Achaemenid Persian Empire

Cyrus’s tolerant superstate spanning three continents — antiquity’s largest empire by population share.

Core Principles & Analysis

• Cyrus the Great founded it by uniting the Medes and Persians and taking Babylon in 539 BC.
• The Royal Road and satrapy system ran an empire from the Indus to the Aegean.
• Alexander toppled it in 330 BC with the burning of Persepolis.

Specifications & Metrics

• ERA: 550 – 330 BC
• REGION: Persia / Near East