The Graeco-Persian Wars, sometimes referred to as simply the Persian Wars included some of the most epic clashes in human history. Spanning a 50-year period, these conflicts between the Greek city-...
In 480 BC, King Xerxes led the mighty Persian Empire to punish Greek city-states for meddling in his affairs. The Greeks, forming a coalition of 31 states, strategically planned their defense at the...
Xerxes I , a formidable figure in the annals of Persian history, ascended to the throne amid complex familial dynamics. Born in 515 BC to Darius the Great and Atosa, the daughter of Cyrus the Great,...
The famed Achaemenid Empire was an ancient Iranian empire that was founded by the renowned Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. It quickly arose as one of the leading global powers of the time, and swept...
We often think of ancient Athens as being the home of democracy, the place where it all started. And this is true. But the shocking truth is that Athens has spent the vast majority of its existence...
Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was a 5th century Achaemenid king of the Persian empire. He is best known for leading the massive invasion of Greece, marked by the battles of Thermopylae,...
If there is a single event that made Sparta ’ s military legend a seminal moment when the ‘Bronze Lie’ was forged, it is the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, fought 10 years after Marathon . Nearly...
Zack Snyder’s 2007 fantasy historical film, 300 , has probably made the Battle of Thermopylae one of the most famous battles of the ancient world. However, the film has more fantasy than history in...
In 480 BC, an enormous Persian army under the chief command of Emperor Xerxes (son of Darius the Great) campaigned against Thessaly in central Greece. Mainly they fought against the southern mostly...
Xerxes I, also known as Xerxes the Great, was a 5th century Achaemenid king of the Persian empire. He is best known for leading the massive invasion of Greece, marked by the battles of Thermopylae,...
Mythologically descended from the hero Herakles, the Agiad dynasty of ancient Sparta reigned alongside the Eurypontids almost since the beginning of the city-state. When war was on the borders of...
Once the stunning capital of the Persian Empire (also known as the Achaemenid Empire), Persepolis was lost to the world for almost nineteen hundred years, buried in the dirt of southwestern Iran...
“As Persepolis had exceeded all other cities in prosperity, so in the same measure it now exceeded all others in misery.” Miseries along with poverty, for the people were raped of their land and...
The Persian war machine made empires beforehand look miniature. The Persians were able to take the best from all over the Near East and turn it into a force that could not be defeated for many...
With the death of King Cambyses II, the Persian Empire was in a state of war and confusion over who was the rightful heir. Even though the populace agreed that Gaumata was the rightful heir to the...
I have written on the origins of the Arsacid Dynasty (Parthian Empire) and that of the Sassanid’s in previous articles. However, one dynasty often gets much attention in terms of its social,...
![: Relief on the Apadana Staircase on the eastern wall [of the Apadana Palace] from the ruins at Persepolis, “the Persian City”, ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Deriv](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/teaser_optimized/public/field/image/Darius-Hijack.jpg?itok=lILarhA2)
