by Matt Waters
Alexander’s fusion policy – the joining of Iranian and Macedonian elites – is debated in its particulars. Alexander recruited Iranian troops from throughout the eastern satrapies, including a specialized troop of 30,000 young men who were to learn Greek and to train in Macedonian tactics (Arrian 7.6.1 and compare Quitus Curtius 8.5.1). In 327 BCE Alexander married Rhoxane, the daughter of Oxyartes, an Iranian nobleman who was appointed as a satrap. Whatever other reasons motivated Alexander, this act secured allegiances among the eastern Iranian nobles. After his return from the Indian campaign in 324, Alexander also married the Achaemenid princesses Stateira (daughter of Darius III) and Parysatis (daughter of Artaxerxes III). At the same time he staged a mass marriage ceremony at Susa between members of his Companions (his own elite Macedonian corps) and Iranian noble women. This act recalls Darius I’s marriage to Cyrus’ daughters, but Alexander took the symbolism to an entirely new level by including dozens of his own nobility in the same process. The mass marriage in particular reveals Alexander’s large-scale plan to integrate the Iranian and Macedonian elite, to form effectively a new ruling class.
Was Alexander simply being a pragmatist? Or was he intending some sublime synthesis of east and west, a new oikumene of which he would be the glorious founder? The first certainly applies, because of the obvious necessity of the continued involvement of the Persian governing class. The Macedonians had neither the experience nor the credibility, at least at first, to govern this sprawling empire. Answers to the second question, which is dramatically phrased, are more subjective. The image that Alexander chose to project took him beyond both Macedonian and Persian norms, and interpretations are as varied as they are fascinating. The subsequent development of the ruler cult, the deification of rulers during the Seleucid period, is not incidentally traced to Alexander’s program.
Alexander’s Persianization – regardless of its motivations – was bitterly resented by many of his Macedonian cohorts. It is an open question how well his fusion policy would have worked in the long run. But in the end Alexander had less than ten years, much of that time on campaign, to implement his plans. The splitting of the Achaemenid Empire among his successors into the Antigonid, Seleucid, and Ptolemaic monarchies (the so-called Hellenistic kingdoms) dominated the next three centuries of Near Eastern and Greek history, until the Roman conquests and the rise of the Parthians. Achaemenid imagery and traditions lived on not only in these eastern kingdoms – especially the Seleucid kingdom and some Hellenistic monarchies of Anatolia – but in the Persians’ successors in Iran itself: the Parthians and Sasanians. The histories of these kingdoms have often been perceived as secondary, overshadowed by the Hellenistic kingdoms and then Rome, though their import was no less. This has been understood for some time, even if often overlooked.
Especially it seemed to the writer that the picture of the world during the Roman period, commonly put before students in “Histories of Rome,” was defective, not to say false, in its omission to recognize the real position of Parthia during the three most interesting centuries of that period, as a counterpoise to the power of Rome, a second figure in the picture not much inferior to the first, a rival state dividing with Rome the attention of mankind and the sovereignty of the known earth.1
A recurring theme in this book has been the necessary reliance on Greek sources to write a narrative of Achaemenid Persian history, and all the problems that that entails. The poet Aeschylus’ embellished portrayal of Xerxes – in a literally dramatic context, a play performed in 472 BCE in Athens – is paradigmatic of the west’s portrayal of this monarch, seen for example in Xerxes’ bitter lamentation after his disastrous defeat of his expedition against the Greeks:
Alas! Unfortunate I am, beset by an unfathomable fate, how brutally some god has trodden upon the Persian race.
(Persae, lines 908–912)
As discussed, we have no Persian side of that story, but a Persian perspective – extrapolated from the ideology manifest in Xerxes’ inscriptions, for example – would have been significantly different. The unavoidable reliance on Greek sources is not entirely negative, thanks to its rich and varied material. And it is being balanced by increasingly accessible data from Near Eastern sources, textual and archaeological, though much remains to be done. Not until the Roman Empire at its height did a supra-regional state again have the organizational capacity and similar capability to project its power as did the Achaemenid Empire. The Achaemenid Persian Empire served as both model and foil for its successors. Its legacy persists.
Appendix A – Timeline
c. 900–609:
Neo-Assyrian Empire
830s:
Earliest references to Persians in written texts (the annals of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III)
c. 640:
Cyrus, King of Parsumash, pays obeisance to Ashurbanipal, King of Assyria
c. 640–550:
Height of Median power
c. 626–539:
Neo-Babylonian Empire
612:
Sack of Nineveh and fall of Assyria (until 609)
550:
Cyrus the Great defeats Astyages, King of the Medes
540s:
Cyrus conquers Lydia
539:
Cyrus conquers Babylonia
530:
Death of Cyrus in battle and succession of Cambyses
530s?–510s:
Main construction at Pasargadae
525–522:
Cambyses invades Egypt
522:
Death of Cambyses in April; reign of Bardiya (6 months) and usurpation of Darius I
520–519:
Engraving of Bisitun relief and inscription
510s:
Founding of Persepolis
510s:
Darius I’s campaigns into Europe (Scythians) and India
499–493:
Ionian revolt
490:
Battle of Marathon
486:
Death of Darius I and accession of Xerxes; revolt in Egypt
484:
Revolt in Babylonia
480–479:
Xerxes’ invasion of Greece
465:
Assassination of Xerxes and accession of Artaxerxes I
464/463–454:
Egyptian revolt
424:
Death of Artaxerxes I; accession and assassination of Xerxes II
423:
Accession of Darius II
408:
Cyrus the Younger dispatched to Anatolia with a special command
405:
Death of Darius II; accession of Artaxerxes II
401:
War of the Brothers: Cyrus the Younger revolts against Artaxerxes II, Battle of Cunaxa
401–343/342:
Egypt in revolt and effectively outside of Achaemenid control
387/386:
King’s Peace (Peace of Antalcidas) imposed upon Greece
359:
Death of Artaxerxes II and accession of Artaxerxes III
343/342:
Artaxerxes III’s reconquest of Egypt
338:
Death of Artaxerxes III and accession of Artaxerxes IV (Arses)
336:
Artaxerxes IV assassinated; accession of Darius III
334:
Alexander, King of Macedon, invades the Persian Empire; Battle of Granicus
333:
Battle of Issus; much of Darius III’s family captured at Damascus
331:
Battle of Gaugamela; Alexander welcomed into Babylon and Susa, invades Fars
330:
End of Empire: Burning of Persepolis terrace and death of Darius III
320s:
Alexander campaigns in eastern Iran and India, adding the eastern domains of the Achaemenid Empire and consolidating his conquests; Alexander dies in 323 in Babylon
Appendix B – Chronological Chart of Achaemenid Persian Kings
Cyrus the Grea
t, 559–530
Cambyses, 530–522
Bardiya, 522
Darius I, 522–486
Xerxes I, 486–465
Artaxerxes I, 465–424
Xerxes II, 424–423
Darius II, 423–405
Artaxerxes II, 405–359
Artaxerxes III, 359–338
Artaxerxes IV (Arses), 338–336
Darius III, 336–330
Appendix C – Lineages of the Achaemenid Royal Family
The following represents a condensed version of the lineages of the wider Achaemenid royal family. In general, only individuals who are prominent in this book are noted. The charts are not exhaustive. Dotted lines indicate that the mother is uncertain.
Appendix D – Further Readings
The specialized bibliography is wide-ranging. References to specific problems addressed in the text are included in the endnotes for each chapter. Selected examples of illustrative works cited here are primarily in English.
Internet resources
Achemenet: http://www.achemenet.com/
Encyclopaedia Iranica: http://www.iranicaonline.org/
Livius: http://www.livius.org/persia.html
Achaemenid History and Historiography
Achaemenid History Series, multiple volumes with different editors, published by Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten, Leiden
L. Allen, Persian Empire, 2005
J. Álvarez-Mon and M. Garrison (eds.), Elam and Persia, 2011
P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire, translated by P. Daniels, 2002
P. Briant, W. Henkelman, and M. Stolper, L’archive des Fortifications de Persépolis. État des questions et perspectives de recherches, 2008
M. Brosius, The Persians: An Introduction, 2006
M. Brosius, Women in Ancient Persia (559–331 B.C.), 1996
J. M. Cook, The Persian Empire, 1983
J. Curtis and St. John Simpson (eds.), The World of Achaemenid Persia: History, Art, and Society in Iran and the Ancient Near East, 2010
J. Curtis and N. Tallis (eds.), Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia, 2005
M. Dandamaev, A Political History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, translated by W. J. Vogelsang, 1989
E. Dusinberre, Empire, Authority, and Autonomy in Achaemenid Anatolia, 2013
K. Farroukh, Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War, 2007
L. Fried, The Priest and the Great King: Temple-Palace Relations in the Persian Empire, 2004
R. Frye, The History of Ancient Iran, 1984
T. Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia, 2011
K. Hoglund, Achaemenid Imperial Administration in Syria-Palestine and the Missions of Ezra and Nehemiah, 1992
B. Jacobs and R. Rollinger (eds.), Der Achämenidenhof/The Achaemenid Court, 2010
A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period, 2007
A. T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, 1948
S. Ruzcka, Trouble in the West: Egypt and the Persian Empire 525–332 BCE, 2012
C. Tuplin, “The Administration of the Achaemenid Empire, in Coinge and Administration in the Athenian and Persian Empires, ed. I Carradice, 1987, 119–66
W. J. Vogelsang, The Rise and Organisation of the Achaemenid Persian Empire: The Eastern Iranian Evidence, 1992
J. Wiesehöfer, Ancient Persia, translated by A. Azodi, 1996
E. Yamauchi, Persia and the Bible, 1990
Art, Archaeology, Culture, and Religion
J. Álvarez-Mon, The Arjn Tomb: At the Crossroads of the Elamite and Persian Empires, 2010
E. Bridges, E. Hall, and P. J. Rhodes (eds.), Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars: Antiquity to the Third Millennium, 2007
A. DeJong, Traditions of the Magi: Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature, 1997
M. Garrison, “The Heroic Encounter in the Visual Arts of Ancient Iraq and Iran c. 1000–500 B.C.,” in The Master of Animals in Old World Iconography, ed. D. B. Counts and B. Arnold, 2010, 151–74
M. Garrison, “Visual Representation of the Divine and the Numinous in Early Achaemenid Iran: Old Problems, New Directions,” Iconography of Deities and Demons, University of Zurich, electronic pre-publication available at http://www.religionswissenschaft.uzh.ch/idd/prepublications/e_idd_iran.pdf
M. Garrison and M. Root, Seals on the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, Volume 1, Images of Heroic Encounter, 2001
W. Henkelman, The Other Gods Who Are: Studies on Elamite-Iranian Acculturation Based on the Persepolis Fortification Texts, 2008
B. Lincoln, “Happiness for Mankind”: Achaemenian Religion and the Imperial Project, 2012
W. Malandra, An Introduction to Ancient Iranian Religion: Readings from the Avesta and Achaemenid Incriptions, 1983
P. de Miroschedji, “Susa and the Highlands: Major Trends in the History of Elamite Civilization,” in Yeki bud, yeki nabud: Essays on the Archaeology of Iran in Honor of William M. Sumner, ed. N. Miller and K. Abdi, 2003, 17–38
A. Mousavi, Persepolis: Discovery and Afterlife of a World Wonder, 2012
M. Root, The King and Kingship in Achaemenid Art, 1979
E. Schmidt, Persepolis I: Structures, Reliefs, Inscriptions, 1953
E. Schmidt, Persepolis II: Contents of the Treasury and Other Discoveries, 1957
E. Schmidt, Persepolis III: The Royal Tombs and Other Monuments, 1970
P. O. Skjærvø, “The Achamenids and the Avesta,” in Birth of the Persian Empire, eds. V Curtis and S. Stewart, 2005, 52–84
D. Stronach, Pasargadae, 1978
C. Tuplin (ed.), Persian Responses: Political and Cultural Interaction with(in) the Achaemenid Empire, 2007
M. L. West, The Hymns of Zoroaster: A New Translation of the Most Ancient Sacred Texts of Iran, 2010
Persian Invasions of Greece, Persian-Greek Relations, Alexander and Persia
A. B. Bosworth, Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great, 1988
P. Briant, Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction, translated by A. Kuhrt, 2010
A. R. Burn, Persia and the Greeks, 1984
G. Cawkwell, The Greek Wars: The Failure of Persia, 2005
T. Harrison (ed.), Greeks and Barbarians, 2002
W. Heckel, The Conquests of Alexander the Great, 2008
C. Hignett, Xerxes’ Invasion of Greece, 1963
P. Krentz, The Battle of Marathon, 2010
D. Lewis, Sparta and Persia, 1977
M. Miller, Athens and Persia in the Fifth Century B.C.: A Study in Cultural Receptivity, 1997
H. Wallinga, Xerxes’ Great Adventure: The Naval Perspective, 2005
Notes
Chapter 1. Introduction. Tracking an Empire
1 Area as estimated in George Rawlinson’s classic The Five Great Monarchies, Vol. III, 1870, 84–85.
2 Compare M. Waters, “Cyrus and the Achaemenids,” Iran 42, 2004, 91–102; D. T. Potts, “Cyrus the Great and the Kingdom of Anshan,” in The Idea of Iran: Birth of the Persian Empire, eds. V. S. Curtis and S. Stewart, 2005, 7–28; A. Kuhrt, “Cyrus the Great of Persia: Images and Realities,” in Representations of Political Power. Case Histories from Times of Change and Dissolving Order in the Ancient Near East, eds. M. Heinz and M. H. Feldman, 2007, 169–191; and W. Henkelman, “Cyrus the Persian and Darius the Elamite: a Case of Mistaken Identity,” in Herodot und das Persische Weltreich, eds. R. Rollinger, B. Truschnegg, and R. Bichler, 2011, 577–634.
3 For example, C. Waerzeggers, The Ezida Temple of Borsippa, 2010, analyzes administrative records of several generations of priests who worked in the temple of Nabu (god of writing) in Borsippa, near Babylon. These records provide enormous detail about the particulars of the priesthood’s responsibilities, organization, and social networks.
4 M. W. Stolper and J. Tavenier, “From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian Administrative Tablet from the Persepolis Fortification,” ARTA 2007.001.
5 Note for example discussio
ns in E. Hall, Inventing the Barbarian: Greek Self-Definition through Tragedy, 1989.
Chapter 2. Forerunners of the Achaemenids. The First Half of the First Millennium BCE
1 Herodotus 1.125 lists the main Persian tribes and names the Achaemenid clan as members of the Pasargadae tribe, the noblest of them. The passage generates a number of historical questions. See P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire, translated by P. Daniels, 2002, 18–19 and 878 for discussion.
2 “Indo-Iranian” is primarily a linguistic term, synonymous with “Indo-Aryan.” “Iranian” is the literal normalization of “Aryan,” the term that the Iranians used to describe themselves. It has little connection to the usual meaning of the word in modern contexts applied, for example, to Nazi Germany. The literature on this phenomenon is extensive, for an overview see I. Good, “When East Met West: Interpretative Problems in Assessing Eurasian Contact and Exchange in Antiquity,” in Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran und Turan, Band 42, 2010, 23–45.