Made In History | How Did Ancient Persia Become So Powerful? @MadeInHistory | Uploaded March 2022 | Updated October 2024, 29 minutes ago.
This is the second episode in Chapter 2: Glory of Greece. It discusses how settlements developed on the Iranian plateau and developed Zoroastrianism. We also discuss the Median and Neo-Babylonian conquest of Assyria, Cyrus the Great's revolt and conquest of Lydia and Babylon before falling to the Scythians, Cambyses II conquest of Egypt, and the Achaemenid empire under Darius, before he enters Europe.
In 646 BC, Assyrian king Ashurbanipal sacked Susa, which ended Elamite supremacy in the region. For over 150 years Assyrian kings of nearby Northern Mesopotamia had been wanting to conquer Median tribes of Western Iran. Under pressure from Assyria, the small kingdoms of the western Iranian plateau coalesced into increasingly larger and more centralized states.
In the second half of the seventh century BC, the Medes gained their independence and were united by Deioces. In 612 BC, Cyaxares, Deioces' grandson, and the Babylonian king Nabopolassar invaded Assyria and laid siege to and eventually destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Urartu was later on conquered and dissolved as well by the Medes. The Medes are credited with founding Iran as a nation and empire, and established the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians, leading to the Achaemenid Empire (c.550–330 BC).
Cyrus the Great overthrew, in turn, the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires, creating an empire far larger than Assyria. He was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; the longevity of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the Assyrian, was also "King of Kings", xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām (shāhanshāh in modern Persian) – "great king", Megas Basileus, as known by the Greeks.
Cyrus's son, Cambyses II, conquered the last major power of the region, ancient Egypt, causing the collapse of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. Since he became ill and died before, or while, leaving Egypt, stories developed, as related by Herodotus, that he was struck down for impiety against the ancient Egyptian deities. The winner, Darius I, based his claim on membership in a collateral line of the Achaemenid Empire.
Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building program at Persepolis. He rebuilt a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a forerunner of the modern Suez Canal. He improved the extensive road system, and it is during his reign that mentions are first made of the Royal Road (shown on map), a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to Sardis with posting stations at regular intervals. Major reforms took place under Darius. Coinage, in the form of the daric (gold coin) and the shekel (silver coin) was standardized (coinage had already been invented over a century before in Lydia c. 660 BC but not standardized), and administrative efficiency increased.
The Old Persian language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of the cuneiform script. Under Cyrus the Great and Darius I, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest empire in human history up until that point, ruling and administrating over most of the then known world, as well as spanning the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first superpower that was based on a model of tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions.
Welcome to our new MADE IN ANCIENT HISTORY series! This series is meant to be a deep dive into the Ancient and Classical periods all over the WORLD! This 2nd Chapter is called Glory of Greece, and deals with Ancient Greece from the end of its Dark Age until it was conquered.
1. THIS VIDEO IS AN EPISODE FROM CHAPTER 2 OF OUR MADE IN ANCIENT HISTORY SERIES
Chapter 2 Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaWQkkziGGffZk0zXLXfoG4mjQwjW-KrU
2. CLICK HERE IF YOU'RE NEW TO HISTORY AND WANT A FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY OF THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: youtu.be/T5PwyuzSYcs
3. Check out our WORLD DOCUMENTARY playlist (Long Form Documentaries):
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaWQkkziGGfcm0zawwpoKVti5DCTsoTBH
4. Check out our playlists by PERIOD (Short Form Documentaries):
youtube.com/channel/UCFn4wt14ytUbngBJp8SsWKQ/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=3
Please subscribe to Made In History for more videos! We are always trying to grow!
0:00 The Median Empire
8:56 Cyrus the Great
16:05 Cyrus' Legacy and Cambyses II
20:01 Darius the Great
All images used with CC license.
This is the second episode in Chapter 2: Glory of Greece. It discusses how settlements developed on the Iranian plateau and developed Zoroastrianism. We also discuss the Median and Neo-Babylonian conquest of Assyria, Cyrus the Great's revolt and conquest of Lydia and Babylon before falling to the Scythians, Cambyses II conquest of Egypt, and the Achaemenid empire under Darius, before he enters Europe.
In 646 BC, Assyrian king Ashurbanipal sacked Susa, which ended Elamite supremacy in the region. For over 150 years Assyrian kings of nearby Northern Mesopotamia had been wanting to conquer Median tribes of Western Iran. Under pressure from Assyria, the small kingdoms of the western Iranian plateau coalesced into increasingly larger and more centralized states.
In the second half of the seventh century BC, the Medes gained their independence and were united by Deioces. In 612 BC, Cyaxares, Deioces' grandson, and the Babylonian king Nabopolassar invaded Assyria and laid siege to and eventually destroyed Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, which led to the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Urartu was later on conquered and dissolved as well by the Medes. The Medes are credited with founding Iran as a nation and empire, and established the first Iranian empire, the largest of its day until Cyrus the Great established a unified empire of the Medes and Persians, leading to the Achaemenid Empire (c.550–330 BC).
Cyrus the Great overthrew, in turn, the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian Empires, creating an empire far larger than Assyria. He was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; the longevity of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the Assyrian, was also "King of Kings", xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām (shāhanshāh in modern Persian) – "great king", Megas Basileus, as known by the Greeks.
Cyrus's son, Cambyses II, conquered the last major power of the region, ancient Egypt, causing the collapse of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt. Since he became ill and died before, or while, leaving Egypt, stories developed, as related by Herodotus, that he was struck down for impiety against the ancient Egyptian deities. The winner, Darius I, based his claim on membership in a collateral line of the Achaemenid Empire.
Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building program at Persepolis. He rebuilt a canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a forerunner of the modern Suez Canal. He improved the extensive road system, and it is during his reign that mentions are first made of the Royal Road (shown on map), a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to Sardis with posting stations at regular intervals. Major reforms took place under Darius. Coinage, in the form of the daric (gold coin) and the shekel (silver coin) was standardized (coinage had already been invented over a century before in Lydia c. 660 BC but not standardized), and administrative efficiency increased.
The Old Persian language appears in royal inscriptions, written in a specially adapted version of the cuneiform script. Under Cyrus the Great and Darius I, the Persian Empire eventually became the largest empire in human history up until that point, ruling and administrating over most of the then known world, as well as spanning the continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The greatest achievement was the empire itself. The Persian Empire represented the world's first superpower that was based on a model of tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions.
Welcome to our new MADE IN ANCIENT HISTORY series! This series is meant to be a deep dive into the Ancient and Classical periods all over the WORLD! This 2nd Chapter is called Glory of Greece, and deals with Ancient Greece from the end of its Dark Age until it was conquered.
1. THIS VIDEO IS AN EPISODE FROM CHAPTER 2 OF OUR MADE IN ANCIENT HISTORY SERIES
Chapter 2 Playlist: youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaWQkkziGGffZk0zXLXfoG4mjQwjW-KrU
2. CLICK HERE IF YOU'RE NEW TO HISTORY AND WANT A FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY OF THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE WORLD: youtu.be/T5PwyuzSYcs
3. Check out our WORLD DOCUMENTARY playlist (Long Form Documentaries):
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaWQkkziGGfcm0zawwpoKVti5DCTsoTBH
4. Check out our playlists by PERIOD (Short Form Documentaries):
youtube.com/channel/UCFn4wt14ytUbngBJp8SsWKQ/playlists?view=50&sort=dd&shelf_id=3
Please subscribe to Made In History for more videos! We are always trying to grow!
0:00 The Median Empire
8:56 Cyrus the Great
16:05 Cyrus' Legacy and Cambyses II
20:01 Darius the Great
All images used with CC license.
