Eurasian Empires 500 BCE- 500 C.E.

 Of the world's largest and most powerful empires, the Persian Empire strikes me as one of the most impressive. Under the leadership of Monarch Cyrus (557-530 BCE) and that of Darius (522-486 BCE) and with a conquest which reached all the way from Egypt to India and encompassing about 35 million people, it consisted of a realm of distinctive "peoples, states, languages and cultural traditions" p99.

I find the Persian Empire impressive, not because they were more sophisticated or advanced in any way, because they were not. And not because their authority was more peaceful and less bloody than any of the other empires because in fact they were not. And in fact, the Persian empire ruled with an iron fist of sorts. Ways of the World touches on an incident where Darius was once interrupted while spending time with his wife, infuriated, Darius orders him and his whole family killed. Again, not a sophisticated ruler by any means.
What did strike me as perhaps an interesting aspect of the Persian Empire was their affinity for cultural diversity. Perhaps even the the ancient melting pot of all the empires and resembling a modern American melting pot of the 21st century.

Indeed, a "general policy of respect for the empire's many non-Persian cultural traditions also cemented the state's authority". Attesting to that, is the fact that In 539 BCE, Cyrus allowed the return of exiled Babylonian Jews to Jerusalem. Local religious cults were upheld in Egypt and Babylon. Like this, the kings were able to establish more authority by gaining the trust and respect of the people.

My Paleolithic Blog from the first week is still missing (have not had time to re-write, been doing catch up on assignments)