ABSTRACT
The Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest political entity of its day. Founded c.550 bce by Cyrus the Great, it rapidly swallowed up the Median, Lydian and Babylonian kingdoms, adding Egypt c.525. At its greatest extent it extended from the Indus River to the Danube, and included such disparate places as Sogdiana, Egypt, and even, for a time, Athens (Figure 9.4.1). For two centuries it was the dominant political power in the Near East and eastern Mediterranean, until its destruction by Alexander the Great c.330 bce (Briant 2002).
