Rise of the Achaemenid Empire — Transcript

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1. 0:00While the great Greek city-states were taking  shape and vying for control of mainland Greece
2. 0:04and the Aegean, a new threat was rising  far in the east. Long ago, around 1300 BCE,
3. 0:11while the Mycenaeans were still at the height of  their power, numerous Iranian tribes migrated from
4. 0:16their homeland in Central Asia towards the Iranian  plateau. In the third and final wave of migration,
5. 0:22fierce horse-riding nomads, masters of horseback  archery, swiftly descended from the Eurasian
6. 0:27steppe, crushing all opposition in their path. One  of these tribes, the ancestors of the Persians,
7. 0:34settled in southern Iran, around the western  Zagros Mountains and the region of Pars,
8. 0:39the future heartland of the Persian Empire. The Iranian newcomers found several advanced
9. 0:44communities dwelling around the Iranian plateau.  The most notable of these was Elam, one of the
10. 0:50world's oldest civilisations. They occupied the  lower Zagros from as early as 3000 BCE. Their
11. 0:56capital, Susa, remained one of the most important  towns in the region until it was razed by the
12. 1:02Mongols in the thirteenth century CE. The Elamites  adopted the Sumerian cuneiform writing system,
13. 1:08but their language remains largely unknown.  The Eurasian nomads were welcomed to Elam,
14. 1:14and they coexisted peacefully with local farmers  and city dwellers. The two cultures intermingled
15. 1:19over time to create a distinct Persian identity. Elam was locked in centuries of war with
16. 1:25neighbouring Assyria and Babylon. The  surrounding mountains offered great protection,
17. 1:30and the region resisted occupation from the rising  Neo-Assyrian Empire. The last great Assyrian king,
18. 1:36Ashurbanipal, fed up with the unruly Elamites, led  a massive campaign into southern Iran in 647. The
19. 1:44great city of Susa was demolished, and one of  the Persian khans, Cyrus I, the king of Anshan,
20. 1:50recognised Ashurbanipal as his overlord. The death of Ashurbanipal in 631 was followed
21. 1:56by a long bout of unrest and civil wars that  severely weakened the Assyrian Empire. The Medes,
22. 2:02one of the Iranian tribes that settled north of  the Persians, were determined to finally bring an
23. 2:07end to the Assyrian threat. The greatest of the  Median khans, Cyaxares, overthrew the Scythians,
24. 2:13who were at that time ruling over the Medes. He  then reorganised the Median army, from tribal
25. 2:18militias into a well-organised force armed by  the state. With this new military supremacy,
26. 2:23he brought neighbouring tribes, including the  Persians and the Parthians, under his heel.
27. 2:29Cyaxares then forged an alliance with the  Babylonians and invaded Assyria. In 614, the Medes
28. 2:35captured and destroyed the old Assyrian capital  of Assur. Two years later, the new capital Nineveh
29. 2:41was also destroyed, and the king of Assyria was  killed. His successor held out for two more years
30. 2:46in the west, but he too was defeated, bringing the  final end to the once-great Neo-Assyrian Empire.
31. 2:53With the Assyrian threat finally subdued, the  Medes and the Babylonians were left to face
32. 2:57off against each other. However, neither side was  willing to make the first move, and Nebuchadnezzar
33. 3:03of Babylon built a strong series of fortifications  between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. In 585,
34. 3:09the Median king Cyaxares was succeeded by his  son Astyages. Astyages pressed his allies for
35. 3:16more resources and men for the inevitable war  with Babylon. He, however, recognised that the
36. 3:21kings of Anshan, with their special relationship  with Elam, were important allies and treated them
37. 3:26with respect. Cambyses, son and successor of  Cyrus I, was recognised as the foremost among
38. 3:32Persian khans, and he married a Median princess.  Little else is known about Cambyses and his reign.
39. 3:39Around 590, King Cambyses had a son whom he named  Cyrus, and he is remembered by history as Cyrus
40. 3:45the Great. Through his father, he was the heir  to the Persian throne, and through his mother,
41. 3:50the Median princess, an heir to the mighty Median  kingdom that now stretched from Anatolia in the
42. 3:56west to Bactria in the east. Little is known about  his childhood or his rise to power. From birth,
43. 4:02Cyrus was likely prepared for the leadership role  he would one day assume. That day came in 559,
44. 4:08when his father Cambyses died. Cyrus was  crowned king of the Persians and took
45. 4:13command of a formidable fighting force. As the threat from Babylon increased and
46. 4:18Astyages of Media grew increasingly anxious,  he began encroaching on Persian territory and
47. 4:24demanding more and more resources. In an attempt  to consolidate power, Astyages removed all Median
48. 4:30khans and started styling himself like the great  kings of Mesopotamia. These efforts backfired,
49. 4:36and many of his nobles rebelled, allying  with Cyrus, who was seen as the model of
50. 4:41a great nomadic king. The extensive spy network  of Astyages soon caught wind of these rebellious
51. 4:47actions, and he moved to remove Cyrus from the  line of succession. The Persian king did not
52. 4:52take kindly to this, and he gathered support from  all the great Persian khans and their tribes. To
53. 4:57secure these alliances, he married Cassandane,  a noblewoman of the powerful Achaemenids.
54. 5:03The Achaemenid clan was founded by a  semi-legendary Achaemenes, who supposedly
55. 5:07lived around 700 BCE. According to Darius I,  himself a member of the clan, Achaemenes was the
56. 5:14ancestor of both him and Cyrus the Great. This,  however, is likely just historical propaganda used
57. 5:20by Darius to legitimise his claim to the throne.  From this legendary ancestor, we get the name for
58. 5:26the Achaemenid Empire, which distinguishes  it from other periods of Persian rule.
59. 5:31Returning to our story, Cyrus and this great  Persian host marched against Astyages in 553.
60. 5:37The campaign was gruelling, and their advance  slow, but as they made their way into the Median
61. 5:42heartland in 551, the Median nobles made good of  their promises and joined Cyrus. Other Iranian
62. 5:48tribes, suffering under the Median yoke, including  the Hyrcanians, the Parthians and the Saka, also
63. 5:55rose up in rebellion, swelling the Persian host.  Even though the Persians now led a formidable
64. 6:00coalition, the harsh winter forced them back to  their homeland. In the spring of 550, before Cyrus
65. 6:06could mount another campaign, Astyages struck  first, charging into Persia with all his might.
66. 6:12The two armies met at the Battle of Pasargadae.  The Medes held the upper hand in the initial
67. 6:17charge, almost routing the Persians and  bringing the rebellion to a swift end. However,
68. 6:21on the second day of the battle, the Persians  rallied once more and charged the Median line.
69. 6:26As the line collapsed, the leading Median  generals surrendered and handed Astyages
70. 6:31over to Cyrus. The Persian army marched to  the Median capital, Ecbatana, and pillaged it.
71. 6:37Thus ended the great kingdom of the Medes, and  in its place rose the Persian, or more precisely,
72. 6:42the Achaemenid Empire. Cyrus was crowned  the King of Kings, and the Hyrcanians,
73. 6:47the Parthians and the Saka all swore  allegiance to him. The Medes, however,
74. 6:51were made equal to the Persians, and no political  distinctions were made between the two peoples.
75. 6:57Cyrus wasted no time and immediately started  looking for new conquests. Croesus of Lydia,
76. 7:02the brother-in-law of the defeated Astyages,  was the first to catch his attention. Croesus
77. 7:08succeeded to the Lydian throne in 560 and soon  amassed immeasurable wealth in his capital Sardis,
78. 7:14located in Western Anatolia. According to  Herodotus, Croesus asked the Oracle at Delphi
79. 7:20whether he should go to war against the Persians.  The Oracle replied, “If Croesus goes to war,
80. 7:26he will destroy a great empire”. Delighted by  this answer, Croesus gathered a large army,
81. 7:31composed mostly of well-paid mercenaries,  and crossed into Persia in 547.
82. 7:37Cyrus acted quickly, and gathering a large  force, he marched to meet this sudden threat.
83. 7:42The two armies clashed near the ancient city of  Hattusa, but the fighting was indecisive. With
84. 7:47winter fast approaching, Croesus disbanded  his mercenaries and retired to his capital,
85. 7:53Sardis. However, the Persians were well accustomed  to the harsh winters of the Zagros Mountains,
86. 7:58and they pressed on through deep snows. They  caught up with the Lydians near Sardis, and,
87. 8:03missing the core of his army, Croesus was  soundly defeated. The Lydian king retreated
88. 8:07to the acropolis, but soon the city walls  were breached, and he was captured. Lydia
89. 8:13was incorporated into the Achaemenid Empire, and  thus, the prophecy from Apollo was fulfilled.
90. 8:18The fate of Croesus varies in ancient  traditions. Some claim he joined the
91. 8:22Persian court as an advisor, while others claim  he was given a city in Media to rule over. The
92. 8:28most plausible explanation, however, is that he  and his immediate family jumped on a funeral pyre
93. 8:34before they were captured by the Persians. After the fall of Sardis, the Greek cities
94. 8:38on the Ionian coast soon followed. They  offered little resistance and quickly
95. 8:43recognised Persian hegemony. Local Greeks were  chosen to rule over the cities as tyrants,
96. 8:48but they had to answer to a Persian supervisor.  Any revolts were dealt with swiftly and brutally,
97. 8:54while loyal cities enjoyed a degree of autonomy.  Harpagus, one of the king's most important Median
98. 9:00allies, was given control of Anatolia and  endowed with the title “Generalissimo of the
99. 9:05Sea”. He took this title to heart and launched  a brutal campaign in the Aegean, subduing one
100. 9:10city after another. Little by little, the Persian  border advanced ever closer to mainland Greece.
101. 9:17With Anatolia in capable hands, Cyrus turned  to the last great civilisation of Mesopotamia,
102. 9:22the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Babylon was then ruled  by an erratic king, Nabonidus, who was hiding out
103. 9:29in a desert oasis in Arabia. He returned to  Babylon in the seventeenth year of his reign,
104. 9:34only to find the city in complete disarray. Cyrus entered Babylonia in 539,
105. 9:40making his way towards the capital. He was  intercepted by a Babylonian noble, Ugbaru,
106. 9:45the governor of the northern frontier. Ugbaru  despised the erratic king and offered his loyalty,
107. 9:50along with his strong forces, to Cyrus. Together  they marched towards Opis, where the bulk of the
108. 9:56Babylonian army was waiting for their arrival.  The Babylonians stood no chance against the
109. 10:00mighty Persian host, and they were quickly cut  to pieces. Opis was plundered, and the invaders
110. 10:06continued towards the great city of Babylon. King Nabonidus recognised the danger coming
111. 10:11his way, and fled the city. The remnants of the  once-great Babylonian army opened the gates,
112. 10:17and Cyrus led his forces in a victorious  procession through the city. Babylon,
113. 10:21the Jewel of Mesopotamia, along with its  many riches, was now in his hands. Cambyses,
114. 10:28his son and heir, who followed Cyrus on this  expedition, was crowned king of Babylon in
115. 10:32the great Ziggurat of Marduk. Remarkably, Cyrus  made no changes to the complicated bureaucratic
116. 10:39system employed in the empire, and everything  continued running smoothly under the supervision
117. 10:43of a Persian satrap, or provincial governor. The Persians encouraged local autonomy across
118. 10:49numerous parts of the empire and not only allowed  but actively promoted the worship of local gods.
119. 10:54Therefore, when Cyrus found a large population  of exiled Jews living in Babylon, he vowed to
120. 11:00rebuild the Great Temple in Jerusalem and allowed  the Jews to return to their homes. According to
121. 11:05ancient accounts, more than forty thousand Jews  set off for their ancestral homeland in 537 BCE.
122. 11:12For his deeds, Cyrus was named the champion of  Yahweh and the Messiah of the Jewish people.
123. 11:17The latter years of Cyrus’ reign are shrouded in  mystery. No contemporary Persian text regarding
124. 11:23his death exists, and we have to rely on  contradictory Greek accounts. According
125. 11:28to Herodotus, Cyrus set off for a campaign  against the Massagetai in 530. Before departing,
126. 11:34he proclaimed his son Cambyses his heir and  tasked him with managing the empire while he
127. 11:39was on campaign. Marching east, Cyrus met the  Massagetean warrior-queen Tomyris in battle.
128. 11:45The fighting was fierce, and Cyrus was struck down  by the queen herself. Other accounts have him die
129. 11:50in some other campaign or even peacefully at home. Whatever the case may be, Cyrus the Great, founder
130. 11:56of the sprawling Achaemenid Empire, was dead.  His son took the throne as Cambyses II. After
131. 12:02observing the customary mourning period in Persia,  Cambyses returned to Babylonia, where he planned
132. 12:08his first major campaign into the ancient lands of  the pharaohs. He was joined by a young courtier,
133. 12:13Darius. Only twenty-two, Darius had already  proved himself a loyal and capable servant.
134. 12:19In 526, a Greek mercenary, Phanes of  Halicarnassus, joined the Persian court. For
135. 12:26several years he had served the Egyptian pharaoh  Amasis II, but the two had a falling out. Phanes
136. 12:32educated the Persians on all the intricacies of  the Egyptian state and its military. He advised
137. 12:37the king to bribe the Arabs for safe passage  across the Sinai Desert. The Arabs accepted,
138. 12:42offering the Persians guides, food, and water.  For their services, they became perpetual
139. 12:47Persian allies, but never their subjects. When the pharaoh Amasis died, he was succeeded
140. 12:52by his son Psamtik III. Cambyses used this  time of political turmoil to strike at Egypt.
141. 12:59The core of the Persian army was augmented by  mercenaries from Babylonia and Asia Minor. Large
142. 13:04fleets from Phoenicia and Caria were gathered  to support the troops on their march. Together,
143. 13:10this massive army marched across the  Sinai, reaching Pelusium on the western
144. 13:14end of the Nile Delta in the spring of 525. Upon seeing this mighty host, the Egyptian
145. 13:20admiral surrendered the whole of the Egyptian  fleet to Cambyses. The new pharaoh led his forces
146. 13:25against the Persians in the Battle of Pelusium.  The battle was short but decisive. The Egyptian
147. 13:30army was decimated, and the pharaoh retreated  to Memphis with the remnants of his force.
148. 13:35The Persians followed quickly behind, sailing the  combined fleet down the Nile. Memphis had massive
149. 13:41white walls, but it was vulnerable from the river,  and the strong naval presence soon overran the
150. 13:46defenders. Memphis, once the seat of the mighty  pharaohs of the Old Kingdom, was ransacked,
151. 13:51and Psamtik was killed with many of his men. By  the summer of the same year, the whole of Egypt,
152. 13:57from the Delta to the first cataract in Aswan, was  under Persian rule. Cambyses II was crowned the
153. 14:03pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt in the manner of  his great predecessors. The chieftains of Libya,
154. 14:09the Greeks of Cyrene, and the tribes of the  Western Desert all submitted to the Great King,
155. 14:14showering him with valuable gifts. Cambyses spent the next few years in Egypt,
156. 14:19securing Persian control, but in 522 he was  forced to march back to Persia in great haste.
157. 14:25His younger brother, Bardiya, was the autonomous  governor of a large territory in Central Asia.
158. 14:31Bardiya returned to Persia to quell a minor  insurrection in the absence of the king. However,
159. 14:36he soon gathered the support of powerful Persian  khans and crowned himself the King of Kings.
160. 14:42Hearing reports of this treason, Cambyses  rushed at the head of his army. With the
161. 14:46Empire on the brink of a major civil war,  not one generation after it was founded,
162. 14:51the Fates decided to intervene. While mounting  his mighty steed one morning somewhere in Syria,
163. 14:56Cambyses accidentally stabbed himself in the leg  with a dagger which hung from his belt. The wound
164. 15:02soon became infected, and Cambyses II, the King  of Kings, the King of Babylon, and the pharaoh of
165. 15:08Egypt, died in 522 BCE. His brother Bardiya must  have let out a huge sigh of relief upon hearing
166. 15:14the news of his brother's untimely demise. Now the undisputed King of Persia,
167. 15:19Bardiya foolishly moved to limit the power of  the very khans who had handed him the throne.
168. 15:24He confiscated their herds and property, provoking  them to anger. Otanes, the father-in-law of both
169. 15:31Cambyses and Bardiya, gathered around himself  six other powerful khans in a conspiracy to
170. 15:36depose the new king. Among them was the young and  ambitious Darius, a member of the Achaemenid clan,
171. 15:42who had proved himself in service to the late  king. Although initially not the most influential
172. 15:47among the conspirators, Darius kept hold of the  Persian armies and soon rose to lead the group.
173. 15:53When all the necessary precautions were in place,  the Seven moved against Bardiya. The king was
174. 15:58residing deep within Median territory, but the  conspirators soon caught up with him, and he
175. 16:03was killed in September of 522. Now that the last  son of Cyrus the Great lay dead, Darius took the
176. 16:09crown of the Persian Empire. Like his predecessor,  Darius I is also remembered as Darius the Great.
177. 16:16Although he would push the Achaemenid Empire  to its greatest extent, his ascension to the
178. 16:21throne was not as welcomed as he might have hoped. As soon as the news of this usurper spread across
179. 16:26the Empire, numerous rebellions broke out in  quick succession. The Elamites, who had been
180. 16:31loyal to the kings of Anshan for generations, were  the first to rise in open revolt. Darius marched
181. 16:37at the head of his grand army and quickly brought  Elam under his heel. He then proceeded to Babylon,
182. 16:43where Nidintu-Bel had crowned himself as the  king Nebuchadnezzar III. He quickly regretted
183. 16:49this decision, as the Persians quickly destroyed  his forces. The would-be king was hung above the
184. 16:54walls of Babylon, as a terrifying reminder to  any man who would dare to follow his example.
185. 17:00While Darius was rampaging through Babylonia,  he received news of several more uprisings in
186. 17:05the far-flung corners of his Empire. As many  as thirteen separate insurrections are recorded
187. 17:10between 522 and 519. Darius dispatched his loyal  lieutenants to deal with the rebels in Assyria,
188. 17:17Persia, and Media. The Median rebellion proved  the most dangerous, and Darius personally led his
189. 17:23forces to the Iranian heartland. The Medes were  joined by the Parthians, and Darius dispatched
190. 17:29his father, Hystapes, to deal with them. In  May of 521, Darius destroyed a Median host
191. 17:35near Ecbatan, where he set up his royal court. By July of the same year, rebellions in Assyria,
192. 17:41Persia, and Parthia were all subdued, but  Darius could not rest yet. Nebuchadnezzar
193. 17:46IV was crowned in Babylon, sparking another  revolt. This time, Darius sent one of his men to
194. 17:52handle the situation, while sending another to the  Murghab River to deal with yet another pretender.
195. 17:58Following these numerous victories, Darius carved  a massive inscription at Bisitum. The inscription,
196. 18:04written in Old Persian, Elamite, and  Babylonian, recounts the events of the
197. 18:08first years of his rule. It is accompanied by a  carved relief depicting Darius, the King of Kings,
198. 18:14bringing the ten Liar-Kings under his heel. With the rebellions quelled, Darius could now
199. 18:20continue the work of his predecessors.  He led his forces towards India,
200. 18:24expanding his territory to the Indus Valley. He  then led his forces in the opposite direction,
201. 18:29crossing the Hellespont and entering Europe.  He conquered Thrace, and the Kings of Macedon
202. 18:34swore their allegiance to him. The mighty  Persian Empire was now on the Greek doorstep.
203. 18:40Although the Greeks in Anatolia initially stayed  loyal during the accession of Darius the Great,
204. 18:45trouble was brewing in the western provinces.  Join us next time as we discuss the Ionian Revolt.