Greece vs. Persia [before Alexander]

The Acropolis in Athens

Persepolis, Persia (Iran)

On the surface, the two buildings above have similarities - white marble, columns.  But the one on the left was the Acropolis of the Athenian city state (polis);  and the ruins on the right are the remains today of the great Persian palace at Persepolis.

Iran has again become an important state in the world - and the current Islamist government is finding it useful to reestablish its ties with the great Persia of the ancient past.  Modern Iranians have been able to remember their great past - click on this link to see a map of the great Persian empire of the Achaemenids - those who competed with "little" Athens and classical Greece.  And on that map, note Persepolis.

One of the most amazing accomplishments of the Achaemenids was their construction of the Royal Road - a mostly paved "highway" of more than 2000 miles, from Persepolis all the way west to Sardis, very near the Aegean Sea. On this road travelled Persian armies, postmen, caravans with goods and supplies each direction.  Look at this map of the road to see just how impressive it was - the green lines.

The ruler of Miletus, a Greek city on the coast of Asia Minor, commissioned a world map in bronze to encourage a Greek alliance against Persia.  Made in 500 BCE, it showed a big Europe dominating Asia and Africa and possibly resembled this reconstruction (the original has not survived).

In keeping with topics that we've considered in the other units so far, you might want to look at this link which will introduce you to the ancient Persian alphabet - that used by the great emperors Darius, Xerxes and Cyrus.  You will see some important similarities to the cuneiform script of Mesopotamia which of course had become a part of Persia. Despite the existance of this alphabet and its use by the Persian state, we still depend for most of our information about ancient Persia on Greek authors.  Do you think the Greeks would be reliable reporters to us about the Persians?  Why or why not.  You can click onto this link to see what Herodotus, a famous Greek historian who lived between 484 and 425 BCE, had to say about the Persians.  And you can look at the translation of the great Behistun inscription, carved onto a cliff face, which tells the world [at least that part of the world which can read the inscription] what Darius the Great had to say about himself.

And finally, look at this link to a photo of the tomb of Cyrus the Great, near the Iranian town of Pasagardae.  It certainly looks simple, in contrast to the tombs of the great Pharaohs of Egypt - the Pyramids.