Persia Flashcards
What type of people were Persians?
Indo-European
What were the four great powers in the 500’s BC of the Middle East?
Media
Babylonia
Lydia
Egypt
Who originally controlled Persians?
Media
Persian kings ruled on behalf of Media King
Had some independence but still payed taxes etc.
What was Cyrus II?
Cyrus the Great, the Persian King form 559-530 BC
He was successful in freeing Persians and conquering lands of the Persian Empire
Freed Persia from Median rule in 550
Then he conquered Media and ruled over them
Who did Cyrus conquer after Media?
Lydia in 546
then Babylonia in 539
Who was Cambyses II?
The son of Cyrus, who took place after he died to Barbarians
famous for his conquest of Egypt, making Persians in control of all great powers
Dies in 522 and a Civil War breaks out
Who was Darius I?
A distant relative of Cambyses II
He won the civil war and crushed the rebels against Persian Rule
He went east into India and West into Europe up to Greece
Persia now controls the biggest empire yet seen
What were the reasons Persia was so successful?
Great Leadership
Very good and very big army
Imperial Administration
Religion
What are satrapies?
provinces that divided up the Persian empire
there were about 2 dozen
What is a satrap?
a governor appointed by Persian King
What was the Persian Religion?
Zoroastrianism created by Zoroastor
Describe the Persian Religion.
Zoroastrianism had only 2 gods
Ahura Mazda: the god of good
Angromainya: the god of evil
there’s a constant struggle between good and evil and one day good will win, a judgement day will separate the good people from the bad people
What impact does religion play?
allows great imperial expansion
What was the last place that Persians conquered?
Ionia in 540 BC
populated by Greeks, now subjects of Persians
The Ionians revolt and lead into the Persian War
