Achaemenids
From Encyclopædia
{uh-kee'-meh-nidz} The Achaemenids were Persian kings who ruled over a vast empire extending from the
Aegean Sea to the
Indus River from 549 to 330 BC. They were named after an eponymous ancestor, Achaemenes. This was the first
world empire of antiquity, and many civil institutions first appeared under the Achaemenids' rule. Universal law (the king's law), the postal system, coinage, and other institutions were used, and
Zoroastrianism became widespread in this period. The first Achaemenid ruler was CYRUS THE GREAT, but DARIUS I was the real architect of the empire; DARIUS III, its last monarch, was defeated and succeeded by Alexander the Great.Richard N. FryeBibliography: Cook, John M., The Persian Empire (1983); Frye, R. N., Heritage of Persia (1962; repr. 1976); Huot, J.L., Persia: From Its Origins to the Achaemenids, trans. by H.S. Harrison (1965); Olmstead, A.T.E., History of the Persian Empire (1948; repr. 1959).
