Zagros Archaeological Researches

Zagros Archaeological Researches

The border between war and peace in Achaemenid political idea

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Department of history of Iran. institute for humanities and cultural studies
Abstract
Abstract
The Achaemenids (330-550 BC) controlled a vast territory consisting of subordinate nations with their own religion, culture, art, and administrative structure. They realized that they could not control such a vast territory with military force, so they emphasized two-way interaction between the king and the subordinate nations to govern their various regions. The king guaranteed peace and tranquility in these lands in return for loyalty to him. However, during the Achaemenid period, some nations sometimes rebelled and were faced with repression by the central government. This research seeks to answer the question of how and under what conditions the Pax Persica was violated? The present article collects data through library studies and presents the results through historical descriptive analysis. The result indicates that the rebellion of the vassal lands meant disrupting the divine order, and in these cases the Achaemenid kings were forced to violate the Pax Persica. The laws were quite clear and the Achaemenid kings clearly stated their position on this matter in royal inscriptions. So, as long as that land did not commit any act contrary to peace and loyalty to the King, it would coexist peacefully with the center of the empire and benefit from all laws of tolerance in various administrative, cultural, religious, etc. fields, and could even maintain its independence and internal autonomy. But if he acted contrary to maintaining peace and loyalty to the king, then he would be faced with the other side of the coin of tolerance, that is, punishment.
Keywords: Achaemenids, Pax Persica, rebellion, subordinate nations.

Keywords
Subjects

References
Boyce, Mary. 1996. A History of Zoroastrianism: The Achaemenian Period, Vol. 2. Translated by Homayoun Sanatizadeh. Tehran: Toos Publications. (in Persian)
Briant, Pierre. 2002. The Achaemenid Empire, Vols. 1–2. Translated by Nahid Foroughan. 2nd ed. Tehran: Farzan and Ghatreh Publications. (in Persian)
Briant, Pierre. 2007. Political Unity and Cultural Interaction in the Achaemenid Empire. Translated by Nahid Foroughan. Tehran: Akhtaran Publications. (in Persian)
Briant, Pierre. 2009. “Central Power and Cultural Polycentrism in the Achaemenid Empire.” In Achaemenid History, Vol. 1, edited by Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg, translated by Morteza Saghebfar, 31–74. Tehran: Toos Publications. (in Persian)
Briant, Pierre. 2009. “The Ruling Ethnic Group and Subject Populations in the Achaemenid Empire: The Case of Egypt.” In Achaemenid History, Vol. 3, edited by Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg et al., translated by Morteza Saghebfar, 203–252. Tehran: Toos Publications. (in Persian)
Brosius, M. 2012. Persian Diplomacy Between “Pax Persica” and “Zero- Tolerance, in: J. Milker (ed.), Maintaining Peace and Interstate Stability in Archaic and Classical Greece, Germany: verlagAntike, pp 150-163.
Brosius, Maria. 2009. Ancient Persia. Translated by Isa Abdi. Tehran: Mahi Publications. (in Persian)
Brosius. M. 2010. Pax Persica and peoples of the Blak sea Region: Extent and Limits of Achaemenid Imperial Ideology. In J. Neiling and E. Rehm (eds), Achaemenid Impact in The Black Sea Communication of Powers (Aarhus), 29-40.
Dandamaev, Muhammad A. 2015. Political History of the Achaemenids. Translated by Farid Javaherkalam. 2nd ed. Tehran: Farzan Rooz Publications. (in Persian)
Dandamaev, Muhammad A. 2016. Iran under the Early Achaemenid Kings (Sixth Century BCE). Translated by Rouhi Arbab. 5th ed. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publications. (in Persian)
Eslami Nodoushan, Mohammad Ali. 1999. Iran and Greece in the Context of Antiquity. Tehran: Enteshar Publishing Company. (in Persian)
Farrokh, Kaveh. 2011. Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War. Translated by Pedram Khazaei. Kermanshah: Taq-e Bostan Publications. (in Persian)
Garthwaite, Gene Ralph. 2008. The Persians: A Political History of Iran from the Achaemenid Empire to the Present. Translated by Gholamreza Alibabai. Tehran: Akhtaran Publications. (in Persian)
Ghirshman, Jacques Duchesne. 1996. The Religion of Ancient Iran. Translated by Roya Monajem. Tehran: Fekr-e Rooz Publications. (in Persian)
Herodotus. 2023. The Histories of Herodotus. Translated by Morteza Saghebfar. 7th ed. Tehran: Asatir Publications. (in Persian)
Herzfeld, E. 1935. Archaeological history of Iran, British Academy.
Hinnells, John R. 1994. Persian Mythology. Translated by Zhaleh Amoozgar and Ahmad Tafazzoli. Babol: Avishan Publications in cooperation with Cheshmeh Publications, Tehran. (in Persian)
Hinz, Walther. 2017. Darius and the Persians: The History and Culture of the Achaemenid Civilization. Translated by Parviz Rajabi. Tehran: Mahi Publications. (in Persian)
Holland, Tom. 2017. Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West. Translated by Mani Salehi Allameh. Tehran: Akhtaran Publications. (in Persian)
Israel, Gérard. 2003. Cyrus the Great: Founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Translated by Morteza Saghebfar. 4th ed. Tehran: Ghoghnoos Publications. (in Persian)
Lincoln, B. 2007. Religion, Empire, and Torture. The Case of Achaemenian Persia, with a Postscript on AbuCharib. Chicago.
Olmstead, Albert T. 2016. History of the Persian Empire. Translated by Mohammad Moghadam. Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi Publications. (in Persian)
Rajaee, Farhang. 1993. The Evolution of Political Thought in the Ancient East. Tehran: Ghoms Publications. (in Persian)
Razmjou, Shahrokh. 2010. The Cyrus Cylinder. Tehran: Farzan Rooz Publications. (in Persian)
Root, Margaret Cool. 2009. “From the Heart of a Powerful Iranism in the Art of the Western Empire.” In Achaemenid History, Vol. 6, edited by Heleen Sancisi-Weerdenburg and Amélie Kuhrt, translated by Morteza Saghebfar, 23–61. Tehran: Toos Publications. (in Persian)
Rung, E. V. 2023. Achaemenid Peace: A Historiographical Construct and Achaemenid Imperial Ideology. ISTORIYA, 14(2 (124)).
Rung, E. V. 2024. War and ideology in Achaemenid Persia. In: Brill's companion to war in the Ancient Iranian Empire. Edited by Hyland, J and Rezakhani, Kh, Brill.
Sharpe, R. Norman. 2009. The Edicts of the Achaemenid Kings. 3rd ed. Tehran: Pazineh Publications. (in Persian)
Toynbee, Arnold. 2000. The Administrative Geography of the Achaemenids. Translated by Homayoun Sanatizadeh. Tehran: Dr. Afshar Endowment Foundation. (in Persian)
Tuplin, Ch. 2017. War and peace in Achaemenid imperial ideology. Electrum, 24, pp 31-54.
Wiesehöfer, J. 2006. Das frühe Persien. Geschichte eines antiken Weltreichs. (Dritte Auflage. München: Verlag C.H. Beck.
Wiesehöfer, J. 2009. ‘The Achaemenid Empire’, in The Dynamics of Ancient Empires. eds. I Morris and W Scheidel; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 66-98.
Wiesehöfer, Josef. 1999. Ancient Persia (550 BCE–650 CE). Translated by Morteza Saghebfar. 3rd ed. Tehran: Ghoghnoos Publications. (in Persian)
Wöhrle, J. 2023. Rejecting the pax persica: The Political Vision of the Book of Zechariah. In Political Theologies in the Hebrew Bible (pp. 55-73). Brill Schöningh.
Xenophon. 1963. Cyropaedia. Translated by Reza Mashayekhi. Tehran: Nashr-e Ketab. (in Persian)
Young, Albert de Jong. 2020. “Ahuramazda the Creator.” In The World of the Achaemenids, edited by John Curtis and St John Simpson, translated by Khashayar Bahari. Tehran: Farzan Publications. (in Persian)
 
 

  • Receive Date 27 January 2025
  • Revise Date 15 February 2025
  • Accept Date 14 April 2025