Welcome to Leilani and the Wilsons
and today we are going to discuss
the development of states and empires in North Africa and Middle East
In the previous video we discussed the Development and Codification of Religious and Cultural Traditions
In some ways, religion and culture created and helped unify civilizations.
As we already know, states form when people of similar cultural backgrounds unite together
As cities impose their rule and conquer surrounding land, the city gets bigger and becomes an empire.
However, this process is not as easy as it seems
The most known empire in the Middle East was known as the Persian Empire.
The Persian Empire is the name given to a series of dynasties centered in modern-day Iran.
there were a lot of steps
and I mean A LOT of steps
until they could reach that status of wealth and fame
Before all of this, the land was conquered by
Indo-European nomads known as the Medes and Persians.
These groups were skilled in many things
but their main skill was archery
No not like that
more like this
even while riding horses these nomads were always able to hit their target
As they continued to conquer using their skills
they gained power and launched the start of the Persian imperial venture
The start of this venture was due to Cyrus the Great
and he didn't get this nick name for nothing
His conquests laid the foundation of the first Persian Empire
the Achaemenid empire
that lasted from around 558-330BCE.
The Achaemenid empire was known for its wealth and power
however, in return for its success
the empire experienced many battles
including the famous battle against Lydia
but Cyrus never let an enemy waiting
From the conquering of Lydia to the seizing of Babylonia
Cyrus was able to conquer the land between India and Egypt
His son eventually conquered Egypt but he didn't seem to do anything else important enough to discuss.
Unfortunately, all things come to an end
Cyrus was sadly injured in battle
and placed in a tomb in his home town, Pasargadae
However, this did not stop the Achaemenid Empire
After Cyrus' death, a new king quickly took lead and reunited the empire
His name was the one and only DARIUS
Although he was able to make the empire larger bring even more money
he is most known for his administrative strategies
During his reign, Darius divided his land into twenty three satrapies
administrative and taxation districts governed by satraps
Darius chose the 23 strongest and most trusted men as the satraps to govern the districts
These satraps would report any news back to Darius that would be of his concern
However, to check on the power of a satrap, Darius also introduced spies.
Spies served as the eyes and the ears of the king
as they conducted surprise audits in provinces
Similarly to satraps, These *SPIES* report back any news to the emperor.
This allowed Achaemenid rulers to have control over the huge empire.
Like many other emperors, Darius instituted tax levies
In order to receive payment, he issued standardized coins
Because of their newly established currency, trade increased dramatically
This new found wealth allowed the government to become stronger and even more wealthy.
However, like I said before, good things never last long
After Darius passed away, a new ruler named
Xerxes
came into power
Unlike the previous Achaemenid rulers
Xerxes believed that everyone should be like him
This way of ruling created many rebellions within the empire
The Persian Wars, war between Xerxes and Greeks
put a strain on the empire
Although the Greek army was small, they were very skilled
Eventually, this caused the empire to fall to the Greeks
Ending the empire
After the Achaemenid empire fell the Seleucid, Parthians, and Sasanids came after that.
Each of these empires had their own conflicts and attempts
however, the outcomes were the same.
Each empire eventually fell.
As we can see from this pattern, creating an empire is not so easy and it does not last forever.
However, with some factors such as trade and communication
the empire is more likely to be stable and last longer
We will go more in depth with that in the next video.
This was Leilani and the Wilsons and we will see you later.
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