By 539 BC, Cyrus had conquered vast areas of land, including Babylonia, Palestine, Syria, and Asia Minor. (The Bible mentions Cyrus as the liberator of Jews who had been held captive in Babylon.)
Cyrus was also noted for his humane policies. For example, he allowed his conquered subjects to keep their own religion. In fact, the Persians adopted much from the culture of the lands they controlled, including Iran, and this greatly enriched Persian culture. The Persians constructed magnificent buildings and good roads and even established shipping lines.
Darius and Xerxes were other well-known kings who further expanded the Achaemenid Empire, creating the largest empire of the time. Persia soldiers were excellent archers. In war, ranks of bowmen would shoot hundreds of arrows at the enemy from a long distance, thus overwhelming the enemy before hand-to-hand fighting began.
However, the Persians were unable to defeat the Greeks. The Persians were driven back by the numerically inferior Greeks at Marathon in 490 BC and Salamis in 480 BC.
The Achaemenid Empire came to an end with the conquest of Persepolis by Alexander the Great in 330 BC.
Referensi:
Rajendra V, Kaplan G, Rajendra R. 2006. Cultures of the World: Iran. New York, United States: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. p.16.
