CHAPTER VII. MEDIA AND PERSIA, SECTION I.-PLATEAU OF IRAN AND PERSIAN THE great Medo-Persian Empire was the first of the three greatest empires of antiquity; the other two being those of Alexander the Great, which comprehended very near the same regions and territories, and the Roman. The Medo-Persian was thus the first of the great ancient Asiatic empires, covering the widest territorial area, and was four times as large as the Assyrian had been; being about three thousand miles in extent from east to west, and from five hundred to fifteen hundred miles from north to south, covering an area of about two million square miles. It extended from the Hyphasis and the Sutlej on the east to the African desert, the Mediterranean, the Ægean and the Euxine on the west; and from the Euxine, the Caucasus, the Caspian, the Oxus and the Jaxartes on the north to the frontiers of Ethiopia, Arabia, the Persian Gulf and the Erythræan Sea (now Arabian Sea) on the south. In this vast domain were various races and many tribes and nations, likewise every variety of soil and climate, and different kinds of animal, vegetable and mineral productions. The Medo-Persian Empire was the first of the great ancient Oriental monarchies which really was an empire; being more compact and centralized than any of those which had preceded it, such as the Assyrian, Median and Babylonian, which were mere collections of kingdoms, each with its own sovereign, its own laws and institutions, acknowledging the supremacy of the great monarch whose arms had triumphed over their kingdom; while the empire now under consideration was a vast dominion comprising many nations whose kings had been dethroned, and which all formed provinces ruled by satraps appointed by the MedoPersian monarch. Extent, Area and Compactness of the Persian Medo Empire. Its The countries included as provinces, or satrapies, in the Medo- Provinces Persian Empire were Media, Persia, Susiana, Babylonia, Assyria, Armenia, Iberia, Colchis, Asia Minor, Cyprus, Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, 447 and Its Neigh bors. |