How Did Geography Influence The Development Of Ancient Empires

Geography has played a crucial role in the expansion of society that can be traced back to the birth of civilization. During early development, settling near a stable water supply and fertile soil supplied the basic necessities for cultivating life into what we know today. While geographic factors will always play a vital role in the sustainability and advancement of society, during the multicultural empires, there is a shift in the role geography played. The function changed from supplying basic human need to becoming a pathway for multicultural and intercontinental development for both the Persian and Chinese Empires. Although geographical circumstances were measurably different between Persia and China, both empires used these factors to their advantage and were able to flourish and grow into massive dynasties.
Persia was located between the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf in an area known as the plains of Pars. At the time there were two main tribal groups settled in the region, the Persians and the Medes, who shared common ancestry by relation to the Iranian people. The Medes gained control of the plains of Pars and the Zagros Mountains which made the Persians subject to the Median Empire. In 559 BCE, Cyrus II rebelled by conquering the Mede overlords and declaring independence for Persia and asserting himself King. Cyrus II was able to use the shared culture

With the technological advantages, the advent of trade both by land and sea these empires were able link and intermix civilizations in a way that had never been done. The societies were able to get most of what they needed regardless of their immediate environmental factors. It is clear that geography was extremely important to the rise of these multicultural empires, but just one of the factors maintaining and expanding