Ancient History Exam 4

Ancient Persia from Cyrus the Great - Xerxes I

First king of Persia

Cyrus the Great

Tolerance

Cyrus established a tradition of tolerance within the satrapies allowing them to continue with their traditional customs, government, law and religion as long as they paid their tributes and supplied military force

Darius skills as a king

• Administrative with the satrapy system

• Infrastructure development, including the royal road, and irrigation systems

• Economic reforms he standardised weights and measures

• Military leadership was able to expand the empire

• Cultural patronage he supported local traditions and cultures within his empire

• effective communication for example the the behistun inscription that illustrates his achievements and legitimises his rule

• Centralised power by implementing a system of taxation and appointing a satrap

Why Xerxes should be heir?

• An inscription at Persepolis states he was chosen by Ahura Mazda

• His mother was daughter of Cyrus

• Herodotus refers to Atossa as Darius’s favourite wife and she convinced him to make him heir

• Olmstead believes an inscription referring to a palace being built outside Babylon is referring to Xerxes being the satrap of Babylon

• Following the spartan tradition of naming the first born son to the king as heir

Darius’s Greek campaign

• after the Ionian revolt

• In 492 BCE they successfully captured Thrace and Macedonia

• The persian fleet was destroyed by a storm off Mount Athos

• In 490 BCE they captured Eretria and moved to Marathon

• The battle of Marathon was an embarrassing loss and prevented them from moving forward with the Greek campaign

Miltiades

Athenian general at the battle of marathon set the plan to thin the front of the Greek force as to trap the persian force in a smaller space.

Evidence of tolerance

• Cyrus cylinder

• Behsitan Rock

• Herodotus

Satrapies

Empire was divided into states called satrapies to promote administrative, military and communication efficiency.

Satrap

Governors typically Royal family member or Persian nobility. means protector of the kingdom

Greek traitor at thermopylae

Ephialtes

Spartan king

Leonidas

Royal Road

from sardis to susa to Persepolis to encourage trade, communication throughout the western empire as it significantly decreased travel time

When was the Babylon conquest

539 BCE

The Immortals

Apple shaped pommels on the bottom of spears, The Immortals were an elite infantry unit in the Persian army, known for their distinctive armor and unwavering loyalty. They were called 'Immortals' because their numbers were always kept at exactly 10,000, so when one was killed, he was immediately replaced.

Greek hoplites

Greek warriors named after their shield

Archers

Core members of the Persian army

When was the Lydian conquest

546 BCE

Who is Herodotus

Greek historian who details the events of the Persian Empire and is the main source for information on the Persian empire

When was the Conquest of Media

550 BCE

What did the conquest of Media achieve

Cyrus gained control of Media and was the foundation of the Persian Empire

The king of Media and relation to Cyrus

Astyages and Grandfather

What is the Cyrus Cylinder

a small clay cylinder inscribed with cuneiform script that records the conquest of Babylon by Persian King Cyrus the Great in 539 B.C

The Ionian revolt

a military uprising that took place from 499–493 BCE, when several Greek cities in Asia Minor rebelled against Persian rule

Persian warfare

Uses their numbers

The battle of Marathon

The Athenians, led by General Miltiades, faced off against a larger Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. Despite being outnumbered, the Athenians used a clever strategy to strengthen their flanks and weaken the center, leading to a decisive victory. The battle marked the first Persian invasion of Greece and showcased the effectiveness of Greek military tactics

How did the nobles decide the next king

Because all of the nobles believed themselves all equally deserving of the kingship so they decided to have a competition in which whoever’s horse winnies first than they are to be king

How did Darius become king

His horse winnied first, either due to its escapades the previous night or from the sent that the groomsman put on the horses nose

What was the name of the pretender?

Gaumata a magi

Who was Cambyses brother?

Smerdis

How did Cambyses die?

Herodotus states that he died from an accidental self-inflicted wound

Who was the mad king

Cambyses

The Behistan Inscription

A large rock relief and multilingual inscription created by Darius the Great, detailing the story of his rise to power and his victories over rebellious satrap.

Why was Cyrus II able to overthrow his grandfather?

According to Herodotus Harpagus the Mede who convinced Cyrus to revolt had convinced several Median nobles who held great disdain towards Astyages, to desert the battle and join the persian force

Herodotus bias

Herodotus aims to be neutral but when discussing the Persian wars he could be perceived as holding incredible bias in favour of the Athenians

Battle of Thermopylae key details

• Thermopylae a narrow pass

• The Greek force of approximately 7000 hoplites and auxiliaries led by the Spartan King Leonidas and the 300 Spartan soldiers

• The Greeks were stationed behind the Phocian wall

• The Greek strategy was to entice the Persian forces into the narrow section of the pass so they could not use their numbers as an advantage

• Xerxes sent three separate attacks all were repelled

• Herodotus says that Xerxes had to whip his people to fight

• Greek traitor Ephialtes, revealed a secret mountain path to Xerxes

• Leonidas sent all but his Spartan force away

• In the final battle the Greeks perished and Xerxes and his army moved to central Greece

Battle of Salamis

• When Xerxes reached Athens they burnt its temples in revenge for the burning of Sardis

• Xerxes did not need to fight at Salamis as his fleet could bypass the Greek island and move to the Greek isthmus

• Themistocles is credited with sending a trick message to Xerxes, urging him to attack the as the Greeks were disunified and would disband

• Xerxes ordered the attack

• The Persian ships went to the west of the Bay of Eleusis to block any Greeks that tried to escape

• The rest of the Persian fleet went through the Cape of the trophies and were slaughtered by the Greeks who layed waiting

Judgement of Xerxes

• Greek sources present a generally negative view of Xerxes as a military commander

  • they describe him as overconfident, overproud, gullible,impulsive, foolish as his never adapted to the Greek environment

Xerxes motive for the Greek wars

• Revenge for Marathon

• Expansion - pressure from the tradition established by his predecessors

• Xerxes wanted a reputation like that of his father

• Expectation of an easy victory is the Greeks never united

• Excessive personal ambition and pride

Xerxes preperations

• According to Herodotus he need to recover from Egypt and so spent 4 years collecting his host and getting things ready

• He had to gain the commitment of resources from the whole empire

• STrategy based solely on numbers

• Building the Hellespont

• cutting a canal at Mt Athos

• Bridging the River Strymon

• Diplomatic endeavours

• Psychological tactic through returning Greek spies to show his power and hope for a surrender

Xerxes death

Xerxes was assassinated 465 BCE by his leading officials

Xerxes material legacy

, Persepolis is the most significant testament to his strength as a king and his irrigation projects and the maintenance of his empire also support this view of his reign