyrant, who has lost his position in Achaemenid, decides to revolt with the backing of Police (Ionian Revolt).
The Persian War began with not only capturing other Ionian tyrants and handing them over to the people, but also seeking help from mainland Greece. Was caused.
The Persian War, which began in 500 BC, continues until 449 BC. In this battle, the Ionian region is Achaemenid Independence from the rule of the Achaemenid Empire loses its position in the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean It was become a thing.
Of course Achaemenid Although it has reduced its territory, it is still a large country, so be wary that many Greek police are Delian League with Athens as their ally. It connects (478 BC-429 BC).
Birth of Alexander the Great
The Achaemenid Empire, which lost the Persian War but still remained a major force in the Orient world. Its dominance in the Orient world collapsed after Macedonia strengthened its military power in the direction of Europe and took control of all Greek police.
It should be noted that Greece at this time was not a civilian army in Polis, but fell from the status of a citizen and was hired for money mercenary . It seems that was popular, and the police society is changing with the times.
Due to the defeat of the Persian War and the alliance between the police, the Achaemenid Empire was trying to force the Greeks to fight each other, so Alexander the Great of Macedonia set out on an eastern expedition to prevent the Achaemenid Empire from interfering. This is 334 BC.
In the end, the Achaemenid Empire was destroyed in 331 BC by this eastern expedition by Alexander the Great.