Cyrus The Great defeated his grandfather, Astyages, in 550 B.C. and took over the Median Kingdom. By 539 B.C. Cyrus had taken over Assyria, Mesopotamia, Syria, Armenia, and Cappadocia, as well as two kingdoms; the formidable Neobabylonian kingdom and the Lydian Kingdom. Then was the ruler of the largest empire to ever
The Persians ran out of supplies and returned after the defeat of Marathon. The second invasion of Greece by the Persians happened in the year 480 BC. Xerxes was the Persian King at this time. He gathered a huge army. This army attacked the Greeks at Thermopylae, a town just north of
Whatever the cause may be, there remains little doubt that humanity has come a long way since our ancestors began walking on two legs. Yet there is one civilization that has been studied and analyzed for its unique history, culture, and extraordinary expansion. Perhaps known as the most sophisticated society for its time period, the Roman Empire was formed on a combination of the previously stated elements and its consequential rapid growth has yet to be seen since. With a reign lasting more than 500 years, the Roman Empire is considered one of the most powerful nations in all of ancient history. Stretching from the arid plains of the Arabian Desert to the isles of the United Kingdom, Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean world at its peak.
The Persians and the Medes appeared in the region east of Mesopotamia around 1300 BCE. Cyrus II united the Persian tribes and overthrew the Median monarch around 550 BCE. He placed the Persians and the Medes in positions of responsibility and retained the frameworks of the Median monarchy. From then, Cyrus, founder of the Persian Empire, ruled as the revered king and conqueror. The Roman Empire had a very different foundation from the Persian’s monarch grounds.
Alexander however is the one who is most recognized due to his military achievements. From early on Alexander’s military prowess could be seen with the destruction of Thebes in order to control rebellion. In 334 BC he crossed to Asia Minor with 32,000 infantry and 5,100 cavalry. He quickly took over Asia Minor, Syria, and Palestine while pushing back the Persians. He later marched into Egypt where he was welcomed as a savior.
By 46 B.C., through the military genius of Julius Caesar, Rome conquered most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean, which was most of the known world at that time. However, this expansion hurt Rome more than it helped Rome. The Romans had an ever changing government to meet the demands of a growing empire. At first Rome had harsh Etruscan kings, but they soon had enough of these cruel tyrants and eventually ran them out of Rome. In there place they created the Roman Republic, which was modeled after the Greek Democracy.
The long kept system unravelled after defeat at the battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. The Composition of the Army The Kings and Leadership Sparta was ruled by two kings, and originally both of them led the army to war. Problems arose and the policy was changed so that only one king went campaigning at a time, the other remaining in Sparta. The general-king held supreme command of the army and had the right to declare war and make all decisions in battle. However, he had to be wise with his power, as authoritative officials called ephors followed him to act as advisors and watch that he behaved responsibly and fairly.
Describe the conquests of Alexander the Great and analyze the legacy of his empire Alexander the Great was a very powerful man. He was a king, a military tactician and troop leader. He had quite an accomplished life in the short space of time he would have lived. Including in his accomplishments were his many conquests. In three hundred and thirty five B.C (335 B.C), as general of the Greeks in a campaign against the Persians originally planned by his father, he carried out a successful campaign against the defecting Thracians, penetrating to the Danube River.
Assyrian Empire and the Persian Empire were two of the earliest major empires in the world. The Assyrians were powerful from about 900 to about 600 BC. The Persian Empire came afterwards, holding power beginning around 550 BC. Both were empires in what we now call the Middle East. Both were monarchies.
1. Influence of Physical environment on Ancient Society including: a. Location, Geography, Topography and Resources of Persian Empire and its Neighbours Location, geography and topography  Empire ruled by Darius and Xerxes stretched from Black Sea and Caspian Sea  Steppes of Turkestan in north, to Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea in south, from Egypt and Aegean Sea in west, to Indus River and Jaxartes River in east  Covered 5 million square km  Population of 10 million  Topographic features include rugged mountain ranges (densely forested), low-lying deserts, fertile plains with rivers and streams and extensive coastline Resources  Size of empire meant limitless no. of resources  Metals s.a. iron, copper, gold and tin  Semi-precious stones s.a. opals, tourquoise, emeralds  Trees e.g. forests of oak, walnut, almond  Stone s.a. marble  Sheep, goats and cattle which were grazed all over empire  Agricultural produce s.a. cereal crops, figs and pomegranates, vines, dates, flax, wool and silk 2.