Persia: Cyrus II to the Death of Darius III

Persia: Cyrus II to the Death of Darius III is one of the Historical Periods options in Section IV (25 marks). You write one extended response (one of two alternatives), about 1,000 words. Study the period through the archaeological and written evidence, organised around:

• Historical context: the geography of the empire, from the Aegean and Egypt to Central Asia and the Indus; the Medes, Lydia and Babylon before Cyrus.
• The nature of power and authority: the king and royal ideology; the court, nobles and royal women; satraps and administration; the army.
• Significant developments: the conquests of Cyrus II and Cambyses II; Darius I's accession and reforms; Xerxes and the wars with the Greeks; the 4th-century empire; the fall to Alexander (334–330).
• Evidence and interpretations: Persian inscriptions and reliefs, the Persepolis tablets, Babylonian and Egyptian texts, and Greek writers (Herodotus, Xenophon, Ctesias, Arrian).

All dates are BC.

• Cyrus II: defeated Astyages of Media (helped by defectors such as Harpagus); took Sardis and Croesus of Lydia; Ionia subdued by Harpagus; Babylon taken in 539 (‘without battle’, Nabonidus Chronicle). The Cyrus Cylinder (Akkadian) says Marduk chose Cyrus; the book of Ezra records the return of the Judean exiles.
• Cambyses II: Egypt (525), using Arab allies for water and a Phoenician fleet. Herodotus calls him mad (the Apis story), but Egyptian evidence (an Apis burial of his reign; Udjahorresnet) shows him acting as a pharaoh.
• Darius I: the Indus valley, Thrace and the Scythian campaign (about 513).

Reasons for success: cavalry and archers; resources of conquered peoples; able leaders; tolerance of local religions and elites; divided or unpopular opponents.

• Accession: the Behistun inscription (Old Persian, Elamite, Babylonian; copies across the empire) says the magus Gaumata impersonated Bardiya; many historians suspect Darius killed the real Bardiya.
• Satrapies: provinces under satraps (Persian nobles), with separate garrison commanders and royal secretaries; Herodotus lists 20 tribute districts.
• Finance: fixed tribute; the gold daric and silver siglos.
• Communications: the Royal Road (Sardis to Susa, 111 stations, Herodotus), relay riders, sealed travel documents; a canal from the Nile to the Red Sea.
• Royal centres: Susa, Persepolis (begun about 518), Babylon, Ecbatana, Pasargadae.
• Records: the Persepolis Fortification tablets (Elamite, 509–493) on rations, workers, travel and estates; the Treasury tablets (late Darius I to Artaxerxes I, about 492–457).

• Ideology: ‘king of kings, king of lands’, chosen by Ahuramazda; truth (arta) against the Lie (drauga); the just warrior king (Naqsh-i Rustam inscription).
• Display: the Apadana reliefs (subject peoples bringing gifts), throne-bearer reliefs, audience scenes, royal tombs at Naqsh-i Rustam.
• Court: nobles, ‘Benefactors’, gifts and the King's Table; royal and elite women with their own estates (Irdabama, Artystone) and influence on succession (Atossa, Parysatis).
• Succession: no fixed rule — usurpation (Darius I), murders (Xerxes 465; Artaxerxes III 338; Arses 336), rebellion (Cyrus the Younger 401).
• Religion: royal devotion to Ahuramazda alongside respect for local gods (Marduk, Egyptian gods, YHWH).

• Ionian Revolt (499–494) and the wars of Darius and Xerxes (490, 480–479).
• Diplomacy and gold in the 5th and 4th centuries: support for Sparta in the Peloponnesian War; Cunaxa (401) and Xenophon's Ten Thousand; the King's Peace (387/6) — Asian Greeks under Persian rule.

• Before 334: Artaxerxes III's reconquest of Egypt (about 343) showed real strength; court murders (338–336) brought Darius III to the throne.
• 334 Granicus: satraps reject Memnon's scorched-earth plan and are defeated.
• 333 Issus: Darius fights in a narrow plain, flees; his family captured.
• 332–331: Alexander takes the coast (Tyre, Gaza) and Egypt; Darius offers peace (lands west of the Euphrates).
• 331 Gaugamela: prepared ground and scythed chariots; Darius flees again. Babylon (Mazaeus), Susa and Persepolis fall; Persepolis burned (330).
• 330: Darius killed by Bessus and other nobles.

Reasons: Alexander and the Macedonian army; Darius' decisions and flights; loss of Memnon and the fleet's bases; satraps and cities going over to the winner; the court crisis before 336.

• Persian royal sources (inscriptions, reliefs) present the ideal of kingship — propaganda, but the Persian view.
• Administrative records (Persepolis tablets) show the empire working day to day.
• Babylonian and Egyptian texts (Cyrus Cylinder, Nabonidus Chronicle, Udjahorresnet) show local views.
• Greek writers: Herodotus (5th century) — wide inquiry but Greek perspective; Ctesias — court gossip; Xenophon (Cyropaedia, Anabasis); Arrian (2nd century AD) — based on Alexander's companions.
• Modern views (credited if used): Pierre Briant and others have challenged the Greek picture of a decadent empire in decline; debates about Bardiya and Darius, and about how much the kings ‘tolerated’ local religions.

1. Unpack the question: the command verb and the focus (expansion, a king, kingship, administration, relations with Greeks, the fall).
2. Thesis: a clear judgement at the start.
3. Paragraphs by argument, with evidence from Persian and non-Persian sources.
4. Evaluate sources: Greek sources are outsiders; Persian sources are royal propaganda.
5. Conclusion: answer the question.

• Confusing Cyrus II (died 530) with Cyrus the Younger (died 401), or Darius I with Darius III.
• Calling the Cyrus Cylinder a ‘human rights charter’.
• Repeating Greek stereotypes of Persian luxury and decline without comment.
• Crediting Cyrus with Egypt (Cambyses) or Persepolis (Darius I).
• Telling only the story of the wars with Greece.

• Anchor dates: 550, 539, 525, 522, 499, 490, 480, 401, 387/6, 343, 336, 333, 331, 330.
• Use terms accurately: satrap, satrapy, tribute, daric, Royal Road, Ahuramazda, arta and drauga, Apadana, King's Eye.
• Use at least one Persian or non-Greek source in every essay.

• Persian society at the time of Darius and Xerxes (Ancient Societies) and Xerxes (Personalities).
• The Greek World 500–440 BC and Fourth-Century Greece: the Greek side.
• Alexander the Great (Personalities): the conquest of the empire.