The Fall Of The Great Empires, Storm Over Persia

2,500 years ago Persia was a great empire; regarded as the forerunner of the Roman Empire. However in spite of its size & strength it had an adversary that would seal its doom. Persia’s nemesis was a smaller empire – Macedon; ruled by Alexander The Great. This documentary shows how the failure of one king can lead to the downfall of a whole empire and how Alexander could manage to win against his superiour enemy – The Persians.

The Persian Empire was formed under Cyrus the Great, who took over the empire of the Medes, and conquered much of the Middle East, including the territories of the Babylonians, Assyrians, the Phoenicians, and the Lydians. Cambyses, Son of Cyrus the Great, continued his conquests by conquering Egypt. The Achaemenid Persian Empire was ended during the Wars of Alexander the Great, but Persian Empire arose again under the Parthian and Sassanid Empires of Iran, followed by Iranian post-Islamic Empires like Safavids, up to the modern day Iran.

The Fall Of The Great Empires, Storm Over Persia

Achaemenid Persia occupies a very important place among the great civilizations of the ancient world. In 550 BC., Cyrus, one of those rare leaders towards whom one cannot help but gravitate, laid the foundation of the largest empire the world had ever seen. His empire was quite unique because it was built on a model of tolerance and respect for other cultures and religions. So much so that the Old Testament regards Cyrus as the savior of the Jews from Babylonian captivity; while Xenophon, the 4th century BC Greek historian, refers to him as a man of wisdom, resilient spirit and guilelessness.

After Cyrus, Darius the Great elevated the Persian Empire to its zenith. The Empire now extended from the borders of India east to Greece on the Mediterranean, down to Egypt and Ethiopia in Africa and up to what is now Russia and Eastern Europe.

Twenty-eight different nations were brought together under the rule of a man who was hailed as “the King of the Kings”. It was under his rule that for the first time a standard weighing system was devised, Old Persian cuneiform script was invented, and gold and silver coins were minted and used throughout the Empire. As an administrator and a builder, Darius was brilliant. In Egypt, he had a canal dug between the Nile and the Red Sea, anticipating the modern Suez Canal. In order to govern their vast empire, the Achaemenid kings established not one but four capitals cities in various strategic region: Babylon, Susa, Ecbatana and finally the most magnificent of them, Parsa or Persepolis, which was known in its day as the “richest city under the sun”.

See Persepolis as it was 2500 years ago. Starting with the work of the German scholar Friedrich Krefter, who spend decades creating a model for a reconstructed Persepolis, film maker Farzin Rezaian and his team have produced Persepolis Recreated, a documentary that tries to visualize the beauty and dazzling splendor of Persepolitan palaces before their sad destruction by Alexander.

Enjoy ‘Persepolis Recreated’ by Sunrise Films, 2005.
An extraordinary documentary with excellent computerized 3D reconstruction.
Duration: 41 minutes.

Persepolis Recreated

Iran: Seven Faces of Civilization

Engineering An Empire: The Persians (History Channel program) 
Source: History Channel

The Persian Empire was one of the most mysterious civilizations in the ancient world. Persia became an empire under the Cyrus the Great, who created a policy of religious and cultural tolerance that became the hallmark of Persian rule. Engineering feats include an innovative system of water management; a cross-continent paved roadway stretching 1500 miles; a canal linking the Nile to the Red Sea; and the creation of one of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Mausoleum of Maussollos. The rivalry between Persia and Athens led to a 30-year war known as the Persian Wars, the outcome of which helped create the world we live in today. Peter Weller hosts.

“Engineering an Empire” The Persians (2006)