The Persian Empire

by John W.I. Lee

For the past 2,500 years, we've heard about the Persian Empire as a decadent civilization run by despots, the villains who lost the Battle of Marathon and supplied the fodder for bad guys in literature and film. But it turns out this image is inaccurate. As recent scholarship shows, the Persian Empire was arguably the world's first global power- a diverse, multicultural empire with flourishing businesses and people on the move. The key is to look at the Persian Empire from the Persian's perspective. Over the span of 24 fascinating lectures, you'll take on the role of a history detective to discover the truth about this grand civilization.

You'll discover the key to the empire's success lay in its greatest rulers, each of whom played a critical role in shaping and strengthening a civilization we still remember today. But while the great kings were administering justice or waging wars, everyday Persians were just as important to the success of the empire.

You'll also learn about the empire's efficient communications network; the Persian economy and the workers and entrepreneurs who supported it; the role of women in the empire, especially the influence of royal women; and the daily cultural exchanges between the diverse peoples of the empire.

Professor Lee shows you a whole new history of the ancient world - a perspective largely unknown even by students of history. These lectures capture the people, the strength, the rise and the downfall of this great empire, revealing the complexity behind centuries of a previously one-sided history. Take this opportunity to complete your understanding of the ancient world and discover the humanity of the ancient Persians.

Genres: History, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Middle East, Ancient, World History

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whoa. This wasn't fun.
The information was presented in such a dry, crunchy, boring way that I was seriously shocked. Normally, these Great Courses bring history to life, but this was just dull as dishwater.



Now, I can't give it less than 3 stars because I came out of it with a lot more information on the history of the Persian empire than I had before, but there's no way in hell I'd recommend this to anyone.
Except! Maybe if you're one of those people who like to hear about battle after battle after battle?
Because that's what it felt like.
I know there was other information in there but it was presented in such a boring way that I just...blah.
Normally there's one or two things that stick out to me in these lectures as having some kind of wow factor or just simply being a weird little hunk of information that made me smile/laugh/gasp/something.
But...I can't think of one thing.



I'm not saying don't listen to this. But I am saying that I wouldn't recommend it to the average bear.

[Vincent Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to think that I have a strong knowledge of history. But in reality, the more I learn the more I realize just how little history I know. One gap to my knowledge was the Persian Empire. I did know a few things about it. I had heard of names such as Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes. I also knew they were a behemoth of an empire and often played the Goliath to Greece's David. But that was about it.

I thought this was a great series of lectures to help learn more about this historical empire. It showed many of the stories in which the Persians played the villains in Greek history and showed them from a Persian perspective. It also showed just how little we know about this great empire. Much of the history we know about the Persians seems to come from the Greek or the Jewish people. Because of this, there seems to be a lot more information about the western side of the empire than there is about the eastern side of the empire.

I would recommend this to anybody interested in the history of the ancient world.

[Benjamin Stahl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was much more boring than it had any right or reason to. I'm not sure if it was the content itself, or just Lee's dull presentation of it. Even though he tried to tell it in parts as if it were an exciting, epic action story, I just didn't get into it and found it much drier than these "great courses" usually are.

[Yaaresse · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 if I could.
This is an older GC, and I don’t really know enough about Persian history to know if any updates are needed based on more recent archaeological findings.

The course covers the history of the Achaemenian or Persian Empire (approx. 550 BCE to 330 BCE) from the Persian point of view, rather than the Greek POV that has been beat into (most of) our heads. It is a refreshing change that illustrates that it is important to have source materials from several points of view and consider the bias of the sources when drawing conclusions about historical events.

The course content includes not just the usual battles and conquests, but also what is known about early Persian Empire culture, daily, life, and local economics. The professor made a point of talking about lower classes and women who welded power, rather than just about men in power.

My only nitpick with this course is that the presenter sometimes was repetitive, but with so many of the rulers’ throne names being similar, this may have been necessary. I enjoyed the professor’s, quiet, measured vocal style and natural, conversational delivery. He clearly is knowledgeable and excited about the subject, but doesn’t feel the need to resort to theatrics or talk down to his audience.

I wish the Teaching Company would create a followup to this course, one that picks up where Achaemenian Empire ended and brings us to modern times using this same eastern-Middle Eastern focus. While this course touched on more recent events in the last episode, it was clearly meant more as footnote than primary content.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio download, 24 30 minute lectures (heavily supplemented with online material).
This interesting lecture series provides a different point of view of the history of the Achaemenid Empire (roughly 550 to 330 BCE), often attempting to draw from sources other than the usual suspects (e.g. Herodotus & Plutarch). Characteristically (?) these sources appear to be much kinder to the 'Great Kings', down playing the (traditional?) brutality and emphasizing the kinder, gentler side (gardeners? Really?)

Dr. Lee presents in a clear and measured fashion, obviously integrating visuals into his presentation (since I was listening to the audio version I had to improvise...to those of you on a treadmill or driving this might create a challenge. Apparently other reviewers' compliments about the visuals suggest that the video versions might be better). By following online, I was not only able to visit those cities Lee noted on his travelogue, but I was able to get a bit more dialogue about the characters who built them and lived there. It took a bit longer, but it made the 'compare and contrast' aspect of the course that much more interesting.

Good course (I intend to follow it up with 'Greek and Persian Wars' and ...just for grins, 'Peloponnesian War')...and, it's a great bargain when you can get it for less than $1/lecture

[Abhi Gupte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prof. John Lee tries really hard, sometimes too hard, to negate the stereotype we have of the Persian Empire thanks to...err...Zack Snyder.

I'm really glad I listened to this course because everything I knew about the Persians was in a Greek context. Lee provides a detailed and standard account of the empire - its founding, its political history, arts, religion, and the part that I found most interesting, the economy. Some of Lee's conclusions are quite insightful, such as the fact that we, the modern people would have been more at ease in the Persian Empire than the Greek cities, given the sophistication of Persian society and economy.

One aspect that I found disappointing was the explanation of the fall of the Persian Empire. Lee attributes the precipitous collapse of the Empire at Alexander's hands to three factors - degraded military competency in a period of peace, politics surrounding Darius III and Alexander's genius. But I feel that Lee took such great pains to explain that the Empire was not in decline that he essentially drove himself into a corner. I would have liked him to explore systemic weaknesses in the Satrapy system, and dive deeper into military preparedness.

I highly recommend this course as a must-have for students of Antiquity because it dispels so many dangerous notions that we derive while studying history only from the Graeco-Roman side.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was so hilarious once I noticed the lecturer would avoid saying "Alexander the Great" by saying "Alexander of Macedon"

This is again, another course that makes me wicked sad that visiting Iraq is a Not Great idea. So many cool things to seeeeeee.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would really recommend this course as an antidote to the fiction of movies such as 300.

[Aaron Kimpton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid bit of work on the history of the Persian empire and people. Fantastic listen.

[Knut Sigurd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mest interessante eg har høyrt på lenge

[Steve Sanders · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dry and informative.

[Loren Shultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice recounting of history from a non-Greek perspective.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating and highly informative overview of the history and impact of the Persian empire.

[Mindy Schaper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting. A shame there isn't more information left. I'm mad at Alexander for burning Persepolis down. Would have been great to still have remains.

The lecturer clearly had to battle against stereotypes, as that was a major focus of the lecture. I wouldn't necessarily have known about them btw without the lecturer bringing them up.

[Jonty Watt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good course, although this wasn’t quite as interesting to me. Felt a bit repetitive at times. Could have used a bit more historical discussions about unanswered questions, given the relatively scant written evidence.

[Heather Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

My knowledge of the Persians and Persian empire really only comes from learning about the Greeks, so this was a fantastic introduction to the Persians from their side of the story.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed these lectures quite a bit. Seems to offer a pretty balanced approach to examining different sources. Good speaker. Interesting and engaging.

[Flash Sheridan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I pretty much agree with the other favorable reviews on the company’s web site, and also with the complaint about the shifts between traditional chronological lectures and trendy thematic ones. But the thematic lectures actually were pretty information-dense, and avoided the vacuity of, for instance, “Between the Rivers.” The two lectures on a hypothetical journey around the empire worked quite well, except that it was inexcusable that the course guide lacked a map of the journey, or even of the empire. Overall I agree that this is a valuable lecture course for understanding an important, neglected, and sometimes unfairly denigrated source of our civilization. I would particularly recommend it to politicians currently making a mess of foreign policy.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really liked this particular addition to the Great Courses. Lee was knowledgeable, engaging, and presented the information in a way that drew me in more than a lot of other works do. I highly recommend for those reading more about any of the many genres and subjects that I've shelved this under.

[Jokim Toon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay! Finally a course that tries to present the Persian Empire from the Persian perspective, not primarily through the Greek lens. Also, a great balance of event history and cultural history. Exactly what I was looking for.

[Icyfarrell · Rating 4 out of 5]

开头几讲老师略紧张放不开，感觉连玩笑也是在念稿，后面讲得流畅多了。波斯帝国的管理制度太松散了，国民也没有认同度，以至于倒了也就倒了，皇帝一完也就完了。就可惜太古早了，好多事都没有史料和证据留下。不过，罗马帝国的路也是沿着波斯帝国的路修的，果然大帝国交通方便才是第一要紧。

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t make it through the whole thing. It was very interesting to learn about this ancient civilization that laid the foundation for so much of the Middle East, and beyond.

[Behrooz Parhami · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this course by accident and was delighted by its content and by the fact that it is taught by a distinguished UCSB colleague, John W. I. Lee. Professor Lee has many academic honors to his name, including an Academic Senate Distinguished Teaching Award and the Harold J. Plous Memorial Award.

Professor Lee aims to corrects the negative view of the Persian Empire, which emerged from accounts by the Greek, leading to Persians being depicted in histories and films as the bad guys, the villains who were ruled by despotic leaders and lost the Battle of Marathon. Examining the Persian Empire from the Persian perspective yields a vastly different picture. We see the Persian Empire as a major force with a lasting influence on the world in terms of administration, economics, religion, and architecture.

Professor Lee tells us that as part of his research for this course, he studied American textbooks from the 1800s and 1900s. In 19th-century textbooks, writers go from describing the Persians fairly positively to calling them despotic, decadent, barbaric Orientals. By 1900, a popular textbook summed up the new view: One Greek was better than 10 Asiatics! And Hollywood (e.g., in the film "300") helped perpetuate the negative view.

The sources used by Professor Lee include:

- Greek historical writings, which are obviously biased, but because Persians did not write their own history, Greek writings remain important sources, when checked against other corroborating evidence.

- Stories in the Hebrew Bible, which are likely overly idealized.

- Travelers and their writings.

- Archaeological discoveries, including accounts of the same events in three different languages, which facilitated decoding and allowed cross-checking.

- Thousands of Persepolis tablets, found during a fortification project, which contained official royal or governmental records.

- Documents in Aramaic, flowing from Egypt, where the dry weather provided the requisite conditions for preservation.

The Persian Empire [559-323 BCE] was arguably the world's first global power. A diverse, multicultural empire with flourishing businesses and people on the move; an empire of information, made possible by a highly advanced infrastructure that included roads, canals, bridges, and a courier system. And the kings of Persia's Achaemenid dynasty (notably Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes) presided over an empire that created a tremendous legacy for subsequent history.

Professor Lee discusses many of the aspects named above in nearly chronological order: From the founding of the Empire; through capitals, palaces, & roads, challenges & battles, expansion, cultures & religion, city & country life, and the role of women; to the Empire's dissolution and its legacies.

According to Professor Lee, history of the Persian Empire isn't a static subject. Just as new discoveries in recent decades have created significant changes in our views, future archaeological discoveries will likely bring about additional changes.

For a list of the 24 lectures and a brief description of each, see the following Web page:
https://www.thegreatcourses.com/cours...

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be careful when you decide to read this book. This isn’t the Persia that fought with Rome or that went head-to-head with Byzantium before the armies of Islam rode out of Arabia and conquered it. This is the original Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great and eventually defeated by Alexander the Great. This is the original bogeyman of the west. The Persia of Darius and Xerxes who invaded Greece and battled at places like Marathon and Thermopylae. And it’s a totally fascinating polity to study.

First off, Lee does an excellent job of setting the scene, reminding readers that most of what westerners know about Persia came through Greek eyes and therefore suffers from a bias of seeing the empire as a great and frightening monolith trying to swallow their world. Lee succeeds in showing the empire in its own right for good and for ill and explaining its strengths and weaknesses as it first expanded and then pivoted to try and maintain stability and territorial integrity. In doing so, he explodes a lot of myths that have come into existence, mostly in response to more modern political movements attempting to use ancient Persia for their own ends. For example, the Persians did keep slaves as did most everyone else in the world at that time. They also afforded wealthy and politically connected women a greater amount of rights and influence than has been commonly believed—certainly more so than Athens did at this time. Lee also takes the time to examine Persian culture and the diversity of the many parts of its empire—most of whom were subjects, not Persians.

I think the part I enjoyed the most was Lee’s explanation of how the success of Persian rulers in creating peace and stability within their empire put them at a disadvantage when Alexander the Great invaded. Alexander’s army was packed with experienced hoplites and generals. Persia’s army was mostly composed of raw recruits and of leaders who had not led men to war before. Persia had much greater resources and they learned from their losses, but ultimately that wasn’t enough to preserve them from conquest by Alexander the Great.

[Esoteric Grimoire · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Persian Empire" is a series of lectures provided by the Great Courses and taught by eminent professor of ancient history Dr. John W.I. Lee, a specialist in Iranian history at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Dr. Lee provides the listener with a plethora of wonderful facts and new scholarship on the topic of the Persian Empire of Achaemenid dynasty, starting with the exploits and victories of it's founder Cyrus the Great (600-530 BCE) to it's ultimate destruction by Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE). The "new" sources tapped by Lee are the cylinder seals and records discovered across the Near East, generally written in Aramaic and Akkadian Cuneiform that have been awaiting translation. Lee speaks about these "new" sources as expanding the modern understanding of the Persian Empire beyond the records of the Ancient Israelites and Greeks, the former who held the Persians in awe and respect for their help in rebuilding the Temple and ending the Babylonian Captivity, and the latter who viewed the Persians as oppressors and despots. Lee also provides an interesting dive into the social and economic life of the Persian Empire, examining road and trade networks as well as the religious beliefs of the Persians. I would highly recommend this Great Course to anyone who is trying to fill in their knowledge of ancient history beyond the usual Greek sources.

[Peter Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I downloaded this course I thought the Persian Empire was later in history than it actually was. The Persians were constantly at war with Ancient Greece not Ancient Rome.

Growing up I often went to the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. It is on the East Side of Providence, near Brown University. My parents took me. My father had very definite ideas about art. When he proclaimed that something was good or bad it was like a judgement of God. His favorite paintings were a green pumpkin by Matisse and some landscapes by Cezanne. I preferred a picture of Perseus rescuing Andromeda. I also like the Persian Miniature paintings. Now I know a little about the culture that created them.

My father briefly went to the School of Design before heading off to Black Mountain College. When I living at the Providence YMCA I sometimes walked over to the School of Design’s cafeteria. For a couple of dollars I could have lunch there. I often ate a lot, especially desserts. The food always looked better than it tasted. At the time I had just dropped out of high school. I didn’t really fit in with the art crowd. I dressed in sweats most of the time and I couldn’t understand why the fashionable students got so dressed up. They seemed like an alien race.

[Yas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best and most informative books I’ve ever read / listened to, and I’m so glad I had the chance to come across and borrow it from the library.
Those who complain about it being boring should know it’s full of information and every detail is important to note, as you revisit the concepts later. It’s not some sort of juicy romance you’d mindlessly put on the background and still grasp the story.

What I really loved is how the Persian empire helped shape so many cultures all throughout history without getting the recognition, thanks to them mainly respecting the local cultures, traditions, languages, and religions - unlike many of the later emperlialists and colonizers that brought about nothing but looting and destruction.

I listened to this mostly with my partner and we were both so fascinated by each chapter. Though the ending was very sad, it made me appreciate so many things that the modern day Iran and other cultures owe to the Persian empire and the culture, as well as the myths that were debunked - equally important.

I would have really loved to have a follow-up / similar course regarding the Arab invasion of Persia and the untold stories. Maybe one day!

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated that the lecturer did not exclusively rehash the same Greek sources again, a problem I have noticed in the Great Courses ancient history offerings, but made a solid effort to pull equally from Persian and Babylonian records and archaeological investigations. I particularly appreciated the lectures where he digs into the financial records of family businesses under the empire and administrative records of local women rulers.

I would have liked more information about the linguistic makeup of the empire, particularly the evolution of Persian as a written administrative language.

The lecturer just barely touches on the fascinating topic of Persian gardens and the ideal of the gardener-king, something I would like an entire lecture series about.

[AStitchTooFar · Rating 4 out of 5]

For me this was a great way to get better acquainted with the Persian Empire. The chapters are short and well rounded. There is also some recurrence of previously mentioned places and people, which help give the whole series a well rounded feel. The author touches on a lot of cultural and historical topics, such as the geografphical and historical span of the empire, role of women, food and drink, trade, language and customs, politics and warfare. Would recommend if you're looking for a comprehensive overview. Might be better to read as hardcopy instead of audiobook, although the audiobook comes with a very comprehensive pdf with additional resources and lists of names and places. But I tend to multitask when listening to an audiobook so I didn't really dive into those while listening.

[Stennett Eberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic course and broadened my knowledge of the Persians in the context of world history. Several interesting thoughts: The Persians were the first people to bring people from the East and the West into close contact and their tolerance of local customs and religions (such as Cyrus’s permitting the Jew to return) was at least partly from necessity. There were only about 1 million Persians in an empire of 25 million people. Also the Persians were probably victims of their own success by the time Alexander came and conquered them. Their successes at diplomacy in the 4th century led them into a long period of peace that left them ill-prepared for the “charging he goat.”