A report on Achaemenid Empire, Sardis, Alexander the Great and Royal Road

Alexander riding Bucephalus on a Roman mosaic

The map of Achaemenid Empire and the section of the Royal Road noted by Herodotus

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent under the rule of Darius I (522 BC–486 BC)

Alexander III riding Bucephalus on a Roman mosaic

Map of Sardis and other cities within the Lydian Empire

Map of The Kingdom of Macedon in 336 BC, birthplace of Alexander

Roman medallion depicting Olympias, Alexander's mother

Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories

Archaeological Site of Pella, Greece, Alexander's birthplace

Cyrus the Great is said, in the Bible, to have liberated the Hebrew captives in Babylon to resettle and rebuild Jerusalem, earning him an honored place in Judaism.

Remains of the Greek Byzantine shops and the Bath-Gymnasium Complex in Sardis

Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father

The tomb of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire. At Pasargadae, Iran.

Battle plan from the Battle of Chaeronea

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent, c. 500 BC

Remains of the Byzantine churches at Sardis

Pausanius assassinates Philip II, Alexander's father, during his procession into the theatre

The Persian queen Atossa, daughter of Cyrus the Great, sister-wife of Cambyses II, Darius the Great's wife, and mother of Xerxes the Great

The emblema of the Stag Hunt Mosaic, c. 300 BC, from Pella; the figure on the right is possibly Alexander the Great due to the date of the mosaic along with the depicted upsweep of his centrally-parted hair (anastole); the figure on the left wielding a double-edged axe (associated with Hephaistos) is perhaps Hephaestion, one of Alexander's loyal companions.

Map showing events of the first phases of the Greco-Persian Wars

The Macedonian phalanx at the "Battle of the Carts" against the Thracians in 335 BC

Greek hoplite and Persian warrior depicted fighting, on an ancient kylix, 5th century BC

Achaemenid king fighting hoplites, seal and seal holder, Cimmerian Bosporus.

Gérard Audran after Charles LeBrun, 'Alexander Entering Babylon,' original print first published 1675, engraving, Department of Image Collections, National Gallery of Art Library, Washington, DC.

Achaemenid gold ornaments, Brooklyn Museum

Sardes wall tile with three dimensional effect.

Alexander Cuts the Gordian Knot (1767) by Jean-Simon Berthélemy

Persian Empire timeline including important events and territorial evolution – 550–323 BC

Name of Alexander the Great in Egyptian hieroglyphs (written from right to left), c. 332 BC, Egypt. Louvre Museum.

Relief showing Darius I offering lettuces to the Egyptian deity Amun-Ra Kamutef, Temple of Hibis

Site of the Persian Gate in modern-day Iran; the road was built in the 1990s.

The 24 countries subject to the Achaemenid Empire at the time of Darius, on the Egyptian statue of Darius I.

Administrative document from Bactria dated to the seventh year of Alexander's reign (324 BC), bearing the first known use of the "Alexandros" form of his name, Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents

The Battle of Issus, between Alexander the Great on horseback to the left, and Darius III in the chariot to the right, represented in a Pompeii mosaic dated 1st century BC – Naples National Archaeological Museum

The Killing of Cleitus, by André Castaigne (1898–1899)

Alexander's first victory over Darius, the Persian king depicted in medieval European style in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles

Silver tetradrachm of Alexander the Great found in Byblos (ca 330-300 bc.) (BnF 1998–859; 17,33g; Byblos, Price 3426b)

Frataraka dynasty ruler Vadfradad I (Autophradates I). 3rd century BC. Istakhr (Persepolis) mint.

The Phalanx Attacking the Centre in the Battle of the Hydaspes by André Castaigne (1898–1899)

Dārēv I (Darios I) used for the first time the title of mlk (King). 2nd century BC.

Alexander's invasion of the Indian subcontinent

Winged sphinx from the Palace of Darius in Susa, Louvre

Asia in 323 BC, the Nanda Empire and the Gangaridai of the Indian subcontinent, in relation to Alexander's Empire and neighbours

Volume of annual tribute per district, in the Achaemenid Empire, according to Herodotus.

Alexander (left) and Hephaestion (right): Both were connected by a tight friendship

Achaemenid tax collector, calculating on an Abax or Abacus, according to the Darius Vase (340–320 BC).

Alexander at the Tomb of Cyrus the Great, by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes (1796)

Letter from the Satrap of Bactria to the governor of Khulmi, concerning camel keepers, 353 BC

A Babylonian astronomical diary (c. 323–322 BC) recording the death of Alexander (British Museum, London)

Relief of throne-bearing soldiers in their native clothing at the tomb of Xerxes I, demonstrating the satrapies under his rule.

19th-century depiction of Alexander's funeral procession, based on the description by Diodorus Siculus

Achaemenid king killing a Greek hoplite. c. 500 BC–475 BC, at the time of Xerxes I. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Detail of Alexander on the Alexander Sarcophagus

Persian soldiers (left) fighting against Scythians. Cylinder seal impression.

Kingdoms of the Diadochi in 301 BC: the Ptolemaic Kingdom (dark blue), the Seleucid Empire (yellow), Kingdom of Pergamon (orange), and Kingdom of Macedon (green). Also shown are the Roman Republic (light blue), the Carthaginian Republic (purple), and the Kingdom of Epirus (red).

Color reconstruction of Achaemenid infantry on the Alexander Sarcophagus (end of 4th century BC).

A coin of Alexander the Great struck by Balakros or his successor Menes, both former somatophylakes (bodyguards) of Alexander, when they held the position of satrap of Cilicia in the lifetime of Alexander, circa 333-327 BC. The obverse shows Heracles, ancestor of the Macedonian royal line and the reverse shows a seated Zeus Aëtophoros.

Seal of Darius the Great hunting in a chariot, reading "I am Darius, the Great King" in Old Persian (𐎠𐎭𐎶𐏐𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁𐎴 𐏋, "adam Dārayavaʰuš xšāyaθiya"), as well as in Elamite and Babylonian. The word "great" only appears in Babylonian. British Museum.

Achaemenid calvalryman in the satrapy of Hellespontine Phrygia, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Armoured cavalry: Achaemenid Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi, Altıkulaç Sarcophagus, early 4th century BC.

Reconstitution of Persian landing ships at the Battle of Marathon.

Greek ships against Achaemenid ships at the Battle of Salamis.

Alexander (left), wearing a kausia and fighting an Asiatic lion with his friend Craterus (detail); late 4th century BC mosaic, Pella Museum

Iconic relief of lion and bull fighting, Apadana of Persepolis

A Roman copy of an original 3rd century BC Greek bust depicting Alexander the Great, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen

Achaemenid golden bowl with lioness imagery of Mazandaran

A mural in Pompeii, depicting the marriage of Alexander to Barsine (Stateira) in 324 BC; the couple are apparently dressed as Ares and Aphrodite.

The Hellenistic world view: world map of Eratosthenes (276–194 BC), using information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors

A section of the Old Persian part of the trilingual Behistun inscription. Other versions are in Babylonian and Elamite.

A copy of the Behistun inscription in Aramaic on a papyrus. Aramaic was the lingua franca of the empire.

Dedication of Alexander the Great to Athena Polias at Priene, now housed in the British Museum

Alexander's empire was the largest state of its time, covering approximately 5.2 million square km.

The Buddha, in Greco-Buddhist style, 1st to 2nd century AD, Gandhara, northern Pakistan. Tokyo National Museum.

This medallion was produced in Imperial Rome, demonstrating the influence of Alexander's memory. Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.

The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven wonders of the ancient world, was built by Greek architects for the local Persian satrap of Caria, Mausolus (Scale model)

Alexander in a 14th-century Armenian manuscript

Alexander in a 14th-century Byzantine manuscript

Reconstruction of the Palace of Darius at Susa. The palace served as a model for Persepolis.

Alexander conquering the air. Jean Wauquelin, Les faits et conquêtes d'Alexandre le Grand, 1448–1449

Lion on a decorative panel from Darius I the Great's palace, Louvre

Folio from the Shahnameh showing Alexander praying at the Kaaba, mid-16th century

Detail of a 16th-century Islamic painting depicting Alexander being lowered in a glass submersible

Apadana Hall, Persian and Median soldiers at Persepolis

A Hellenistic bust of a young Alexander the Great, possibly from Ptolemaic Egypt, 2nd-1st century BC, now in the British Museum

Lateral view of tomb of Cambyses II, Pasargadae, Iran

A fresco depicting a hunt scene at the tomb of Philip II, Alexander's father, at the Archaeological Site of Aigai, the only known depiction of Alexander made during his lifetime, 330s BC

Plaque with horned lion-griffins. The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Royal Road was an ancient highway reorganized and rebuilt by the Persian king Darius the Great (Darius I) of the first (Achaemenid) Persian Empire in the 5th century BC. Darius built the road to facilitate rapid communication on the western part of his large empire from Susa to Sardis.

- Royal Road

Sardis was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Lydia, one of the important cities of the Persian Empire, the seat of a Seleucid Satrap, the seat of a proconsul under the Roman Empire, and the metropolis of the province Lydia in later Roman and Byzantine times.

- Sardis

The Achaemenid Empire is known for imposing a successful model of centralized, bureaucratic administration via the use of satraps; its multicultural policy; building infrastructure, such as road systems and a postal system; the use of an official language across its territories; and the development of civil services, including its possession of a large, professional army.

- Achaemenid Empire

The Macedonian king Alexander the Great, himself an ardent admirer of Cyrus the Great, conquered most of the Achaemenid Empire by 330 BC. Upon Alexander's death, most of the former territory of the empire fell to the rule of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic Kingdom and Seleucid Empire after the partition of Alexander’s empire, until the Iranian elites of the central plateau finally reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire by the 2nd century BC.

- Achaemenid Empire

In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years.

- Alexander the Great

In the Persian era, Sardis was conquered by Cyrus the Great and formed the end station for the Persian Royal Road which began in Persepolis, capital of Persia.

- Sardis

The road also helped Persia increase long-distance trade, which reached its peak during the time of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon).

- Royal Road

Sardis remained under Persian domination until it surrendered to Alexander the Great in 334 BC.

- Sardis

Cyrus led a counterattack which not only fought off Croesus' armies, but also led to the capture of Sardis and the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. Cyrus placed Pactyes in charge of collecting tribute in Lydia and left, but once Cyrus had left Pactyes instigated a rebellion against Cyrus.

- Achaemenid Empire

After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities.

- Alexander the Great

He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road.

- Alexander the Great

A report on Achaemenid Empire, Sardis, Alexander the Great and Royal Road

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