Persian Empire
The ancient Persian Empire included areas far beyond modern Persia, now called Iran. At times the Persians controlled much of the Middle East — they were a main antagonist of Ancient Greece a few centuries BCE, and later the Roman Empire. They ruled Egypt at one point — as well as much of the Caucasus and Central Asia and parts of what are now Pakistan and India. At the height of its power, more than 40 per cent of the world's population were Persian subjects, a higher ratio than any other empire ever.
UnderstandIn Western canon, the Persian Empire was famous for the liberation of Jews from Babylon, as well as the Persian Wars with Ancient Greece.
TalkOld Persian was only one of many languages spoken and used officially by the First Persian Empire, the Achaemenid, along with Babylonian, Elamite, Aramaic and even Greek.
DestinationsAt its peak, around 500 BCE, the empire was enormous. Some areas have shown Persian cultural influences for centuries:
Itineraries
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Persian Empire" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Gabagool, CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons