EMPIRES:
AN
OVERVIEW
AP World History
Unit 2
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
Location
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
 Darius the Great built
the city of Persepolis.
Achaemenid
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
 Darius the Great
 Divided the Persian Empire into districts called SATRAPIES
(districts)
 Built the Royal Road system
 Established a complex postal system (“neither snow, nor
rain, nor gloom of night” could keep them from their jobs)
 Standardized currency (money)
 Established a network of spies—the “King’s eyes and
ears”…why do this?
QANATS
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
 Alexander the Great conquered the Achaemenid Empire.
 He then destroyed Persepolis.
 He burned Zoroastrian temples and massacred magi.
 Alexander the Great died at the age of 33 (323 BCE).
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
 Parthian Empire:
 Situated along the Silk Roads trade route
 Skilled in warfare and horsemanship—
archers able to shoot behind them as they rode
 Weakened by ongoing wars with Rome
 Fell to internal rebellion of feuding satraps
THE PERSIAN EMPIRE
 Persian Society:
 Early steppe traditions (family/clan kinship very important)
 Creation of a bureaucratic class (tax collectors, record keepers,
translators)
 Largest slave class at that point in history (POWs, debtors)
 Persian Economy:
 Long-distance trade because of road building
 Coined money
Athens and Sparta
A COMPARISON
Sparta
 Founded by Dorian invaders
 Invaded neighboring city-states and
enslaved peoples (helots); Farmed
the estates of Spartans
 Military society
 Rulers afraid of change and outside
influences
 Two kings with little power;
Assembly had most power (male
citizens over age of 30)
 Council of Elders: Supreme Court
(28 men over age of 60)
Athens
 Founded by descendants of
Mycenaeans
 Constitution said that all free
Athenian-born men were citizens
(land ownership not needed)
 Slaves were 1/3 of the population
 Symposium: drinking session
following a banquet; discussed public
affairs, philosophy, and literature
(upper class men and men from
other city-states)
A COMPARISON
Spartan Women
Athenian Women
 Expected to exercise and be strong
 Women stayed at home
 Could express political opinions but
 Many learned to read and write
could NOT take part in government
 Could own property
Wife Swap: Athens and
Sparta
 Could NOT attend Olympic Games
WHAT IS A “GOLDEN AGE”?
 This is a period in a nation’s history when much is
accomplished in terms of culture and technology.
Examples: art, architecture, and philosophy
 Greece: Best example of architecture—the Parthenon
Temples were where deities could live.
PHILOSOPHY
 Greek philosophers laid the foundation for history, political
science, biology, and logic (science of reasoning).
 Socratic Method: Asked students questions, then argued
with answers (forced students to clarify)
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY
PHILOSOPHY
HELLENISM
 Greek language and culture spread in the lands that
Alexander had conquered.
 Greek (Hellenic)
ways of life mixed with
Persian culture of the Middle East to form of new
culture: Hellenistic
 Hellenistic culture was concentrated in cities.
HELLENISTIC CULTURE
 Largest and wealthiest
city was Alexandria in
Egypt

Had a double harbor with a lighthouse

First ever museum

Large library

Scientific research institute

Zoo and botanical garden

It was here that Jewish scholars translated the Bible
into Greek
HELLENISTIC CULTURE
 Social
status of upper-class Greek
women improved
 Could move about freely, learn how to
read and write, have certain jobs
 Commoners’ status did not improve
HELLENISTIC PHILOSOPHERS
 Three systems of thought:
1) Cynicism = live simply and avoid
materialism
2) Epicureanism = accept the world as
it is, avoid politics, and live simply
3) Stoicism = ignore emotions and
follow reason
HELLENISTIC ART AND LITERATURE
 Art often showed people in the grip of emotions
 Wrote comedies about everyday life
SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND MATH
 Performed experiments and
developed new theories
 Eratosthenes estimated the
circumference of the Earth
within 1%
 Dissected corpses to learn
about human anatomy
 Learned how to use drugs to
relieve pain
SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND MATH
 Euclid organized a book about geometry
 Archimedes invented the compound pulley (used for lifting heavy objects) and
the cylinder screw (for irrigation)