imperial administration Flashcards
(15 cards)
ways to consider the persian court
spatial vs institutional vs social
OR
inner vs outer - positions attendants as innermost circle despite lack of rank - or could prioritise rank instead (but then those with higher positions that are less intimate with the king are still considered inner circle)
origins of the idea of satrapies
Herodotus says Darius sets up 20 satrapies but no attestation of an old persian term from which the greek ‘satrapes’ can be derived -> perhaps from iranian dialect or something
several versions of the map - division into satrapies heavily contested - 3 sources we have do not agree
Tulip constructs a list from all the persian documentation we have and also herodotus - all in all not so much disagreement
taxation in the satrapies
funnelling resources to the centre
revenue assessed according to productive capacity and specialist commodities (herodotus 6 - after revolt of Ionia)
tax tickets for individuals found - individual required to pay silver babylonia - has increased recorded taxation and tribute under Darius (generally credited for regularising the system)
satrapal income
land taxation, cattle tax, duties from markets, individual taxation, obligation for labour or military service - varies from region to region and usually in line with pre-established local system
satraps also seemingly under a pressure to raise enough tax money - satrap failing to raise enough money in greek cities so went into discussions with the spartans against other greeks to meet quota
taxation in egypt
papyrus shows that duty was imposed on ships passing through - use of the nile for trade - unclear in what proportion the goods are given to the royal treasury vs to the local area
administrative languages of the achaemenid empire
akkadian not used in admin, dominant languages are aramaic and elamite in imperial admin
Aramaic - potential admin language of the provinces? unfortunately mostly written on perishable medium and so mostly have secondary indication of it - seals that survive which include an aramaic inscription, across the empire theree is almost no linguistic variation regardless of distances between satrapies, may indicate a scribal class employed to translate into and out of aramaic (examples of other languages appearing in the margins in egypt)
elamite - admin document found at persepolis - but writer of said evidence gives no indication that this is atypical or that anyone would have difficulty reading it
old persian - imperial monumental inscriptions in persia and mesopotamia with exceptions like the canal, as far as distance from the centre - but understandable given it is a significant Persian monument
significant uses of elamite in imperial administration
the foundation archives at persepolis - elamite was an important part of Cyrus’ original identity but persists later in achaemenid administrative spaces (ie: central empire), also important to note that we still have these archives by chance because they were hardened and preserved by fire so doesn’t give a complete picture
potentially these documents represent another ‘genre’ of administrative documents
documenting travel, ration allowances and rations given in payment for local works - the records document a specific period of Darius’ reign
sources for persian army
mostly evidence for army is either from high empire or external greek sources
early sources - foreign subjects levied into army (medes and persians on lydian campaigns, greeks in egyptian campaigns) - darius and xerxes multi-ethnic force
persian army set up from the sources
early empire: foreign subjects levied into army (medes and persians on lydian campaigns, greeks on egyptian campaigns) - by darius and xerxes (multi-ethnic force)
mercenaries play significant role and even more so in 4th century BC
core of army - persians (infantry and cavalry) - including elite troop
creation of the persian navy
core of initial persian army is land-based
subjugation of ionia, phoenicia and egypt gave access to sea-faring peoples
cambyses creates a persian fleet - by darius and xerxes made significant naval power
post-conquest administration
imposed garrisons
collaboration with local officials - maintaining local system of governance beneath a persian satrap
installing defectors or exiles as local rulers loyal to themselves (syloson at samos)
create ongoing relationships of collaboration and reciprocity between persian king and local elites
emergence of local dynasties under persian rule and patterns of cultural patronage
evidence of client rulers
udjahorresnet - claims to have served under egyptian king amasis AND cambyses/darius
(naophoros statue of udjahorresnet)
cultural patronage from cambyses in egypt
Professional guides and state rations for the Achaemenid roads
Nakhthor in Persepolis - describes a professional guide called Datukka bringing a group of nearly 200 men from Sakastan (north east of empire) to Persepolis and lists their ration allowances. The entry is in past tense so this is a record created at Persepolis once the group arrived of the rations they received along the way at imperial expense.
nearly 200 people travelling 2000 miles - at least a three month journey - all eating at the states expense demonsrtrates substantially resourced stops along the road at least every few days travel
disparity in rations between slaves and the elite of the party - purely to indicate rank, the amount of rations allotted to the richer members was more than they would be able to eat - just a status symbol
practicality of the ration stops: allows people in provinces further out with food resources to still benefit the persian king, food couldn’t be transported too him as the. livestock required to move it would need an equal amount to what they were carrying. extracting resources for the royal road so he is still benefiting from their labour
BSH 19
fragment of silver sheet, Black Sea Hoard
cut from a larger silver sheet
cut off babylonian cuneiform ‘[Da]rius the king’
seems to match a description given of the royal; treasury in 3.96 where the king pays people from these large sheets
