Persia: Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes

Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes were the three most important rulers of the Achaemenids, Persia's original dynasty. All of them greatly contributed to the rise and expansion of the Persian Empire.

Cyrus:

• He was one of the first great Persian kings, responsible for the actual "foundation" of the empire. He was the conqueror of Lydia, Ionia (the Greeks), and Babylon.
• One of his greatest deeds was freeing the Jews from Babylon, and allowing them to return to their homeland. This shows his great toleration for other ethnicities and religions.
• During his reign, the first great Persian capital, Pasagardae, was built. This was the place, from which Cyrus ruled, and where he was later buried in a simple tomb, without much grandeur or luxury. This was his will, as he wanted to be remembered as a king, who didn't see himself superior to his people: he enjoyed the simple life.

(http://www.cyrusthegreat.net/)

Darius:

• Darius was a king, who emerged from a continuous struggle for power within the Persian Empire. It took him over a year to put down revolts and really take up his position as head of an empire. Darius continued conquests that Cyrus had started earlier, and made Persia one of the biggest, or perhaps THE biggest empire that the world had ever seen. His lands ranged from Macedonia, over Northern Africa and Egypt, all the way to Northern India.
• To control such a vast amount of land, Darius worked on creating a new political system, which involved states known as satrapies with localized leaders, who were subject to Darius' central government. He required them to pay taxes annually, in the form of a standardized currency throughout the whole empire. He set up a system of "spies", who made sure that the satraps did as they were told.
• One of Darius' most significant accomplishments was the building of the Royal Road, which enabled communication and long distance trade throughout the whole empire. The state had several rest and refreshment stations with new horses, which allowed for continuous travel, without many breaks.
• Darius started the war with Greece to teach revolting Ionian states a lesson, unlucky for him, they were supported by the Greeks.

(http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa65) (book)

Xerxes:

• After Darius' defeat in Greece, his son Xerxes continued this fight, and is therefore mainly known for his great invasion of Greece. He alligned a fleet of ships over a turbulent strip of sea, to be able to cross from Asia into Europe. He built a bridge over ships! nevertheless, he still wasn't able to defeat the Greeks, and returned home.
• Xerxes didn't tolerate different religions and beliefs as well as his predecessors, which caused resentment and revolts from within the empire. He was able to successfully repress these rebellions.
• Xerxes reign marked the beginning of the decline of the Achaemenids. He was murdered by government officials, as were several of his successors.

(http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/650720/Xerxes-I) (http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=635&HistoryID=aa65&gtrack=pthc)

(book) (movie)