4. Cyrus the Great
• REMARKABLE LEader united the Persians
into a Powerful kingdom
• He ruled from 559 B.C. to 530 B.C.
5. • 539 B.C. Persians swept into Mesopotamia and
captured BABYLON
• They took over: MESOPOTAMIA, ASIA MINOR,
SYRIA, CANAAN AND THE PHOENICIAN
CITIES.
6. • He treated his new subjects
well.
• He allowed captive jews in
Babylon to return home
• He had a merciful rule and he
hold his Empire
7. CONTRIBUTIONS
• THEY BUILT MILES OF
ROADS
• THE ROYAL ROAD
STRETCHED FROM ASIA
MINOR TO SUSA (THE
PERSIAN CAPITAL)
• PERSIANS SET UP
ROADSIDE STATIONS TO
SUPPLY FOOD, SHELTER,
AND FRESH HORSES TO
THE KING’S
MESSENGERS
In the days of the mighty
Persian Empire, there
was a 1600-mile long
ancient highway known
as the Royal Road
8.
9. DARIUS
• HE CAME TO POWER THE
THRONE IN 521 B.C.
• HE REORGANIZED THE
GOVERNMENT TO MAKE
IT WORK BETTER
• HE DIVIDED THE EMPIRE
INTO 20 PROVINCES
CALLED SATRAPIES
10. • SATRAP
«PROTECTOR OF THE
KINGDOM»
• HE WAS A TAX
COLLECTOR, JUDGE,
CHIEF OF POLICE, AND
HEAD RECRUITER FOR
THE PERSIAN ARMY
• HIS ARMY WAS
CALLED THE
IMMORTALS
BECAUSE WHEN A
MEMBER DIED, HE
WAS IMMEDIATELY
REPLACED
11. • THE PERSIAN RELIGION WAS CALLED ZOROASTRIANISM
• THEY BELIEVED IN ONE GOD
• GOD: CREATOR AND FORCE OF GOODNESS
• HUMANS HAD THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE BETWEEN RIGHT AND
WRONG, AND GOODNESS WILL TRIUMPH IN THE END
• IT STILL HAS A SMALL NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS TODAY