In Western history, Persians are exotic and malevolent “Others.” The fantasy film 300 (2006) is an extreme example. For many modern Americans, Persians are the Bad Guys. The first great Persian empire, which is the subject of this book, also has a name that’s hard for many readers to pronounce: “Achaemenid” (ah-KHEM-eh-nid, or ah-khem-EH-nid.)

The standard treatment of ancient Persian history is largely based on what their enemies wrote about them, first the Greeks (who fought the “Persian Wars” c. 499-449 B.C.E.), and then the Romans (who fought Persian successor states, the Parthian and Sasanian empires, for centuries.)

“A Persian victory over Sparta – the most oppressive freedom-denying slave state of antiquity – would have been a win for liberty. It would have put an end to Sparta’s terrorist-like hold over the rest of Greece. The idea that the Persians inhibited and held back Europe’s cultural development is absurd.” (p. 19)

This book takes a radically different approach, presenting ancient Persians in their own words. Ancient Persians did not write narrative history, but as consummate bureaucrats, they left a vast amount of administrative records on clay tablets, and, after their conquest of Egypt, on papyrus. Persian kings also boasted about the extent of their conquests and how much their gods loved them in an extensive series of rock-cut inscriptions.

This book is organized in three thematic sections, and a brief conclusion:

• Part One: Establishing Empire (5 chapters)

• Part Two: Being Persian (7 chapters)

• Part Three: High Empire (10 chapters)

• Epilogue: Persian Past, Iranian Present

The king list of the Achaemenid dynasty is mercifully brief:

Cyrus the Great (r. 550-530 B.C.E.)

Cambyses II (r. 530-522 B.C.E.)

Bardiya (r. 522 B.C.E.)

Darius I the Great (r. 522-486 B.C.E.)

Xerxes I (r. 485-465 B.C.E.)

Artaxerxes I (r. 465-424 B.C.E.)

Darius II (r. 424-404 B.C.E.)

Artaxerxes II (r. 404-358 B.C.E.)

Artaxerxes III (r. 358-338 B.C.E.)

Artaxerxes IV (r. 338-336 B.C.E.)

Darius III (r. 336-330 B.C.E.)

Artaxerxes V (r. 330-329 B.C.E.)

It might be noted that “Cyrus” and “Darius” have endured for centuries as popular names for boys, and not just in Iran.

An important point is that the Persian empire conquered by Alexander the Great was not in decline. It was a powerful, highly centralized multi-ethnic state, with vast resources. But its archaic military system was decisively overmatched by the strategic and tactical innovations that Philip II of Macedon bequeathed to his son, Alexander.

The book is enhanced by a clear map, twenty line drawings of cylinder seal impressions, and 22 well-chosen color plates. The author, a professor of ancient history at Cardiff University, is the director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies.

Note: Persians is also available in paperback & e-editions.

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