The Persian Empire

by Kia, Mehrdad;

  6. 56–60. O man, that which is the command of Ahuramazda, let this not seem repugnant to thee; do not leave the right path; do not rise in rebellion!

  Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 137–138. Reprinted with permission.

  13. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE OF THE PERSIAN ACHAEMENID EMPIRE FROM XENOPHON’S OECONOMICUS AND HERODOTUS’S HISTORIES

  Our knowledge of the internal structure of the Persian Empire during the reign of Cyrus II the Great is scanty. After establishing his authority over a vast territory extending from the Jaxartes River (present-day Syr Darya) in Central Asia to the eastern shores of the Aegean Sea, Cyrus appointed governors to each newly conquered territory. For example, his son and crown prince Cambyses ruled Babylonia for a time as the representative of his father. The Persian Empire expanded during the reign of Cambyses II, who conquered Egypt. After the death of Cambyses, a group of Persian officers led by Darius seized the reins of power. After securing the throne and suppressing the rebellions that had erupted against his rule, Darius I expanded the number of provinces and reorganized their internal structure. Herodotus claimed that Darius divided his empire into 20 provinces. In his inscriptions at Bisotun in western Iran, Darius listed 23 provinces or regions in his empire. After his conquests in the east, the number of the provinces increased. Provinces were assessed to determine the amount of taxes each was expected to pay. Taxes were paid to the central government in the form of annual tribute. Each governor, or satrap, was responsible for collecting taxes and providing security and order in his province, or satrapy. As the representative of the king, the satrap enjoyed sufficient power to suppress any rebellion that undermined the authority of the central government and disrupted the social and economic life of the communities under his rule. The two excerpts below from Xenophon’s Oeconomicus and from the Histories of Herodotus describe the role of the king in the administrative structure of the Achaemenid state and his relationship with his governors as well as the amount of tribute paid by each province.

  The King of Persians and His Governors from Xenophon’s Oeconomicus

  Crit. Then which are the arts you would counsel us to engage in?

  Soc[rates]. Well, we shall not be ashamed, I hope, to imitate the kings of Persia? That monarch, it is said, regards amongst the noblest and most necessary pursuits two in particular, which are the arts of husbandry and war, and in these two he takes the strongest interest.

  What! (Critobulus exclaimed); do you, Socrates, really believe that the king of Persia pays a personal regard to husbandry, along with all his other cares?

  Soc. We have only to investigate the matter, Critobulus, and I daresay we shall discover whether this is so or not. We are agreed that he takes strong interest in military matters; since, however numerous the tributary nations, there is a governor to each, and every governor has orders from the king what number of cavalry, archers, slingers and targeteers it is his business to support, as adequate to control the subject population, or in case of hostile attack to defend the country. Apart from these the king keeps garrisons in all the citadels. The actual support of these devolves upon the governor, to whom the duty is assigned. The king himself meanwhile conducts the annual inspection and review of troops, both mercenary and other, that have orders to be under arms. These all are simultaneously assembled (with the exception of the garrisons of citadels) at the mustering ground, so named. That portion of the army within access of the royal residence the king reviews in person; the remainder, living in remoter districts of the empire, he inspects by proxy, sending certain trusty representatives. Wherever the commandants of garrisons, the captains of thousands, and the satraps are seen to have their appointed members complete, and at the same time shall present their troops equipped with horse and arms in thorough efficiency, these officers the king delights to honour, and showers gifts upon them largely. But as to those officers whom he finds either to have neglected their garrisons, or to have made private gain of their position, these he heavily chastises, deposing them from office, and appointing other superintendents in their stead. Such conduct, I think we may say, indisputably proves the interest which he takes in matters military.

  Further than this, by means of a royal progress through the country, he has an opportunity of inspecting personally some portion of his territory, and again of visiting the remainder in proxy as above by trusty representatives; and wheresoever he perceives that any of his governors can present to him a district thickly populated, and the soil in a state of active cultivation, full of trees and fruits, its natural products, to such officers he adds other territory, adorning them with gifts and distinguishing them by seats of honour. But those officers whose land he sees lying idle and with but few inhabitants, owing either to the harshness of their government, their insolence, or their neglect, he punishes, and making them to cease from their office he appoints other rulers in their place. … Does not this conduct indicate at least as great an anxiety to promote the active cultivation of the land by its inhabitants as to provide for its defense by military occupation?

  Moreover, the governors appointed to preside over these two departments of state are not one and the same. But one class governs the inhabitants proper including the workers of the soil, and collects the tribute from them, another is in command of the armed garrisons. If the commandant protects the country insufficiently, the civil governor of the population, who is in charge also of the productive works, lodges accusation against the commandant to the effect that the inhabitants are prevented working through deficiency of protection. Or if again, in spite of peace being secured to the works of the land by the military governor, the civil authority still presents a territory sparse in population and untilled, it is the commandant’s turn to accuse the civil ruler. For you may take it as a rule, a population tilling their territory badly will fail to support their garrisons and be quite unequal to paying their tribute. Where a satrap is appointed he has charge of both departments.

  Source: Xenophon, “The Economist,” in The Works of Xenophon, Vol. 3, Part 1, translated by H. G. Dakyns (New York: Macmillan, 1897), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1173/1173-h/1173-h.htm.

  Governors and Taxes in the Histories of Herodotus

  89. … He [Darius I] established twenty provinces, which the Persians themselves call satrapies; and having established the provinces and set over them rulers, he appointed tribute to come to him from them according to races, joining also to the chief races those who dwelt on their borders, or passing beyond the immediate neighbours and assigning to various races those which lay more distant. He divided the provinces and the yearly payment of tribute as follows: and those of them who brought in silver were commanded to pay by the standard of the Babylonian talent, but those who brought in gold by the Euboïc talent; now the Babylonian talent is equal to eight-and-seventy Euboïc pounds. For in the reign of Cyrus, and again of Cambyses, nothing was fixed about tribute, but they used to bring gifts: and on account of this appointing of tribute and other things like this, the Persians say that Darius was a shopkeeper, Cambyses a master, and Cyrus a father; the one because he dealt with all his affairs like a shopkeeper, the second because he was harsh and had little regard for any one, and the other because he was gentle and contrived for them all things good.

  90. From the Ionians and the Magnesians who dwell in Asia and the Aiolians, Carians, Lykians, Milyans and Pamphylians (for one single sum was appointed by him as tribute for all these) there came in four hundred talents of silver. This was appointed by him to be the first division. From the Mysians and Lydians and Lasonians and Cabalians and Hytennians there came in five hundred talents: this is the second division. From the Hellespontians who dwell on the right as one sails in and the Phrygians and the Thracians who dwell in Asia and the Paphlagonians and Mariandynoi and Syrians the tribute was three hundred and sixty talents: this is the third division. From the Kilikians, besides three hundred and six
ty white horses, one for every day in the year, there came also five hundred talents of silver; of these one hundred and forty talents were spent upon the horsemen which served as a guard to the Kilikian land, and the remaining three hundred and sixty came in year by year to Darius: this is the fourth division.

  91. From that division which begins with the city of Posideion, founded by Amphilochos the son of Amphiaraos on the borders of the Kilikians and the Syrians, and extends as far as Egypt, not including the territory of the Arabians (for this was free from payment), the amount was three hundred and fifty talents; and in this division are the whole of Phenicia and Syria which is called Palestine and Cyprus: this is the fifth division. From Egypt and the Libyans bordering upon Egypt, and from Kyrene and Barca, for these were so ordered as to belong to the Egyptian division, there came in seven hundred talents, without reckoning the money produced by the lake of Moiris, that is to say from the fish; without reckoning this, I say, or the corn which was contributed in addition by measure, there came in seven hundred talents; for as regards the corn, they contribute by measure one hundred and twenty thousand bushels for the use of those Persians who are established in the “White Fortress” at Memphis, and for their foreign mercenaries: this is the sixth division. The Sattagydai and Gandarians and Dadicans and Aparytai, being joined together, brought in one hundred and seventy talents: this is the seventh division. From Susa and the rest of the land of the Kissians there came in three hundred: this is the eighth division.

  92. From Babylon and from the rest of Assyria there came in to him a thousand talents of silver and five hundred boys for eunuchs: this is the ninth division. From Agbatana and from the rest of Media and the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians, four hundred and fifty talents: this is the tenth division. The Caspians and Pausicans and Pantimathoi and Dareitai, contributing together, brought in two hundred talents: this is the eleventh division. From the Bactrians as far as the Aigloi the tribute was three hundred and sixty talents: this is the twelfth division.

  93. From Pactyïke and the Armenians and the people bordering upon them as far as the Euxine, four hundred talents: this is the thirteenth division. From the Sagartians and Sarangians and Thamanaians and Utians and Mycans and those who dwell in the islands of the Erythraian Sea, where the king settles those who are called the “Removed,” from all these together a tribute was produced of six hundred talents: this is the fourteenth division. The Sacans and the Caspians brought in two hundred and fifty talents: this is the fifteenth division. The Parthians and Chorasmians and Sogdians and Areians three hundred talents: this is the sixteenth division.

  94. The Paricanians and Ethiopians in Asia brought in four hundred talents: this is the seventeenth division. To the Matienians and Saspeirians and Alarodians was appointed a tribute of two hundred talents: this is the eighteenth division. To the Moschoi and Tibarenians and Macronians and Mossynoicoi and Mares three hundred talents were ordered: this is the nineteenth division. Of the Indians the number is far greater than that of any other race of men of whom we know; and they brought in a tribute larger than all the rest, that is to say three hundred and sixty talents of gold-dust: this is the twentieth division.

  95. Now if we compare Babylonian with Euboïc talents, the silver is found to amount to nine thousand eight hundred and eighty talents; and if we reckon the gold at thirteen times the value of silver, weight for weight, the gold-dust is found to amount to four thousand six hundred and eighty Euboïc talents. These being all added together, the total which was collected as yearly tribute for Darius amounts to fourteen thousand five hundred and sixty Euboïc talents: the sums which are less than these I pass over and do not mention.

  96. This was the tribute which came in to Darius from Asia and from a small part of Libya: but as time went on, other tribute came in also from the islands and from those who dwell in Europe as far as Thessaly. This tribute the king stores up in his treasury in the following manner:—he melts it down and pours it into jars of earthenware, and when he has filled the jars he takes off the earthenware jar from the metal; and when he wants money he cuts off so much as he needs on each occasion.

  97. These were the provinces and the assessments of tribute: and the Persian land alone has not been mentioned by me as paying a contribution, for the Persians have their land to dwell in free from payment. The following moreover had no tribute fixed for them to pay, but brought gifts, namely the Ethiopians who border upon Egypt, whom Cambyses subdued as he marched against the Long-lived Ethiopians, those who dwell about Nysa, which is called “sacred,” and who celebrate the festivals in honour of Dionysos: these Ethiopians and those who dwell near them have the same kind of seed as the Callantian Indians, and they have underground dwellings. These both together brought every other year, and continue to bring even to my own time, two quart measures of unmelted gold and two hundred blocks of ebony and five Ethiopian boys and twenty large elephant tusks. The Colchians also had set themselves among those who brought gifts, and with them those who border upon them extending as far as the range of the Caucasus (for the Persian rule extends as far as these mountains, but those who dwell in the parts beyond Caucasus toward the North Wind regard the Persians no longer),—these, I say, continued to bring the gifts which they had fixed for themselves every four years even down to my own time, that is to say, a hundred boys and a hundred maidens. Finally, the Arabians brought a thousand talents of frankincense every year. Such were the gifts which these brought to the king apart from the tribute.

  Source: Herodotus, The History of Herodotus, Vol. 1, Book 3.89–98, translated by G. C. Macaulay (New York: Macmillan, 1890).

  14. PERSIAN ENGINEERING: DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE ROYAL ROAD FROM HERODOTUS’S HISTORIES AND OF THE SUEZ CANAL FROM AN INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS I

  Recognizing the importance of communication in ruling and controlling a vast empire and to facilitate timely and unhindered communication between the provinces and the Persian capitals of Susa and Ecbatana, the Achaemenid monarch Darius I (r. 522–486 BCE) established the Royal Road, a major highway of 1,500 miles connecting the Achaemenid winter capital at the city of Susa in southwestern Iran to Sardis in western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), thus creating for the first time a direct link between the economies of Central and Southwest Asia and those of Greece and Southeastern Europe. Rest stations as well as excellent caravanserais were built along the length of the road. Messengers used the Royal Road to convey news and information from various provinces of the empire to the capital. The road also facilitated the movement of Persian armies while at the same time promoting trade and commerce in the empire. One of the strategic objectives of the Achaemenid state was to convert the newly created empire into an integrated free trade zone. Darius I completed the process of linking the empire by building the first Suez Canal. Thousands of workers from the four corners of the empire were assembled to construct this 125-mile (200-kilometer) channel connecting the Gulf of Suez to an arm of the Nile River. Thus, the whole empire from India to the Aegean was linked by sea as well as by land. The first excerpt below is an account of the Royal Road from Herodotus.

  During his long reign, Darius I reestablished Persian rule over Egypt, which had been conquered by Cambyses II in 524 BCE. In 517 BCE Darius traveled to Egypt, where he won the support of the country’s priests by restoring their privileges. The Persians then used Egypt as their territorial base to push westward and capture Libya. From Egypt, Darius shifted his focus to India. According to Herodotus, before invading Egypt Darius had organized a naval mission, which traveled through the Indus River to the Indian Ocean and thence northward to the Red Sea, reaching Egypt near the present-day Suez 30 months later. Darius was apparently fascinated by the idea of connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through a canal. Thus, he ordered the construction of a canal, which would be the forerunner of the modern-day Suez Canal built in the second half of the 19th century and completed in 1869. The second excerpt below is a short inscription in which Darius I celebr
ated the completion of the first Suez Canal in Egypt.

  The Royal Road in Herodotus

  Book 5

  52. As regards this road the truth is as follows.—Everywhere there are royal stages and excellent resting-places, and the whole road runs through country which is inhabited and safe. Through Lydia and Phrygia there extend twenty stages, amounting to ninety-four and a half leagues; and after Phrygia succeeds the river Halys, at which there is a gate which one must needs pass through in order to cross the river, and a strong guard-post is established there. Then after crossing over into Cappadokia [Cappadocia] it is twenty-eight stages, being a hundred and four leagues, by this way to the borders of Kilikia; and on the borders of the Kilikians you will pass through two several gates and go by two several guard-posts: then after passing through these it is three stages, amounting to fifteen and a half leagues, to journey through Kilikia; and the boundary of Kilikia and Armenia is a navigable river called Euphrates. In Armenia the number of stages with resting-places is fifteen, and of leagues fifty-six and a half, and there is a guard-post on the way: then from Armenia, when one enters the land of Matiene, there are thirty-four stages, amounting to a hundred and thirty-seven leagues. … The number of these stages amounts in all to one hundred and eleven.

  53. This is the number of stages with resting-places, as one goes up from Sardis to Susa: and if the royal road has been rightly measured as regards leagues, and if the league is equal to thirty furlongs, (as undoubtedly it is), the number of furlongs from Sardis to that which is called the palace of Memnon is thirteen thousand five hundred, the number of leagues being four hundred and fifty [1,550 miles]. So if one travels a hundred and fifty furlongs each day, just ninety days are spent on the journey.

  Book 8

  98. … Now there is nothing mortal which accomplishes a journey with more speed than these messengers, so skilfully has this been invented by the Persians: for they say that according to the number of days of which the entire journey consists, so many horses and men are set at intervals, each man and horse appointed for a day’s journey. These neither snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness of night prevents from accomplishing each one the task proposed to him, with the very utmost speed. The first then rides and delivers the message with which he is charged to the second, and the second to the third; and after that it goes through them handed from one to the other. …