History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Part I (550-486 BC; Cyrus the Great - Darius the Great)

In this first of a two-part series, we’ll take a concise look at the history of one of the greatest empires in all of antiquity - the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Founded by Cyrus II and expanded by his successors Cambyses II and Darius I, the Achaemenid dynasty would not just go on to rule most of the known world at the time, but also transmit the ideas and innovations of its many subject peoples to from the shores of the eastern Mediterranean to the Indus River valley and beyond. We’ll start with examining the Achaemenid’s rise to power, the world that they lived in, their religion including Zoroastrianism, and the beginning of their encounters with the Greek-speaking peoples of the Aegean and what would eventually lead to the Greco-Persian wars. Contents: 00:00 Historical Backdrop (Assyria, Elam and Media) 09:35 Cyrus the Great (Early Years) 14:00 Cyrus vs. Croesus and Lydia 20:31 Cyrus and the Conquest of Babylon 24:43 Cyrus as Liberator in Biblical and Babylonia