Ap World History Compare And Contrast Persian Empire And Medes

Have you ever wondered how Empires managed to rule over sizable populations that included individuals from various backgrounds? The Persian Empire, also known as The Achaemenid Empire (559 B.C.–338 B.C.) was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over sizable sections of what is currently known as the country of Iran (Abrams). Before the formation of the Persian empire, the Medes and the Persians were the two main ethnic groups in Iran; the Medes were originally the more powerful of the two (Balio). The establishment of Persia as a state and empire is credited to the Medes, and their kingdom was the largest at the time (Abrams). The Persian Empire was established as a result of Cyrus's successful revolt over the Medes in 550 Bc (Bailo). By dividing the empire into provinces that were administered by governors and allowing its citizens to worship any deity they chose, the Persian empire was capable of ruling over such a large population.

The provinces were created by Darius, who also selected a governor for each. With each province had its own set of customs, legislation, and socioeconomic class, and the governorship largely being passed down from father to son (Abrams). Newly captured areas were also divided into provinces known as satrapies, which were administered by vassal rulers known as satraps, and the empire only required conscripts for the military and tribute from each province (Abrams). Despite having to provide the emperor with a gold or silver tribute, each province had a governor, a military coordinator, and a financial controller all of whom probably reported directly to the king himself (Abrams). With the empire’s provinces being run by the king’s vassal’s the empire was kept in