Page 81 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

CHRONOLOGY The Ancient Empires
The Assyrians
Height of power
Ashurbanipal
Fall of Nineveh
Destruction of the Assyrian Empire
700 B.C.E. 669–627 B.C.E. 612 B.C.E.
605 B.C.E.
The Chaldeans
Ascendancy in Babylonia
Height of Neo-Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzar II
Fall of Babylon
600s B.C.E. 605–562 B.C.E.
539 B.C.E.
The Persians
Unification under Achaemenid dynasty Persian control over Medes
Conquests of Cyrus the Great Cambyses and conquest of Egypt Reign of Darius
600s B.C.E. 550 B.C.E. 559–530 B.C.E. 530–522 B.C.E. 521–486 B.C.E.
Near East, Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Assyria but also extended into Thrace and Asia Minor in the west and into India in the east. For administrative purposes, the empire had been divided into around twenty satrapies. Each of these provinces was ruled by a governor or satrap, literally, a “protector of the kingdom.” Although Darius had not introduced the system of satrapies, he organized it more rationally. He created a sensible system for calculating the tribute that each satrapy owed to the central government and gave the satraps specific civil and military duties. They collected tributes, were responsible for justice and security, raised military levies for the royal army, and normally commanded the military forces within their satrapies. In terms of real power, the satraps were miniature kings with courts imitative of the Great King’s.
From the time of Darius on, satraps were all of Per- sian descent. The major satrapies were given to prin- ces of the royal family, and their position became essentially hereditary. The minor satrapies were placed in the hands of Persian nobles. Their offices, too, tended to pass from father to son. The hereditary nature of the governors’ offices made it necessary to provide some checks on their power. Consequently, royal officials at the satrapal courts acted as spies for the Great King.
Darius, the Great King. Darius ruled the Persian Empire from 521 to 486 B.C.E. He is shown here on his throne in Persepolis, a new capital city that he built. In his right hand, Darius holds the royal staff; in his left, he holds a lotus blossom with two buds, a symbol of royalty.
An efficient system of communication was crucial to sustaining the Persian Empire. Well-maintained roads facilitated the rapid transit of military and gov- ernment personnel. One in particular, the so-called Royal Road, stretched from Sardis, the center of Lydia in Asia Minor, to Susa, the chief capital of the Persian Empire. Like the Assyrians, the Persians established staging posts equipped with fresh horses for the king’s messengers.
The Persian Empire 43
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