1. New Empires in Iran and Greece, 2000 B.C.E.–651 C.E.
Chapter 6
New Empires in Iran and Greece, B.C.E.–651 C.E.

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4. The Rise of the Achaemenids in Iran, 1000–330 B.C.E.
Indo-Europeans migrated into western Iran ca B.C.E.
Heartland of Iran is Persis, in the southwest
The Persian Empire was ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty, 550–330 B.C.E.
The empire stretched from Samarkand in the east to Egypt and Turkey in the west, the largest empire of its time, between 30 million and 35 million people.
Achaemenid Persian model of government was used widely and successfully.
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote an account of Darius’s rise to power.

5. The Rise of the Achaemenids in Iran, 1000–330 B.C.E.
Zoroastrianism
Avesta is a book of Zoroastrianism, the religion of Persia. Also our main source for early Persian history.
Zarathustra believed in Ahura Mazda, the Lord of Truth, who created heaven and Earth, day and night, darkness and light.
Ahura Mazda also gave birth to twin spirits, one good and one evil. The good and evil spirits, deities, and demons, are in perpetual conflict.
Zarathustra believed that each person had to choose between good and evil.
He also believed that there will be a day of judgment in which Ahura Mazda will decide the fate of each person.
Choosing good means thinking good thoughts, doing good deeds, and telling the truth.

6. The Rise of the Achaemenids in Iran, 1000–330 B.C.E.
The Military Success of the Persian Empire, 550–486 B.C.E.
Iran remained tribal until 612 B.C.E., when the Medes tribe captured the Assyrian capital
In 550 B.C.E., Persis tribe led by Cyrus defeated the Medes, established Achaemenid dynasty.
The Royal Road linked the Aegean coast with the capital at Susa.
Couriers could cover the 1600-mile Royal Road in less than twenty days.
Cyrus did not force conquered people to change their religions or cultures, made offerings to local gods.
Contact with Zoroastrianism may have introduced Jews to concepts of an afterlife and a devil.

7. The Rise of the Achaemenids in Iran, 1000–330 B.C.E.
Darius’s Coup, 522 B.C.E.
Cyrus’s son Cambyses inherited the throne and continued his father’s conquests.
In 522 B.C.E., Darius and a group of rebels killed Gaumata, a pretender to the throne after Cambyses.
Darius married the daughter of Cyrus, Artystone, to emphasize his links to the Achaemenid dynasty, to which he was only distantly related.
Darius continued the Achaemenid expansion into Thrace and the Indus Valley.

8. The Rise of the Achaemenids in Iran, 1000–330 B.C.E.
Darius's Administration
Darius reformed the Persian administration, tax system, and legal system.
Reform of the legal system involved appointing judges for life.
Darius divided the empire into provinces called satrapies.
Each province was governed by a satrap, chosen from the local populace.
Each satrap was required to collect a fixed amount of revenue each year.
The ritual center of Darius’s empire was Persepolis
Darius was succeeded by his son Xerxes in 486 B.C.E. who was killed by his younger son
Assassinations became common in the Achaemenid dynasty for a century.

9. Darius’s Victory: The Stone Relief at Behistun, Iran In 522 b. c. e
Darius’s Victory: The Stone Relief at Behistun, Iran In 522 b.c.e., Darius ordered this stone relief commemorating his victory over his rivals to be carved over 300 feet (100 m) above the road below. In it, Darius triumphantly places his left foot on the deposed Magi priest Gaumata, who lies dead on his back with his arms pointing vertically upward. The eight tribal leaders that Darius defeated are shown on the right; the larger figure with the pointed hat was added later. Above the human figures floats the winged Ahura Mazda, who looks on approvingly.
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10. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
Greek Expansion in the Mediterranean, 2000–1200 B.C.E.
The earliest civilization in the Greek region was the Minoan.
In order to farm the area, they used irrigation channels, growing wheat, olives, and grapes in different regions.
The Minoans were located on the island of Crete, ca. 2000–1500 B.C.E.
Their writing, Linear A, has not been translated.
the Minoans traded widely
Mycenaeans based at the city-state of Mycenae, ca. 1600–1200 B.C.E.
Wrote in Linear B, which was only deciphered in 1952.
If there was a real historic Trojan War as Homer described it, it was during the Mycenaean period.

11. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
The Phoenicians and the World’s First Alphabet
Phoenician homeland was in modern day Lebanon ca. 900 B.C.E.
Phoenicians invented a new system of writing, the alphabet.
The Phoenician alphabet had twenty-two letters. Each letter represented a consonant; there were no vowels.
The alphabet letters only depicted sounds; they were not pictorial symbols.
Phoenicians had established ports along the north coast of Africa, including Carthage by 814 B.C.E.
They also had ports along the southern coast of Spain.
Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet and their geographic knowledge.

12. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
The Rise of the Greek City-State, 800–500 B.C.E.
The polis, or city-state, emerged about 800 B.C.E.
Each polis was independent and had its own law codes, courts, and army. Each polis had a guardian deity and a temple dedicated to it within the city walls.
The Greeks believed in many gods, headed by Zeus and his wife Hera.
Greeks established over 250 city-states along the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Greek colonies remained linked to the mother city by trade.
major trade items included olive oil, wine, pottery, and lumber.
Sparta and Athens

13. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
The Greco-Persian Wars, 490–479 B.C.E.
Athenian army consisted of citizen-soldiers
Greek soldiers were called hoplites. Had better shields, stronger armor, and better formations than the Persians. Organized into units called phalanxes, eight men deep
Athens first defeated the Persians at Marathon in 490 B.C.E.
Xerxes assemblies a force so large he hopes Athens will surrender.
Instead, Athens and Sparta form an alliance. First ever coalition of Greek city-states
Held the Persians at Thermopylae, until the Persians found a hidden passage through the mountains
Persians eventually forced out of Greek territory

14. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
Culture and Politics in Athens, 480–404 B.C.E.
During the fifth century, over 100 tragedies were written. Three great playwrights of this period: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides.
In 478 B.C.E., Athens formed the Delian League, a group of city-states who wanted to drive the Persians from the Greek world.
Athens then used the Delian League funds to build up the Acropolis. The most important monument was the Parthenon, dedicated to Athena.
From 431–404 B.C.E., Sparta and Athens fought the Peloponnesian Wars over Delian League leadership.
Sparta defeated Athens, with the help of Persia in 404 B.C.E.

15. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World, 2000–334 B.C.E.
Athens as a Center for the Study of Philosophy
Greek philosophy began ca. 600 B.C.E. in Miletus, on the eastern Aegean.
Miletus school believed that the universe came from a single physical element.
First philosophers to propose a rational explanation rather than a divine one for the creation of the universe
Socrates, 469–399 B.C.E., stressed virtue, excellence
Plato, 429–347 B.C.E., wrote Dialogues, founded Academy
Aristotle, 384–322 B.C.E., was tutor to Alexander the Great.
Aristotle taught that conclusions had to be explained using logic, reasoning from one point to the next.

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17. MAP 6.1 Greek and Phoenician Settlement in the Mediterranean Startingin900b.c.e.,the Phoenicians expanded westward into the Mediterranean from their base along the eastern shore; the island of Sardinia and the North African shore.
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18. Hand-to-Hand Combat in Ancient Greece A naked Greek soldier, armed with only a shield and a spear, bests his Persian opponent, who wears a long-sleeved tunic and trousers. The Persian has just shot an arrow that missed its target. In fact, Greek soldiers did not fight naked; they wore armor. Vases depicting Greeks defeating Persians were extremely popular in the fifth century b.c.e., when the Greeks and Persians fought so many wars.
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19. The Acropolis: A Massive Construction Project Completed in Only Fifteen Years Built between 447 and 432 b.c.e., the Parthenon was a two-roomed building surrounded by columns over 34 feet (10 m) tall; one of the interior rooms held a magnificent statue of Athena, now lost. Beautiful friezes inside the roofs and above the columns portrayed the legendary battles of the Trojan War, in which the Greek forces (symbolizing the Athenians and their allies) defeated the Trojans (the ancient counterpart of the Persian enemy).
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20. Alexander the Great and his Successors, 334 B.C.E.–30 B.C.E.
Philip and Alexander: from Macedon to Empire, 359–323 B.C.E.
Philip II, r. 359–336 B.C.E., made Macedon powerful
Philip reorganized the army into a professional force.
Alexander divided his army into two groups: infantry phalanxes and cavalry.
Philip II was assassinated in 336 B.C.E.
Alexander defeated the Persians in 331 B.C.E.
Alexander took over the Persian administration intact and adopted the satrapies. He also copied Achaemenid military, administration, and tax systems
Alexander’s army stopped at the Hyphasis River in India, 326 B.C.E. Began to march back to Babylon, where Alexander died in 323 B.C.E.

21. Alexander the Great and his Successors, 334 B.C.E.–30 B.C.E.
The Legacy of Alexander the Great
Alexander’s rule spread Hellenization.
Alexander’s empire was split into three sections, ruled by his generals.
Ptolemy took Egypt.
Antigonas took Greece and Macedon.
Selecus took Mesopotamia, Mediterranean coast, and satrapies to the Indus River Valley.
In Egypt, Alexander had founded a city called Alexandria in 332 B.C.E.
All texts that traveled to Alexandria were copied by the library.
In 240 B.C.E., Greek astronomer Eratosthenes was appointed librarian of Alexandria..
He measured the circumference of the Earth, estimating it at 24,427 miles.

22. MAP 6.2 The Empires of Persia and Alexander the Great
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23. FIGURE 6.1 Eratosthenes’s Measurement of the Earth Eratosthenes knew that, on June 21, a ray of light entering a well at the city of Syene cast no shadow because the sun was directly above. At Alexandria, 5,000 stadia away, also at noon, a parallel sun ray cast a shadow of 7.2 degrees on the ground next to a measuring stick. Using the law of congruent angles, Eratosthenes reasoned that 1/50th of the earth痴 circumference was 5,000 stadia, and therefore the circumference of the earth was 250,000 stadia. His result (24,427 miles, or 39,311 km) was less than 2 percent from the correct figure of 24,857 miles (40,000 km).
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24. The Parthians and the Sasanians, Heirs to the Persians, 247 B. C. E
The Parthians and the Sasanians, Heirs to the Persians, 247 B.C.E.–651 C.E.
Parthian empire, 247 B.C.E C.E.
Zoroastrian but religiously tolerant
Famed mounted archers
Sassanian dynasty, 224 C.E.-651 C.E.
Persecuted new religions like Manicheanism and Christianity

25. The Sasanian Palace, Ctesiphon, Iran The ruins of the Sasanian palace at Ctesiphon demonstrate the ingenuity and great skill of the brickmasons, who came from all over the empire and were resettled there by the emperors. The vaulted arch stands 118 feet (36 m) high, making it one of the world痴 largest brick arches. Its open doorways and fine brickwork inspired Islamic architects, who incorporated these same features into early mosques.
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