Achaemenid Persia
People of the Empire
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  1. Medes:
    2.
    Little is known about the Medes, they are believed to be an Aryan (Indo-European) people like the Persians. They entered the Iranian plateau around 1800 BC and settled over a huge area in north-western Iran some time earlier than the Persians. The Medes were divided into six tribes (the Busae, the Paretaceni, the Struchates, the Arizanti, the Budii and the Magi). Their first mention is in the Assyrian records of Shalmeneser III in about 836 BC who referred to them the "Madai".

    About 625 BC, Cyaxares reorganised the Median army into a effective fighting force. He organised it into distinct units of spearmen, archers and cavalry which up till that time had fought as a intermingled mass. Initially, subject to Assyria, to which they paid an annual tribute and controlled by the Scythians, Cyaxares was able to defeat first the Scythians, then in alliance with the Babylonians and Scythians, destroyed the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC.

    The Median empire with its capital at Ecbatana (present-day Hamadan) was to last until 549 BC, when the last Median king, Astyages (584-549), was defeated by Cyrus The Great.

    They are pictured on Persepolis reliefs bearing gold friendship rings and armlets. They are remembered for being the first to cultivate alfalfa (lucerne) as a fodder crop for which it was given the name 'Medicago sativa'. They are also credited for so-called 'Median apple' or Citron/ Lemon fruit which is named 'Mala medica'.

     

  2. Elamites/ Cissians / Susians: 
    3. Cissian soldier
    Elam's political and military power came to an end in 646 BC, when Ashurbanipal's Assyrian army marched into the eastern districts of Elam and sacked the city of Susa. The Persians then overran what was left of the Elamite empire and incorporated much of the Elamite traditions, culture, dress and knowledge into their own. The Elamite language was adopted and became an official langauage of the Achaemenids and was used for records and inscriptions. Susa, one of the main Elamite cities became the Achaemenid capital.

    The code of Hammurabi's was found at Susa and it is believed that the wheel was first used for transport in Elam, about 2,000 B.C.

    Herodotus refers to them as Susians (from the city of Susa) or Cissians (from the rest of Elam). He says they were equipped in the Persian fashion, except in one respect:- they wore on their heads, instead of hats, fillets.

    They are shown carrying daggers and bows and an Asiatic lion cub as tribute on the walls of Persepolis.

     

  3. Parthians:
    4. Parthian coin
    Parthians were known from Achaemenid times living on the steppe between the Caspian and the Aral Lake (modern Turkmenistan). Cyrus the Great, incorporated Parthia as a satrapy of the empire in 546 B.C. as did Darius I in 521 B.C. following its revolt after the death of Cambyses. Parthia was a source of both infantry and cavalry, armed with bow and spear. Parthia conquered lran from the Seleucid successors of Alexander and created their own empire which lasted for 440 years.

     

  4. Bactrians: 

    5. Bactria was the Oasis country along the upper reaches of the Oxus river and the eastern province of the Persian Empire. Toady it corresponds to part of nothern Afghanistan and the republics of Uzbekistan and Tadjikistan. It is a mountainous region with a moderate climate, abundant water and very fertile land surrounded by the Turanian desert.

    Cyrus the Great, conquered Bactria in 550 BC and it remained under Persian rule for over 200 years until the end of the Achaemenid empire.

    Bactria was famous for its horses, the "Bactrian", or two humped camel and was reputedly the home of the prophet, Zoroaster.

    Bessus, the satrap of Bactria murdered Darius III (Commodanus) and declared himself King, adopting the throne name Artaxerxes IV.
    Bactrians on the Persepolis relief are shown bringing vases similar to their Parthian neighbours.

    Herodotus describes the Bactrians going to war wearing a head-dress very like the Median, but armed with cane bows and short spears.

     

  5. Carians: 

    6. Caria is the region in the southwestern Asia Minor, (modern Turkey), south of the Maeander River, which separated it from Lydia and north of the region of Lycia. It is a country of mountains and valleys with few natural resources and litle agricultural land, numerous fortified hilltops but few cities.

    Harpagus, the Persian general, incorporated Caria into the Persian empire in 545 BC. Initialy, the Carians, with the Ionians, the Magnesians of Asia, the Aeolians, Lycians, Milyans and the Pamphylians formed the one satrapy and paid their tribute in a single sum, which was fixed at four hundred talents of silver. Carian was to later become the separate satrapy of Karkâ.

    Herodotus, himself of Carian origin, believed Carians were initially from Crete and the isles but says they considered themselves to be the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

    Carians were reknown as mercenaries. Serving both with and against the Persians, Herodotus attributes them with three inventions;

    ".. the use of which was borrowed from them by the Greeks; they were the first to fasten crests on helmets and to put devices on shields, and they also invented handles for shields. In the earlier times shields were without handles, and their wearers managed them by the aid of a leathern thong, by which they were slung round the neck and left shoulder."

    Plutarch says the Persians call the men of Caria cocks, because of the crests with which they adorn their helmets.

    For Xerxes invasion in 479 BC, the Carians furnished seventy ships, and were equipped like the Greeks, but carried, in addition, falchions and daggers.

     

  6. Thracians: 
    7. Thracian soldier

    Thrace is the ancient name of the region which now occupies the south-eastern tip of the Balkan Peninsula and comprises the north-east of Greece, Southern Bulgaria, and European Turkey. It ajoined the Black Sea in the northeast, the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean Sea in the south and laid between two great civilizations - Greece to the west and the Oriental kingdom of Persia to the east.

    Except for a mountainous region, its 8,575 sq km was good argicultural land, producing, corn, rice, wheat, olive oil, and fruit. Its rich gold and silver mines made it a target for both Greece and Persia.

    The Thracians were a collection of fierce warriors, living in many separate tribes but speaking a common Indo-European language. Unlike their Macedonian neighbours, the Thracians resisted the adoption of Greek culture. Instead, they borrowed freely from both Oriental and Greek traditions. Their craftsmen producing skilled works in bronze, silver and gold using their own tradition of animal imagery but also producing some work showing influnence by Greek or Persian originals.

    Herodotus (425 BC), described the Thracians as the most numerous people of the world. Its rich agricultural lands were not only able to support a large population but a cultured one that had developed high forms of music and poetry.

    The Thracians were engaged in continual tribal warfare as well as being recruited as mercenaries for both Greek and Persian armies. These lightly armed warriors are described wearing foxes skins on their heads and long colourful cloaks. They carried javelins with a light shield and a short cutting sword.

    Thrace was incorporated into the Persian empire as a Satrapy by Darius' general in 512 B.C. and remained under Persian influence until after Xerxes defeat in 479 B.C. It was however never fully subdued. Mardonius was wounded, and his army suffered many casualties when they were attacked in 492 B.C by a Thracian tribe, the Briygi.

 

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