Darius I: An Important Geographic Factor In Ancient Rome

Darius I ,also known as Darius the Great, was the third king who reigned from 550-486 BCE during the Achaemenid Empire. While he lived, Darius held the empire at its peak, which stretched from the river Nile and parts of Northern Greece to the Indus River Valley. One of the most major events in Darius 's life was his expedition to discipline Athens and Eretria for their support in the Ionian Revolt. He made his empire larger by vanquishing Thrace and Macedon, and occupying Scythia. He also arranged his empire, by splitting it into provinces and placing governors to rule over it. Darius organized a new financial system, along with making Aramaic the official language of the empire. He further worked on establishment projects throughout the empire. Darius also formulated a codification of laws for Egypt. He order the carving of the cliff-face Behistun Inscription, an autobiography of great modern linguistic significance. Darius also started many massive architectural projects including magnificent palaces in Persepolis, and Susa.

The failure of Rome’s economy contributed majorly to the fall of Rome. The Roman Economy during the late Republic and Early Empire was based heavily on Agriculture and Commerce. Agriculture in ancient Rome was not only a necessity, but was idealized among the social elite as a way of life. Cicero had considered agriculture to be the best of all Roman Occupations (Sarudy). There had been a lot of trading between the provinces of the empire, and all regions of the empire were largely economically interdependent. Egypt was also important in providing wheat to Rome. Shipments of Egyptian wheat may have amounted to 20 million modii (an Ancient Roman measurement) or more annually. Twenty million modii of wheat was nearly enough for up to half

The ancient civilizations had very different ways of running their empires throughout their time. The Persians and Greeks held very true to this statement. They both had different sources that contributed to the power they held. The Persians had a very large empire and had a specific way of controlling it. First lets see how the Persians came to be. Cyrus, the son of the Assyrian king, was supposed to be killed as a baby. He was instead taken to a village that soon became called Persia. As Cyrus matured, the people could tell he had the characteristics of a king. He soon became just that. He didn’t want to be just a ruler though, he wanted to be different. His tactics were based on mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Cyrus did go to war still

The Persians had a very good government. Before Persia became known as the largest empire in the world in its time period they were not unified. It wasn't until 522 B.C. that the Persian Empire became unified. Emperor Darius accomplished the real unification of this

Cyrus the Great’s(C. 600-530 BCE) expansion started in Persia, located on the southern portion of the Iranian peninsula, Cyrus conquered the Medes, led by King Astyages, circa 559 BCE in the northern part of the peninsula. From there, he moved into Ecbatana to take over the Medes. He united the them with

During the reign of the greatest Achaemenid ruler he expanded his empire to the East as far as the Indus river and to the west, the black sea. Creating the largest empire the world had ever seen, he also created a vast and complex system to govern all of his land and its diversity with a coin system,taxes, and laws.

As the founder of a new empire after overthrowing his uncle, Cyrus had plans to take over the Mediterranean Coast and to control a good piece of land from Asia Minor. His enemies knowing his power, joined

Empires were different in the way they exerted power because they could affect places outside their empire in a positive or negative way. The Persians exerted their power by thinking they were superior to all other people at that time and when they heard a place had riches they would go plunder it. In document 1 it describes that since they thought they were superior they had the right to go plunder places with luxury.

The Roman Empire was one of the most popular empires that there ever was. It was also one of the largest as it went as far as Memphis in the South and Europe in the North (document 3). The empire’s location was not the best. Water practically surrounded the entire empire. The Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Atlantic Ocean, and Caspian Sea were all ports of water around it. However, that did not hold back the empire’s power, as it quickly adapted and used it to their advantage. Sea trade, deep harbors, and roads are a few of the ways that the Roman Empire used their location to help themselves.

From 600 BCE to 100 CE, many Classical civilizations stabilized agriculture and achieved cultural and intellectual advances. There was increasing communication between the different civilizations and regions. In the Mediterranean Sea, Athens’ democracy set the foundation for future Western administration. Philosophy developed in Ancient Greece and in China, and it played a key role in shaping the government. Regions in Asia continued their monarchy, but people also began setting expectations for their government.

“So Darius son of Hystaspes was made king, and the whole of Asia, which Cyrus first and Cambyses after him had conquered, was subject to him, except the Arabians; these did not yield as of slaves to the Persians, but were united to them by friendship, having given Cambyses passage into Egypt, which the Persians could not enter without the consent of the Arabians.” Herodotus once wrote. To establish better control, he divided the empire into regions. He divided Persia into 20 areas. Governors called satraps governed the regions in Darius’s name.

Cyrus the Great became ruler of the Persians because he did not want to be controlled by the meads and along with his nomadic warriors, he overtook them. Previously, the Medes had an Iranian religion of whom the Magi were like the priests of Persia and with their great architectural knowledge, they build fire temples which were used by the Magi to perform ceremonies & rituals. This religion derived from magic and astrology, principles of dualism (good & Evil) and resurrection. This religion is one of the causes for which Cyrus the great, rebelled against the Medes. With his army, he conquered most of Asia and remained in power because of the type of ruler that he was. Cyrus allowed the people to keep their customs and practice their own religions, worship their own gods and carry their separate rituals,

Cyrus and Darius both tolerated ethnic and theological diversity. They did not try to force Persian culture on the conquered people. It seemed as though the Persians just wanted to have the right to tax and have control of the land and its riches. The Seleucids, Parthians, and Sasanids also advocated this policy. Although this policy worked quite well in allowing for fluid execution of ruling,

“The Persian Empire was the most powerful and aggressive power in the eastern Mediterranean at the time.” (Many Europes; pg 51). Before expanding the land, The Persian Empire had land that expanded west of Asia and included Egypt. With the defeat of the Assyrians Empire around 550 BCE with the leadership of King Cyrus, this gave them the name of the Persian Empire. That’s when the Empire began to expand its land and power with overtaking many different city-sates, like Lydians, Mesopotamians, and Babylonians, and incorporating them into the Persian Empire. It wasn’t until King Darius, who ruled from 521 BCE to 485 BCE, started to rule that the invasions were directed to the Greece. Now many of the Greeks thought that the Persian Empire was different and that was for a good reason. Not only did the empire have a

Similar to the Roman Empire the Persian Empire stretched across vast lands without any serious rivalry. At the height of the empire it stretched across, not only, Asia, from the Aegean to the Indus River, but also included part of the continent of Africa. We get the word, Persia, from the Greek word Parsa meaning, “Above reproach”. The Persians unlike most other Empires would be ruled under a benevolent ruler. This would bring a large amount of cultural diffusion to the Empire. The empires history is separated into three historical periods: Old Persia (600-300 B.C.E), Middle Persia (300-800 B.C.E.) and modern Persia (800-Present). The height or the Empire was reached around 500 B.C.E. (Ancient and Medieval History