5. Achaemenid or First Persian Empire 550 – 330 B.C.
The Achaemenid Empire began to be recognized as a world power with the reign of Cyrus the Great. In 550 B.C. he conquered the Medes to create the first Persian empire. Cyrus was a shrewd man in terms of tactics and politics and this allowed him to incorporate Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire into the Persian Empire. Later the empire would expand into Egypt by defeating the 26th Egyptian dynasty.
Cyrus the Great was shrewd in his management of his empire, choosing not to force the varying groups to adhere to one culture. He allowed his subjects to all have equal rights and responsibilities no matter their ethnicity or culture, as long as they obeyed the laws and paid their taxes. While this may have worked for a period and secured the loyalty of the Babylonians, it did little to quell rebellion or maintain order. This meant that troops spent more time maintaining the peace within the empire rather than protecting the empire’s borders.
The first Persian empire had numerous advancements including the creation of Persepolis which served as a capital for the empire and would become the home for generations of Persian kings. The Persian culture during the first empire was unique in that boys were taught to ride a horse, draw a bow and tell the truth. Few things were considered worse than telling a lie in Persian culture. The Persian Empire was filled with massive cities, temples, mausoleums and palaces that featured inspiration from numerous cultures, much like the empire itself.
The empire ended largely due to the taxes that were levied on nations and citizens. Each nation was expected to provide goods, services and up to $180 million a year in taxes, a fee so large it caused the entire empire to go into an economic decline. When Alexander III the Great arrived he easily conquered the Persian army and provided money for the impoverished nations to rebuild cities. As Alexander largely kept the structure of the government the same he was considered by some to be the last of the Achaemenids.