Persia

CE5

Persian Empire (c.500 b.c.)

Persia pûrˈzhə, –shə [key], old alternate name for the Asian country Iran. The article Iran contains a description of the geography and economy of the modern country and a short account of its history since the Arab invasion of the 7th cent. This article is concerned with the history of the ancient Persian Empire, in which present-day Iran has its roots.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• The Sassanid Dynasty
• The Seleucids and the Parthian Empire
• Decay of the Empire
• Darius I and His Immediate Successors
• Cyrus the Great
• The Achaemenids
• Origins of the Persian Empire
• Bibliography

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2025, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Ancient History, Middle East