jjares reviewed Ancient Persia: An Enthralling Overview of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (Iran's Past) on + 3307 more book reviews
In this book, I first understood that the Persian Empire's rule was divided into parts: the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, and Sassanian dynasties. Another interesting tidbit is that some early Persians called themselves "Aryan," meaning 'noble' or 'free.' The name of the country 'Iran' means "the land of the Aryans." In the early pages of this eBook, the author says that Persian history was eventful; that was no understatement.
After reading the second chapter, I understood why the Prophet Mohammad was so emphatic about warriors only taking "an eye for an eye." When Persians (and other tribes and nations of the Middle East) fought, they killed all their enemies and burned their towns to the ground. War, as described in this book, was horrifying. The palaces and temples were desecrated, the population was murdered or sent elsewhere as enslaved people, and the towns and villages burned to the ground. The Persians, and other groups, punished groups by sending the citizens to other areas in the kingdom and allowing Persians to inhabit these disenfranchised people's former lands.
I sometimes wonder just how old a city is (that is described as such); this book satisfied that question with the city of Susa. The town has been carbon-dated; a Neolithic culture was founded in Susa around 4395 BCE. When discussing large swaths of land, it would be helpful to have maps or illustrations of the areas under discussion. There are some, but I search maps online to understand troop movements.
The chapter on Cyrus was enlightening. His death was dramatic and stunning. The last paragraph did a great job of explaining why people considered Cyrus to be great. He may have conquered countries, but he allowed them autonomy, respected their traditions and culture, and promoted their prosperity. Cyrus was a great military leader and administrator of his lands.
It added much to the discussion when the author discussed how various groups fought battles. The wild story about releasing cats, rams, ibises, and dogs when the Persians set out to conquer the Egyptians was terrific. Later, the author took the time to explain how so many Persians could be killed when the Persians mistakenly attacked through Marathon's swamps. Also, the Persians had never experienced the Greek phalanx formation; thus, they were disoriented and confused.
After reading the latter chapters, I had to quit for a while. This book describes why I've cut back on reading history. The authors think that readers only want to hear about battles and wars. There were so many pages of unrelieved bloodshed and wars that I had to quit reading. Breaking up non-stop war with some info about the people's religion or lives or foods (they ate) would relieve the non-stop slaughter. I recognize that the author added a chapter on arts, culture, and religion. Later, there was also information about the rule, governance, and economy. However, they seemed too little, too late.
The Persians were so victorious because they left the conquered people's religion alone, allowed them to self-govern, and adopted many of the conquered people's innovations. All peoples were encouraged to participate in the Persian economy. Lawwise, the Persians were a significant step forward. They required rational evidence (not the trial by ordeal - a woman must survive being thrown in the river to show she was innocent). Also, women were allowed to testify, a significant change from previous legal rules. The Persians were masters at leading multicultural and multi-ethnic groups by treating each group respectfully.
After reading the second chapter, I understood why the Prophet Mohammad was so emphatic about warriors only taking "an eye for an eye." When Persians (and other tribes and nations of the Middle East) fought, they killed all their enemies and burned their towns to the ground. War, as described in this book, was horrifying. The palaces and temples were desecrated, the population was murdered or sent elsewhere as enslaved people, and the towns and villages burned to the ground. The Persians, and other groups, punished groups by sending the citizens to other areas in the kingdom and allowing Persians to inhabit these disenfranchised people's former lands.
I sometimes wonder just how old a city is (that is described as such); this book satisfied that question with the city of Susa. The town has been carbon-dated; a Neolithic culture was founded in Susa around 4395 BCE. When discussing large swaths of land, it would be helpful to have maps or illustrations of the areas under discussion. There are some, but I search maps online to understand troop movements.
The chapter on Cyrus was enlightening. His death was dramatic and stunning. The last paragraph did a great job of explaining why people considered Cyrus to be great. He may have conquered countries, but he allowed them autonomy, respected their traditions and culture, and promoted their prosperity. Cyrus was a great military leader and administrator of his lands.
It added much to the discussion when the author discussed how various groups fought battles. The wild story about releasing cats, rams, ibises, and dogs when the Persians set out to conquer the Egyptians was terrific. Later, the author took the time to explain how so many Persians could be killed when the Persians mistakenly attacked through Marathon's swamps. Also, the Persians had never experienced the Greek phalanx formation; thus, they were disoriented and confused.
After reading the latter chapters, I had to quit for a while. This book describes why I've cut back on reading history. The authors think that readers only want to hear about battles and wars. There were so many pages of unrelieved bloodshed and wars that I had to quit reading. Breaking up non-stop war with some info about the people's religion or lives or foods (they ate) would relieve the non-stop slaughter. I recognize that the author added a chapter on arts, culture, and religion. Later, there was also information about the rule, governance, and economy. However, they seemed too little, too late.
The Persians were so victorious because they left the conquered people's religion alone, allowed them to self-govern, and adopted many of the conquered people's innovations. All peoples were encouraged to participate in the Persian economy. Lawwise, the Persians were a significant step forward. They required rational evidence (not the trial by ordeal - a woman must survive being thrown in the river to show she was innocent). Also, women were allowed to testify, a significant change from previous legal rules. The Persians were masters at leading multicultural and multi-ethnic groups by treating each group respectfully.
