Persian Kings

When did Darius reign

When did Darius reign

522-486 BCE

Where did the first revolts take place in Darius' reign

Elam and Babylonia

How many fights did Darius have in one year of rebellions

19

How many kings did Darius imprison during the rebellions

9

2 reasons why there were rebellions In Darius reign

Instability of Persian rule gave people hope of regaining freedom. People unhappy about the way Darius took the throne

Two ways in which Darius could be seen as more of Persian king from Bizitun inscription

Darius elevated Ahuramazda to great importance and it says he was crowned by him. Darius is 'King of Persia' unlike Cyrus 'king of Anshan'

Who was Archaemenes

Made up shared ancestor between Darius and cyrus

How does Darius link himself to cyrus

Marries both his daughters

How does Darius use Ahuramazda for his claim to the throne

Makes him his proxy on earth by showing he was granted the throne by Ahuramazda

Explain Darius' reorganisation of the empire

Divided the empire in Satrapies, governed by Satraps, who are usually close loyal family members. The King's scribes kept an eye in the satraps to make sure they were doing as the king ordered.

building projects Darius started

Royal roads; helped get messages long distances in the empire through many men waiting on horses at checkpoints. Rebuolt Susa on three mounds, the Apdana, Royal city and the Acropolis, persepolis, and the egyptian irrigation system

What year did Darius attack Eretria

492 BC

Why did Darius attack Eretria and Athens

Wanted to punish them, he wanted more land in the Aegean Sea, Herodotus presents it as a complete failure in which Persia had to withdraw however Persia did acquire the wealthy island of Thasos

What happened in 490 BC

Only Herodotus recounts this story, Darius sent a fleet of 6000 ships to Naxos, which he takes easily and burns the temples to the ground in revenge for Sardis in the Ionian revolt. The fleet moves to Delos. The islanders flee but the Persians offer lavish gifts instead.

Explain Thrace and Scythian expedition

Darius launched full scale invasion into Europe, crossed rivers in boats and rafts. Herodotus says army was 700,000 men. Made a bridge over river Danube. Scythians split up making it hard for Persians. The Persians were forced to retreat back to the bridge, they argue with the Greeks guarding it and tell them to rebel, darius returned home and left advisor to capture thrace and didn’t get scythia

Indus valley

Darius send reconnaissance party to Indus Valley, subdues Indians and brings them into empire

Macediona

Persians sent ambassadors into Macedonia to demand Earth and water, Macedonians met the demands but were not fully admitted into empire until 492BC

Was the imperial expansion under Darius a failure

Herodotus says yes but Thrace have them rich resources, Persia now controlled Aegean coastline and dominated trade, established firm border at river Danube with scythians

Ionian revolt

499 BC, Aristagoris falls out with Satrap and convinces his city Miletus, and others to rebel against Persians. Athenians offer 20 ships to help. Eretria offers 5ahips, Greeks take and burn Sardis to ground. Greeks return to coast but are killed by Persians so Athenians withdraw. Final fight at Lade, Persian fleet of 600 defeated greek of 353 after they bribed Samian fleet.

Succession of Xerxes

Got Demartus, Greek advisor to recommend Spartan system of first son born after becoming king is next heir, therefore Xerxes gets throne. Also says Ahuramazda wanted him to be king.

Revolts after Darius death

Egypt were annoyed at paying tribute to Persia, two revolts in 484BC. Babylon annoyed at ease of Persian control.

What year did mardonius lead an expedition into greece

492

3 reasons to invade mainland Greece for Xerxes

Revenge on Athens, live up to predecessors, acquire new territory

2 reasons for xerxes not to invade Greece

Scythian expedition was bad, battle of marathon still in Persian memory

Persian army

Smallest unit of 10, belonged to 100 men, then 1,000 men and finally largest unit of 10,000

Who were the immortals

Unit of 10,000 men who guarded king, if one ,an died he was immediately replaced from Persian army

Tactics of Persian army

Front line created shield wall, then 10 lines deep of archers, arrows reached 170 metres, the cavalry flanked round the side, could fight in close quarters or far away

What was the name of the alliance between Greek cities who wanted to resist the persians

Hellenic league

Battle of Thermopylae

480 BC - Sparta contributed 300 soldiers to protect king Leonidas. Tense stand-off for four days at a narrow pass at Thermopylae. Spartans heroically help up Persians for multiple days. Eventually Persians overcame Spartans because a local Greek told them about a secret path over the mountains so they could surround the Spartans.

Name of the man who told Xerxes about secret path over Thermopylae

Ephialtes

What did Xerxes do to the defeated king Leonidas

Ordered his body to be decapitated and drove his head onto a stake where it rotted in public

Battle of Salamis (480 BC)

Naval battle during which Greek and Persian ships fought in a narrow channel of water. Greeks led by Athens had 380 ships. Themistocles got his slave Sicinnus to tell Persians that Greeks were retreating but he was on Xerxes side. Persian forces didn't fight well in the small channel. Complete failure for Xerxes and Persia

Battle of Eurymedon

Early 460s. Battle off the southern coast of Asia Minor in which the Delian league won a comprehensive victory against Persia on land and sea.

What was the Delian league

An alliance of Greek city-states in 477 to hold back Persians

When did Xerxes rule

486-465 BC

when was cyrus born and when did he become king of persia and when did he die

600BC - born

559BC - became king

530 BC - died

explain the dream that cyrus’ grandfather had

according to herodotus, astyages who was cyrus’ grandfather had a dream that cyrus would overthrow him,so he ordered for him to be sent away and killed as a baby. Harpagus (the man meant to kill the baby) could not do it so handed him to a shepherd to raise. After Cyrus beat up a noble family’s child for no reason, he was summoned to the Persian palace to explain himself. the shepherd confesses the story and Cyrus is sent back to Persia to live with his actual parents.

What happens after Astyages finds out Cyrus is still alive

astyages kills harpagus’s son, chops him into pieces and cooks him and tricks harpagus into eating him. Harpagus secretly campaigned for the medes to join with Cyrus in a rebellion. Astyages sensed war was coming and appointed Harpagus as the leader of his army. Before the battles most of the medians switched sides or ran away and Cyrus became king

was cyrus accepting of local religions

yes, he tolerated all religions and allowed anyone in conquered lands to practice their religion and hold religious festivals

where and when did cyrus conquer

The medes (550BC)

The Lydians (547BC)

the Babylonians (539BC)

what did cyrus do to the Jews and when

in 538 he allowed the jews rhat had been enslaved by the babylonians to return to jerusalem and he was hailed as the messiah for this

what does the cyrus cylinder tell us about cyrus

that he was a tolerant a kind ruler

why is the cyrus cylinder not turstworthy

it was paid for by cyrus so is likely to be biased towards him

who was the leader of lydia before cyrus conquered it

croesus

what were croesus’ motivations to attack Cyrus

• avenge astyages

• the oracles had told him it would go well

• intimidated by cyrus recent conquering of the medes

  • expanding his own power

explain the conquest of Lydia

547BC - Croesus retreats to Sardis thinking he would be safe as it was winter after they fought on the median side of the river and both lost a lot. cyrus marches to lydia and his army leader harpagus put camels on the front line to scare of the lydian horses. Croesus retreats again to sardis and the spartans receive his message and prepare to assist him but it was too late Cyrus had already taken the city.

why did cyrus spare Croesus’ life

he was going to burn him but Apollo puts the fire out with a thunderstorm and then croesus says a man called solon predicted this all and said he was meet a horrible end so cyrus realises he doesnt want to meet the same fate as cyrus so spares his life

why is the account of the babylonian conquest not very detalied

because all the other soirces are one sided in favour of cyrus as he was good at propaganda

explain the less likely babylonian conquest

in 439 the babylonians (king was Nabonidus) prepared for a siege and the persians re-routed the river Euphrates so that it entered babylon. They got to the gate and broke through. some shcolars believe this was unlikely and that someone was working for persia on the inside. after this cyrus has the cylinder written and links himself to old kings of babylon while slagging off the pervious one nabonidus. this is the less likely story

why did cyrus want to conquer babylon

it was wealthy

how does cyrus use the cylinder in babylon

links himself to Marduk who was the main babylonian god

impacts of the babylonian conquest

• cyrus liberates the jews

• established himself with connections to babylonian kings and gods

• allows people to keep traditions

• got rid of unpopular king nabonidus

• cyrus now able to take whole levant region

features of pasagardae

• the zendan - a fire temple where the persian religion was practiced

• the tomb of cyrus on a six step pyramid was southern point of the site

• palace P - central hall built by cyrus built from white stone and was the residential palace for cyrus

• palace S - white stone, Ionian influence, pillars resembled lions bulls and horses

what id the nabonidus chronicle story of cyrus conquest of the medes and is it more likely

• astyages was the king of the medes

• cyrus was the king of anshan

• astyages sought conquest

• astyages soldiers mutinied

• cyrus plunders ecbatana

• more likely

what two religious things does udjahorresnet say Camybses did in babylon

buried the apis bull with full funeral ceremonies and purified temples and supported worship of gods

3 battles in more likely babylonian conquest story

• september/october 539 battled on bank of tigris against army of akhad which retreated and they slaughtered the people

• sippar 10 october 539 captured without battle as nabonidus fled

• babylon 12 october 539 nabonidus retreated and was captured in babylon there was peace in the city which cyrus spoke

death of cyrus

530 BC - All the persian advisors say they should fight on the persian side of the river except for croesus who warns him that his good fortune won’t last. Cyrus decides to fight tomyris, captures her son spargapises who kills himself in captivity. Tomyris was enraged and fights a second battle which she wins and cyrus dies. She beheads him and puts his head in a leather bag filled with blood

when did cambyses rule

529-522BC

how does herodotus portray cambyses

a madman who committed atrocities

treatment of individuals continuity and change between cyrus and cambyses

change - cambyses killed his brother after a dream that he would overthrow him, cambyses was not tolerant, cambyses beat his pregnant sister/wife to death, cyrus forgave his enemies

continuity - one report of cambyses accepting people wishes for soldiers to be removed from the temple

religious continuity and change between cyrus and cambyses

continuity - some sources say cambyses purified temples

change - cambyses slaughtered apid bull, stopped religious festivals whereas cyrus was tolerant

military contuinity/change between cyrus and cambyses

continuity - both expanded empire, won almost all their wars

change - cambyses managed to lose 50,000 men because he was a muppet, cambyses conquered egypt but cyrus couldn’t

motivations for cambyses invasion of egypt

cyrus was advised to ask for the dughter of the egyptian king to marry cambyses. the king sends a daughter of a previous king and she owns up immediiately. desire for more power. greater access to trade routes. persians ruled levant which egypt wanted.

cambyses invasion of egypt

phanes had been king amasis’ advisor switched to the persian side and told cambyses to make friends with the desert arabs which he did and they helped him set up a water supply for his army. on the first meeting at Pelusium the persians. apparently they covered themselved in cats knowing the egyptians would not hurt them as they were sacred to them. the persians moved osuth the memphis and the egyptians surrendered but beyond this there a little details from herodotus.

cambyses being a madman

• he was angered by the etheopians celebrating religious festivals

• had people executed for putting the apis bull in a temple because the other died, he ordered for it to be brought to him where he stabbed it fatally in the leg

• ordered the death of his brother smerdis after a dream about him taking power

• beat his pregnant sister who was his wife as well to death

• Entered the temple of Hephaestus and jeered at the gods statue

death of cambyses

522BC - False smerdis (looked like Cambyses dead brother and had same name) and patizethes who were members of the magi (group of preists) and were brothers. While cambyses was out in a city called Ecbatana (not the big median one), the false smerdis took control of the empire by pretending to be cambyses’ brother. Cambyses heard about this and remebered his dream and realised it did not specify which smerdis would kill him and felt regret for killing his brother. He mounted his horse and his sword fell out of its sheath and stabbed him right where he had stabbed the apis bull. Gangrene set in and he died and his advisors did not believe the story he told them so they did nothing.

accession of darius according to darius

bisitun inscription shows him trodding on people, guamata was pretending to be cambyses’ dead brother Bardiya, cambyses died of natural causes and then darius challenged guamata as he was the only one who would stand up to him, so he killed him

darius and babylonian revolt

Darius defeated the rebels in two battles in December 522 killing Nidintu-Bel in the process. Arakha emerged the next year who also claimed to be son of Nabonidus. This rebellion was put down by a leading Persian Intaphernes in November 521.

xerxes preparation for invasion of greece

says he had 2.3 mill men, probably just 60,000-80,000, took 4 years of preparation and had to set up depots all over the place, building canals and a bridge across the hellespont

athens and persia relationship before ionian revolt

sparta had tried to reinstate hippias as tyrant of athens, athens went to persia for help and ambassadors gave earth and water but were criticized on their return, hippias defected to persia and persia ordered athens to reinstall him and they refused, basically declaring war on persia

mardonius expedition in 492

darius sent fleet to north mainland greece with mardonius leading it, the persians were destroyed in mount Athos, they won a victory after against some Thracians but they lost so many men that it was not successful