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PERSIA

CONTENTS:- Physical Features. Religion. Occupations. Population. Wealth. Army. Navy.

Physical Features. Persia was a land that included parts of what are now Iran and Afghanistan. The map above shows the Achaemenid Empire at its peak in 500BC. It was the center of an empire that stretched west to the central Mediterranean Sea, east to India, and from the Gulf of Oman in the southern Russia in the north. Persia is one of the world's most mountainous countries. Its mountains have helped to shape both the political and the economic history of the country for several centuries. The mountains enclose several broad basins, or plateaus, on which major agricultural and urban settlements are located. There are no major river systems in the country, and historically transportation was by means of caravans that followed routes traversing gaps and passes in the mountains. The mountains also impeded easy access to the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea.

Religion. The ancients saw in Zoroastrianism the archetype of the dualistic view of the world and of man's destiny. Zoroaster was supposed to have instructed Pythagoras in Babylon and to have inspired the Chaldean doctrines of astrology and magic. It is likely that Zoroastrianism influenced the development of Judaism and the birth of Christianity. The Christians, following a Hebrew tradition, identified Zoroaster with Ezekiel, Nimrod, Seth, Balaam, and Baruch, and even through the latter, with Christ himself. On the other hand, Zoroaster, as the presumed founder of astrology and magic, could be considered the arch-heretic. In more recent times the study of Zoroastrianism has played a decisive part in reconstructing the religion and social structure of the Persian peoples.

Occupations. There was a lot of trade in the Achaemenid Empire. Most of their money came from trading goods. Wool and pearls were major trade goods especially because pearls could only be found in the region. There were also large amounts of fertile land which provided more than enough food, they traded the extra food or crops to other areas. Once you were born into something it was hard to move, this would affect the types of jobs you could have. The empire ruled twenty provinces, the three main kings were Darius, Campyses, and Cyrus. The legal system of the empire made the empire work efficiently. Also the Tigris and Euphrates rivers helped the people to irrigate the crops. Farming was an important food source (Persian Empire). Workers were paid in wine and grain, more skilled laborers were paid more than unskilled, and supervisors paid more than workers (The Persian Times). Laborers were employed by the government to work on buildings, build roads, dig irrigation canals and improve the city. (What jobs did ancient Persians perform?).Traders brought in things such as gold, bronze, turquoise, lapis lazuli and silk. Wealthy Persians rented houses, shops and entire estates to those in need. This was because the nobles owned most of the land and rented it with high prices (The Persian Times). All men under 50 could be forced to go to war for the military. Slaves were from their conquered nations. They had very valued jobs such as doctors or nurses (What jobs did ancient Persians perform?). Jobs and specialization helped Achaemenid become an empire because it created a bond between all the people

Population. the largest empire was the Achaemenid Empire, better known as the Persian Empire, which accounted for approximately 49.4 million of the world’s 112.4 million people in around 480 BC – an astonishing 44%.

Wealth. The Persians themselves traditionally relied on barter rather than coinage but upon their conquering of the Lydian Kingdom in the mid-sixth century BCE, they quickly adopted the innovative concept of coinage. The Persians found themselves frequently in conflict with Greek city states and needed to employ Greek mercenaries who expected to be paid with coins, resulting in the demand for the production of a consistent coinage.

Army. The Achaemenid Empire (559 BC–330 BC) was the first of the Persian Empires to rule over significant portions of Greater Iran. The empire possessed a “national army” of roughly 120.000-150.000 troops, plus several tens of thousands of troops from their allies.

The Persian army was divided into regiments of a thousand each, called hazarabam. Ten hazarabams formed a haivarabam, or division. The best known haivarabam were the Immortals, the King’s personal guard division. The smallest unit was the ten man dathaba. Ten dathabas formed the hundred man sataba.

The royal army used a system of color uniforms to identify different units. A large variety of colors were used, some of the most common being yellow, purple, and blue. But this system was probably limited to native Persian troops and was not used for their numerous allies

Navy. Themistocles was an Athenian politician and general. He was one of a new breed of non-aristocratic politicians who rose to prominence in the early years of the Athenian democracy. As a politician, Themistocles was a populist, having the support of lower-class Athenians, and generally being at odds with the Athenian nobility. Elected archon in 493 BC, he convinced the polis to increase the naval power of Athens, a recurring theme in his political career. During the first Persian invasion of Greece he fought at the Battle of Marathon[2] (490 BC) and was possibly one of the ten Athenian strategoi (generals) in that battle.