Classical Studies 2440A/B Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Sortition, Autocracy, Pointless
27 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Had a big reputation for brutality, but this was common in most empires. Romans: let them hate us as long as they fear us . Acted in ways that would not be possible in the modern world. Followed by the age of the four kingdoms: medea, egypt, neo-babylonia, lydia. Neo-babylonia fought with lydia, but eventually formed a treaty and secure boundary. Cyrus born in persis, which is the persian bit that was part of medea. Then kicked out his grandfather, the medean king. Gets the empire up and running, very administratively busy. 547, cyrus takes over the lydian empire, to aegean. 539, destroys the neo-babylonian empire, to egypt. 530, killed in battle in bactria, dies as cyrus the great. Succeeded by son, cambyses, but doesn"t last very long (dies in 522) Intrigue within the palace, the persians never bothered to learn their subjects" language. A random stranger comes along and rules for a year, then replaced by darius.
