The Nature of the Persian Empire

The Persian Empire, c.550-330 BC

In this course, Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (University of Cardiff) presents the Persian Empire through non-Greek sources including Persian art and architecture, sculpture and epigraphy, and parts of the Hebrew Bible. In the first module, we think about the nature of the Persian Empire itself, focusing in particular on the depiction conquered peoples in various Persian sources. After that, we think about who the Persian actually were, where they came from, and the importance of nomadism to Persian culture and society even in the fifth century BC. In the third module, we focus on the figure of Cyrus the Great, including his self-presentation in the Cyrus Cylinder and his depiction in the Hebrew Bible, before turning in the fourth module to the reign of Darius the Great and his self-presentation in the Bisitun Inscription. In the fifth module, we think about how differently Xerxes is presented in the Persian sources compared to the Greek sources, before turning in sixth and final module to consider what we can know about the lives of women in Persian society given their relative lack of representation in the ancient sources.

The Nature of the Persian Empire

In this module, we think about the nature of the Persian Empire, focusing in particular on: (i) the depiction of the subject peoples of the Persian Empire on the eastern staircase of the Apadana of Persepolis; (ii) the list of subject peoples in the foundation charter of the Apadana of Susa (DSf); (iii) the difference between how conquered peoples were treated by the Romans and how they were treated by the Persians; and (iv) the depiction of subject peoples of the Persian Empire on the Tomb of Darius at Naqsh-e Rustam.