Achaemenid Dynasty

Achaemenid Dynasty

The Achaemenid dynasty arose from the ashes of the Elamite Empire in the 7th century BC. After the Elamite stronghold of Anshan had fallen to the Assyrians, it was King Teispes of Persia (reigned 675-640 BC) who took control of the city. It was his father, Achaemenes, who had trained and organized the army that made this possible and gave his name to the dynasty.
King of Babylon
According to Iranvisitors website, Cambyses (reigned 600-559 BC), the grandson of Teispes, already ruled over a sizeable kingdom when he married a Median princess and united the two royal lines. Thus, when his son, Cyrus II (reigned 559-530 BC) overcame the Median army of Astyages in 550 BC, he spared the Median capital of Ecbatana and was easily accepted as ruler of the combined lands and forces of both Persia and Media. On the site where he overcame Astyages, Cyrus established the Persian capital of Pasargad.
From this stage, Cyrus II began a conquest that resulted in the largest empire of the ancient world. The empire remained intact for two centuries until the successors of Alexander of Macedonia divided it among themselves.
Starting in the west, Cyrus halted the advance of the Lydian forces of Croesus and gained control of large parts of Asia Minor including the Lydian capital of Sardis and the wealthy Ionian cities, thus gaining access to the Aegean Sea.
Moving toward west, Cyrus captured Bactria, Sogdia, campaigned in India and seized Syria and Palestine. He took the city of Babylon in 539 BC, naming himself ’King of Babylon’.
Under Cyrus, the conquered nations were given a considerable amount of autonomy; some kingdoms were obliged to provide conscripts.
Cyrus died while battling in Central Asia. He left the throne to his son Cambyses II (reigned 528-522 BC). His body was cremated at Pasargad in 528 BC where his original tombstone is still lingering.
The Bisotoun inscription tells us that Cambyses, fearing the possibility of rebellion, had his own brother killed in secret before embarking on his Egyptian expedition. He is also said to have exhumed the corpse of the last pharaoh of Egypt and violated it in unspeakable ways despite his efforts to appear as an Egyptian pharaoh, just as Cyrus had presented himself as the King of Babylon.
Cambyses II was not, however, to return from his Egyptian exploits. In 522 BC, news of a rebellion spread throughout the kingdom and he was forced to cut short his stay in Egypt. As written in the Bisotoun inscriptions and the histories of Herodotus, a certain Magian priest named Gaumata usurped the Achaemenid throne, claiming that he was Smerdis, the son of Cyrus that Cambyses had put to death.
The absence of the true king and the repealing of three years of taxes and military service by Gaumata made it easy for the impostor and his allies to take power.
King of the Empire
Hearing the news, Cambyses began his journey homeward but only reached as far as Syria where he apparently died either of an accidental wound caused by his unsheathed sword or deliberately by his own hand. On his death, a general named Darius took over the leadership of the returning expedition and led the army against the forces of Gaumata.
Gaumata reigned for seven months before he was surprisingly killed by Darius and six of his allies at a Median stronghold to which the seat of government had been moved. This moving of the capital and the repealing of taxes and military service suggests that Gaumata was a Mede with little attachment to Persia.
After some debate, Darius was crowned as king of the empire. The reign of Darius I (reigned 522-486 BC) was an enlightened one. He enacted reforms of government, taxes and coinage and had roads and granaries built Ð all of which served to vitalize the Persian state and usher in an era of prosperity. The construction of new capital cities at Persepolis and Susa also date back to era of Darius I.
During wartime, Darius led expeditions eastward to India and westward as far as the Danube, waging a series of ultimately unsuccessful campaigns against the Greeks. Neither did his successors, Xerxes I (reigned 486-465 BC) and Ardeshir I (reigned 465-424 BC), managed to defeat the Greek army. It was not until Darius III (reigned 335-330 BC) that the Achaemenids succeeded against the Greeks and it was Darius III who was eventually defeated by the conquering army of Alexander of Macedonia.
At its peak, the Achaemenid Empire stretched from Pakistan in the East to the borders of Greece in the west and from the southern steppes of Russia to Egypt, Libya and the Arabian subcontinent.
Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire of the ancient world. A total of 28 different nations lived under one rule and spoke in the international language of Aramaic.