During antiquity, the region of Mesopotamia was marked by a great number of conflicts. Among these wars we highlight the domination of the Persians over the Babylonian Empire, in 539 BC. Ç. Under the leadership of King Cyrus, the Persian armies undertook the formation of a great centralized state that dominated the entire Mesopotamian region. After unifying the population, the Persians initially extended their borders towards Lydia and the Greek cities of Asia Minor.
The stability of Cyrus' conquests was possible through a policy of respect for the customs of the conquered populations. Cambyses, son and successor of Ciro, continued the process of enlarging the Persian territories. In 525 BC C., conquered Egypt – in the Battle of Peleusa – and annexed the territories of Libya. The premature death of Cambyses, in the year of 522 a. a., left the Persian throne without any direct heir.
After a meeting was held between the main heads of the great Persian families, Darius I was elected the new Persian emperor. During his government, several political reforms were observed that strengthened the emperor's authority. Taking advantage of the strong militarist culture of the Persian people, Darius I further expanded the limits of his kingdom by conquering the plains of the Indus River and Thrace. That sequence of military conquests was only interrupted in 490 a. a., when the Greeks won Batalla de Marathon.
The great extension of the Persian domains was a great hindrance to the imperial administration. Thus, King Darius I promoted a process of administrative decentralization by dividing the territories into smaller units called satrapies. In each of them a satrap (a kind of local ruler) was responsible for collecting taxes and developing economic activities. To oversee the satraps, the king had the support of civil servants who served as the king's “eyes and ears”.
In addition to relying on these political measures, the Persian Empire guaranteed its hegemony through the construction of several roads. At the same time that the road network guaranteed a better displacement for the armies, it also served to support the development of commercial activities. The commercial exchanges, from the government of Darius I, went through a brief period of monetization with the creation of a new currency, the daric.
The Persian religion, in the beginning, was characterized by its eminently polytheistic character. Nevertheless, between centuries VII and VI a. a., the prophet Zoroaster undertook a new religious conception between the Persians. Zoroaster's religious thought denied the ritualistic insights found in the other beliefs of the Mesopotamian peoples. Rather, he believed that the individual's religious positioning consisted in choosing between good and evil.
This dualistic character of Zoroastrianism can be better understood in Zend Vesta, the holy book of Zoroaster's followers. According to this work, Ahura-Mazda was the representative deity of good and wisdom. Besides him, there was the god Ahriman, representing the power of darkness. Without a large following, Zoroastrianism still survives in parts of Iran and India.
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By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SCHOOL, Team Brazil. "The Persians"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/historiag/persas.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
