and from Egypt in the south to Afghanistan and Central Asia in the north. This huge territory was in the first place brought together by the founder of the empire, Cyrus II (c. 559–529 BCE), who added Media (central Iran), Asia Minor, the eastern Iranian regions, Mesopotamia, and the Levant to his small kingdom of Anshan. Despite his short reign, Cyrus' son and successor, Cambyses II (529–522 BCE), was able to conquer Egypt, and his successor, Darius I (521–486 BCE), took some areas in the north (Scythia), Thrace, and the lower Indus valley (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Map of the Achaemenid Empire.
Source: Reproduced by permission of Jan Tavernier.
The Achaemenids were proud of the geographical hugeness of their realm, as can be seen in the royal inscriptions DPh and DH (Darius I):
This (is) the kingdom which I hold, from the Saka who are beyond Sogdiana, from there as far as Kush, from the Indus as far as Sardis, which Ahuramazda, the greatest among gods, bestowed upon me.
This consciousness is also present in the words of Cyrus the Younger, transmitted by Xenophon (Anab. 1.7.6). By these words Cyrus identifies the Achaemenid Empire with the inhabited world:
My father's realm extends toward the south to a region where men cannot dwell by reason of the heat, and to the north to a region where they cannot dwell by reason of the cold.
Finally, the hugeness of the Achaemenid Empire also impressed some Greek authors, such as Xenophon (Cyrop. 1.1.3), who writes that
Cyrus, a Persian, acquired very many people, very many cities and very many nations.
The Internal Ethnic Diversity of the Achaemenid Empire
In the Achaemenid Royal Ideology
The internal diversity too of the realm was frequently referred to in the Achaemenid inscriptions. It is expressed literally (in combination with the geographical extent) in DPg, a Babylonian inscription from Persepolis:
A great (god is) Ahuramazda, who …, and bestowed on Darius the king kingship over this wide earth, in which there are many lands: Persia, Media and the other lands of other tongues, of mountains and plains, from this side of the sea to that side of the sea, from this side of the desert to that side of the desert.
Also in other inscriptions, various expressions illustrate the consciousness of the Achaemenid kings with regard to the diversity and extent of their kingdom:
1 Paruzana‐ “containing many (kinds) of men”: This lexeme is attested in the royal title, in the formula xšāyaθiya dahyunām paruzanānām “king of countries containing many kinds of men” (DE 15–16, XE 15–16, A1Pa 11–12). It is two times written paruvzanānām (XPb 15–16, XPd 11) and five times, in texts from Xerxes, it is split in two: paruv zanānām (XPa 8, XPc 7, XPf 11, XPh 9, XV 12).
2 Vispazana‐ “containing all (kinds) of men”: Also attested in the same royal formula xšāyaθiya dahyunām vispazanānām “king of countries containing all kinds of men” (DNa 10–11, DSe 9, DZc 5). It seems that paruzana‐ gradually replaced vispazana‐ as expression par excellence for the ethnic diversity of the Achaemenid Empire.
3 Visadahyu‐ “of all countries”: name of a gate in Persepolis (XPa 12).
These words were firmly established in the Achaemenid royal ideology and were that specific that the Elamite (and once a Babylonian) versions simply transcribed the Old Persian words into their own languages:
1 Paruzana‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 35 no. 1.4.2.3): El. bar‐ru‐za‐na‐° and ba‐ru‐za‐na‐°. Note that the Elamites also used a genuine Elamite word to translate this expression: iršekki (XPc 11–12).
2 Visadana‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 78 no. 2.4.2.1): El. mi‐iš‐šá‐da‐na‐°. Old Persian variant of the “Median” form vispazana‐.
3 Vispadana‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 78 no. 2.4.2.2): El. mi‐iš‐ba‐da‐na‐°. Old Persian–Median Mischform.
4 Vispazana‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 78 no. 1.4.2.5): Attested in the Elamite version of DPa (mi‐iš‐ba‐za‐na), although it does not appear in the original Old Persian version.
5 Visadahyu‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 37 no. 1.4.8.4): Attested in the Elamite version of XPa (mi‐iš‐šá‐da‐a‐hu‐iš).
6 Visadahyu‐ (Tavernier 2007a: p. 80 no. 2.4.8.1): Attested in the Babylonian version of XPa (ú‐’‐is‐pi‐da‐a‐’‐i).
The Babylonians used more of their own lexicon to translate the Old Persian expressions: Paruzana‐ became ša napar lišānu “of all tongues” (XPa 7, XPc 10, XPd 11, XPh 6; XV 12) or ša napar lišānata (DE 15–16). Vispazana‐ was translated by the same expression in DNa 5 and DSe 6.
Interestingly, vispazana‐ and its variants are also attested in documentary texts from Persepolis (Fortification and Treasury Texts) but in a much more mundane way than in the inscriptions. The adjective applies to horses (NN 0726), fowls (NN 574, 790, 1664, 1674; PF 1747–1749), and cereals (PF 1223). In PT 79 the context is less clear and the adjective could refer to laborers or to a part of a building.
Furthermore, the multiethnic character of the Achaemenid Empire also appears on two other levels in the Achaemenid royal inscriptions (Briant 1996: pp. 184–186): the satrapy lists and the “Foundation Chart” of Susa.
Five inscriptions (DB, DPe, DSe, DNa, XPh) have a list of lands subject to the Achaemenid king. The lands mentioned are the following:
| DB | DPe | DSe | DNa | XPh |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Persia | Elam | Media | Media | Media |
| Elam | Media | Elam | Elam | Elam |
| Babylonia | Babylonia | Parthia | Parthia | Arachosia |
| Assyria | Arabia | Aria | Aria | Armenia |
| Arabia | Assyria | Bactria | Bactria | Drangiana |
| Egypt | Egypt |
Sogdiana
|
