The Persian Empire
The Conquerors of Everyone
Start of the Persian Empire
• Starts with Indo-European migrations
– Came to Persia around 1000 BCE
– Known as modern day Iran
• Land was farmable and had precious
minerals for trading
– Made empire rich with traded products
Leaders of the Persian Empire
• 3 major leaders to the Persian Empire
– Cyrus the Great
– Cambyses
– Darius I
• Other famous Persian Leaders
– Xerxes- famous from ‘300’ movie
• Fights against Greeks in Persian Wars
Persia Under Cyrus & Cambyses
• Rules from 550-530 BCE
– Expanded empire from Anatolia to Indus
river in only 12 years
• Considered a military & political genius
– Practiced religious tolerance
• Prayed at the statues of a city’s gods
• Allowed Jews to return to their homeland
– Kept tight rules over his soldiers
• Did not allow looting or burning; shows respect
• Cambyses takes over when father dies
– Conquers Egypt
– Does not practice religious tolerance
Persia Under King Darius
• Comes to power after Cambyses death
– Not related to the previous leaders
– Used the Ten Thousand Immortals to help
• The king’s bodyguards (Darius was one)
• Created an efficient government
– Split empire in 20 sections; used satraps
• Satraps- governors of a province
• Expanded empire further
– Could not defeat the Greeks
• Built the Royal Road
– Used to unite Persia for trade and travel
– Also used metal coins like in Asia
Persian Religion-Zoroastrianism
• Zoroaster- Persian prophet
– Taught that 2 armies were fighting for a
person’s soul
• Army of good and light
• Army of darkness and evil
– Believed that people’s decisions
determined their fate in the afterlife
• Developed the ideas of heaven, hell
and a final judgment day
– Similar to the ideas of Christianity, Islam
and Judaism
• Religion named- Zoroastrianism
Persian Story Assignment
• You will write a childrens story
• Your story must have the following info
– Must include all 4 leaders and what they are
famous for
– Must have at least 4 hand drawn pictures
– Must tell where the empire was located
– Must discuss Zoroastrianism and its beliefs
– Must have the Royal Road
• It should start once upon
• It needs to be able to be read by
children