The Persian Empire

The Persian Empire by Michael Sullivan

         For many un the United States today, when thinking about the Achaemenid Empire (commonly called the Persian Empire) they imagine tyrannical kings and subjected people, sprawling deserts and conquering armies bent on world domination. These views commit a great injustice against this ancient civilization, however, as they promote misconceptions while failing to appreciate the contributions and accomplishments of this great empire. That is why this segment of history of the Middle East is so fascinating to me, as for many the truth about this great empire remains untold.

           For me the one of the greatest misconceptions made about the Persian Empire was its supposed forced religious conversion and tyrannical rule over conquered territories. Though the Persian Empire was founded largely on conquest first undertaken by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BCE, it is a great untruth to assume that it’s new subjects were victims of harsh rule. Under Persian control, the conquered state was often allowed to keep its local kings and leaders in power, and also to continue practicing their previous religion. In fact, for many people life continued much as it had under their formal rulers, as their governments and religions remained the same under Persian rule. It is for this reason that such claims like the Greeks fought for freedom against the Persians in the Greco-Persian Wars of the 5th century ring hollow. Indeed, life largely would have continued as usual for many Greeks. And possible would have improved for such militaristically
repressed people as the Spartans of ancient Greece.
    

Another greatly underappreciated aspect of the Persian Empire was its spread of Zoroastrianism throughout much of its empire. Though subjects were not forcibly converted to the teachings of Zoroaster, this religion nevertheless spread from Egypt and Turkey into the Middle East. The significance of this lies in the fundamental doctrine of Zoroastrianism, and that is the idea of one true God. In fact, it is believed by many to be the first monotheistic religion in human history. Some even argue that this widespread practice of Zoroastrianism in the Persian Empire would later greater increase the number of people willing to accept the teachings of Christianity, Judaism and Islam in the Middle East (and eventually much of the world) as monotheism became the main form of religion faith in the region (“Zoroastrians Keep the Faith, and Keep Dwindling“). Personally this contribution is vastly underappreciated when dealing with the historical significance of the region, and greatly helps understand the evolution of religion in the Middle East as a whole.

           One additional underappreciated aspect of the Persian Empire was its great administrative structure. As mentioned, under Persian rule formerly independent states became satrapies, and were largely left to their own devices while still paying tribute and homage to the Persian king.  It was in this way that such an empire was able to last for so long. Additionally, the use of runners as message carriers in a complex ancient postal service (“Postal Service“, Encyclopedia Britannica) allowed the Persian Empire to maintain contact and control over even its farthest reaching territories for much of its reign.
   
           How does one judge the accomplishments of an empire? For many only a fraction of knowledge is known about the Persians, where they are reserved as foreign and mysterious, and more likely to occupy the role of the villain in a bad Hollywood film, and people are much more likely to know about Alexander the Great and the fall of the Persians than how their empire was actually created, how it was maintained, and the people who lived there. For me, that makes the Persian Empire incredibly fascinating to know about. For is it not a much greater achievement to be able to create and maintain such a vast empire, than it is to bring one down?

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Works Cited

Brix, Andrew C. “Postal Service” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia     Britannica, Inc. 2008. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

Goodstein, Laura. “Zoroastrians Keep the Faith, and Keep Dwindling”. NYTimes. The     New York Times. 6 Sept. 2006. Web. 22 Oct. 2013.