Ancient
Iran, also known as Persia, a historic region of southwestern Asia that is only
roughly coterminous with modern Iran. The term Persia was used for centuries,
chiefly in the West, to mark regions where Persian language and culture dominated,
but it more correctly refers to a region of southern Iran formerly known as
Persis, alternatively as Parsa. Parsa was the name of an Indo-European nomadic
people who migrated into the region about 1000 BC. The first mention of Parsa
occurs in the annals of Shalmanesar II, an Assyrian king, in 844 BC. During the
rule of the Persian Achaemenian dynasty (559–330 BC),[1] the ancient Greeks first
encountered the inhabitants of Persis on the Iranian plateau, when the
Achaemenids, natives of Persis, were expanding their political sphere. The
Achaemenids were the dominant dynasty during Greek history until the time of
Alexander the Great, and the use of the name Persia was gradually extended by
the Greeks and other peoples to apply to the whole Iranian plateau. This
tendency was reinforced with the rise of the Sāsānian dynasty, also native to
Persis, whose culture dominated the Iranian plateau until the 7th century ad.
Persia
was surrounded by mountains, deserts, and Persian Gulf. They were open to
attack from the Central Asian nomads. Persian had a limited amount of natural
resources, and water was scarce. This caused the people of Persia to create an
underground irrigation network for water supply. They also created an extensive
road system for transportation. Persia was blessed with copper, tin, iron,
gold, silver, and timber. Between 546 and 539 BC Cyrus, [2](580-529 BC) was the first
Achaemenes Emperor: he founded Persia by uniting the two original Iranian
Tribes- the Medes and the Persians, captured Anatolia, and Mesopotamia. Darius
I, [3]king of Persia in 522–486
BC: one of the greatest rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty, who was noted for his
administrative genius and for his great building projects, extended his empire
to the Indus Valley and European Thrace. After Darius I, the empire was divided
into 20 provinces. Each of these provinces was administered by Satrap. Satrap
was related or connected to the royal family, and the Satrap position was
almost hereditary. In the distant provinces, satraps had more autonomy, the
provinces were required to pay annual tribute of gold and silver to the satrap.
Kings were an important part of the Persian society. They were seen as aloof
and majestic. They were the masters of all subjects and nobles, and they owned
vast tracts of land around the empire. They acted as lawgivers, and managed the
administration at the capital Susa. Occasionally they performed ceremonies at
Persepolis.
The
people of Persia believed in a religion known as Zoroastrianism. Today only a
few amount of people practice this religion. The originator of this religion
was known as Zoroaster. He lived between 1700–500 B.C.E. He wrote the Gathas,
holy books, or hymns of Zoroastrianism. He believed that the universe was
dualistic. There was good and evil. The god of good, Ahuramazda, was locked in
epic battle with the god of evil, Angra Mainyu. This religion is said to be the
earliest form of monotheism. Many of its beliefs influenced Judaism,
Christianity and Islam. Beliefs such as heaven and hell, good and evil, and
judgment day.
Furthermore,
the fact that geography plays an important role in shaping a country can be
seen in the ancient Greek civilization. The Greek peninsula has two distinctive
geographic features that influenced the development of Greek society. First,
Greece has easy access to water. The land contains countless scattered islands,
deep harbors,[4]
and a network of small rivers. This easy access to water meant that the Greek
people might naturally become explorers and traders. Second, Greece's
mountainous terrain led to the development of the polis (city-state), beginning
about 750 B.C.E. The high mountains made it very difficult for people to travel
or communicate. Therefore, each polis developed independently and, often, very
differently from one another. Eventually, the polis became the structure by
which people organized themselves. Athens and Sparta are two good examples of
city-states that contrasted greatly with each other.
The
city-state of Athens was the birthplace of many significant ideas. Ancient
Athenians were a thoughtful people who enjoyed the systematic study of subjects
such as science, philosophy, and history, to name a few.
Athenians
placed a heavy emphasis on the arts, architecture, and literature. The
Athenians built thousands of temples and statues that embodied their
understanding of beauty. Today the term "classical" is used to
describe their enduring style of art and architecture. Athenians also enjoyed a
democratic form of government in which some of the people shared power. Life in
Sparta was vastly different from life in Athens. Located in the southern part
of Greece on the Peloponnisos peninsula, the city-state of Sparta developed a
militaristic society ruled by two kings and an oligarchy, or small group that
exercised political control.[5] Early in their history, a
violent and bloody slave revolt caused the Spartans to change their society. A
Spartan, Lycurgus, drafted a harsh set of laws that required total dedication
to the state from its people. The laws' goal was to train citizens to become
hardened soldiers so that they could fight off potential enemies or slave
revolts. The result was a rigid lifestyle unlike any seen in Greece at the
time. The devotion of Spartans to developing a military state left little time
for the arts or literature. A Spartan baby had to be hardy and healthy. To test
a baby's strength, parents would leave their child on a mountain overnight to
see if it could survive on its own until the next morning. By age seven,
Spartan boys were taken from their families and underwent severe military
training. They wore uniforms at all times, ate small meals of bland foods,
exercised barefoot to toughen their feet, and were punished severely for
disobedient behavior. Boys lived away from their families in barracks until the
age of 30, even after they were married. Men were expected to be ready to serve
in the army until they were 60 years old. Women, too, were expected to be loyal
and dedicated to the state. Like men, women followed a strict exercise program
and contributed actively to Spartan society. Although they were not allowed to
vote, Spartan women typically had more rights and independence than women in
other Greek city-states.
The
“Dark Age” occurred after the Mycenaean period between 1150 – 800 B.C.E. It
ended when contact and trade with Mediterranean lands reestablished. The Phoenicians
supplied Greeks with alphabetic writing system, which made trading easier for
the Greeks. Learning the alphabetic system was easier and faster than leaning
the cuneiform or hieroglyphic systems. The Archaic period began in 800 BCE and
ended in 480 BCE. During this period, there was explosive population growth,
and a shift to agricultural economy, in which food and materials were imported.
Urbanization developed in Greece, and this led to the development of the polis.
Frequent wars were fought between the city-states. They used the hoplites, a
close formation of heavily armoires infantrymen to break enemy’s line of
defense, anytime they were at war. Unlike other military systems, the Greek soldiers
were farmer-citizens who served for short periods of time when they needed. The
wars usually lasted only a couple of hours. As time went on the Greek
population started to increase greatly. There were not enough resources to
support the surplus population. Thus, Greeks sent excess population to colonies
in the Mediterranean and Black Sea to acquire territory. This brought the
Greeks into contact with different kinds of people with different ideas. This
helped sharpen the Greek identity, and this spurred the invention of the
coinage system in Lydia during the sixth century BCE. The emergence of middle
class in Archaic Greek society led to the one-man rule by tyrants in the
mid-seventh and sixth centuries B.C.E. This reduced the power of the
traditional elites. Eventually, the tyrants were rejected and the government
developed into two forms: oligarchy and democracy. In Athenian democracy, every
citizen was required to participate or suffer punishment. This practice stands
in stark contrast to modern democratic governments in which citizens can choose
whether or not they wish to participate. In Athenian democracy, all citizens
pulled their weight. [6]Not everyone in Athens was
considered a citizen. Only free, adult men enjoyed the rights and
responsibility of citizenship. Only about 20 percent of the population of
Athens were citizens. Women were not citizens and therefore could not vote or
have any say in the political process. They were rarely permitted out in public
and were even restricted as to where they could be within their own homes.
Slaves and foreigners were not citizens and also could not participate in the
democracy. In the end, democracy existed only for the free men who were
originally from Athens.
In
addition, the Greek cities in Anatolia revolted against the Persian rule. They
were aided by Eretria and Athens. This 5 year revolt led to the Persian Wars.
In the first Persian war the generals of Darius I captured Eretria, and
attacked the Athens in 490 BCE. The attack on the Athens resolved when the
Athenian forces defeated the Persians at Marathon. A messenger named
Philippidès ran from Marathon to Athens to tell of the victory. He died from exhaustion. Today, the marathon,
26 miles, is run to celebrate his heroism. The second Persian war was fought in
480 B.C.E. In this war, Xerxes led a large army, and fleet against the Greeks.
Many Greek city states submitted to his domination. This led Sparta to organize
the Hellenic League to defeat the Persians. The Athens organized the Delian
League to go on offense, and drive the Persians out of eastern Mediterranean
(except Cyprus). During the classical period, the Athens had the dominant power
in Greece. Their power was based on the Athenian navy. They created the
trireme, a 170 oar boat in which lower class men were rowers. Due to the fact
that the rowers were so important, they demanded full rights of citizenship in
Greece. The Athens used their power and wealth to carry out profitable trade,
and extract tribute from subject states. The wealth of Athens allowed them to
construct massive public works project, put on grand festivals, and support
arts and science. One of the most influential philosophers of this time was
Socrates. He focused on ethics and the precise meaning of words. He created the
Socratic method of question and answer. He was later charged with corrupting
the youth, and not believing in the gods of the city. Socrates was sentenced to
death, and he was forced to drink hemlock. Another philosopher by the name of
Plato was a man who explored justice, excellence, and wisdom. He taught that
the world is a pale reflection of a higher, ideal reality. He read and wrote
many books, and he founded a school called “The Academy”. The Peloponnesian war
emerged when Imperial Athens upset the other city-states. In 431 BCE the
Athenian and Spartan alliances went to war. With the aid of the Persian navy,
the Spartans defeated the Athens in 404 BCE.
In
the Northern Greek Northern Greek Kingdom of Macedonia, King Philip developed
Macedonia into a great military power. He strengthened the army by giving
soldier longer spears, using cavalry and infantry forces, and developing new
siege equipment like catapults. Alexander the Great, king of the Ancient Greek
kingdom of Macedon, invaded Persia in 336 B.C.E. and was victorious, his goal
was to conquer the known world, build his own empire as far as Pakistan, and
use Persian, Greek, and Macedonian officials in his empire. When Alexander
died, his empire broke into 3 kingdoms, each ruled by a Macedonian dynasty.
This period is known as the Hellenistic Age (323-30 B.C.E.). Alexandria was the
greatest city during the Hellenistic age. It had a population of 500,000. They
had significant Jewish population that dominated 2 of 5 of their residential
districts. The most important aspect of the Hellenization was the intermarriage
between the Greeks and the non-Greeks. The Greek language, lifestyle and
culture spread across the world. There was a synthesis of indigenous and Greek
culture.
Ultimately,
the ancient Greeks were polytheistic- that is, they worshipped many gods. Their
major gods and goddesses lived at the top of Mount Olympus, the highest
mountain in Greece, and myths described their lives and actions. In myths, gods
often actively intervened in the day-to-day lives of humans. [7]Myths were used to help
explain the unknown and sometimes teach a lesson. For example, Zeus, the king
of the gods, carried his favorite weapon, the thunderbolt. When it rained and
there was thunder and lightning, the ancient Greeks believed that Zeus was
venting his anger. Many stories about how the Greek gods behaved and interacted
with humans are found in the works of Homer. He created two epic poems: the
Iliad, which related the events of the Trojan War, and the Odyssey, which
detailed the travels of the hero Odysseus. These two poems were passed down
orally over many generations.
WORKS
CITED
"History
of Iran: Cyrus The Great." History of Iran: Cyrus The Great. N.p., n.d.
Web. 05 Oct. 2014.
ushistory.org,
Gods%2C Goddesses%2C and Heroes, Ancient Civilizations Online Textbook, http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5c.asp,
Sunday, October 05, 2014, COPYRIGHT 2014
Munn-Rankin,
J.M. "Darius I (king of Persia)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2014.
[1] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/851961/ancient-Iran
[2] http://www.iranchamber.com/history/cyrus/cyrus.php
[3] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/151591/Darius-I
[4] http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5a.asp
[5] http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5a.asp
[6] http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5b.asp
[7] http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5c.asp
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