The Greco-Persian Wars have remained in history as the conflict between the West and the East and the Greek victories are considered to be the defense of western civilization. However, the two enemies that lost tens of thousands of...
Scylax of Caryanda, a Greek in the service of the Persian Great King, is best known for his early exploration of India and for shaping what the ancient Greeks knew about the East. Born in the late 6th century...
A new study of ancient written records shows that multilingual societies thrived across Hellenistic Central Asia for nearly a thousand years, with scribes regularly switching between languages and scripts to serve whichever empire happened to be in power.
Rachel Mairs,...
Perseus is well known in Greek mythology as one of the very earliest Greek heroes. According to legend, he was the son of Zeus and fought Medusa and the sea-monster Cetus. What is not so well known is that...
In his many conquests across the Classical known world, Alexander the Great fought wars against a myriad of adversaries, triumphing over them all.
Alexander's victories over King Darius, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire in Persia, and King Porus in India...
Alexander the Great was a mighty conqueror, but he was not the first person in history to be one. He admired the conquerors of past generations. His admiration was such that Alexander once visited the tomb of Cyrus the...
A new study suggests that the ancient Persian religion of Zoroastrianism influenced Jewish communities living under the Achaemenid Empire. The research, published in the journal Iran, provides evidence that Zoroastrian religious ideas and practices reached regions far beyond the...
Ancient Iran was home to numerous exceptionally powerful kings throughout history. This was particularly so in the era of the Persian Empire, also known as the Achaemenid Empire, which was the empire that was eventually defeated by Alexander the...
The excellent student-teacher relationship between Alexander the Great and the philosopher Aristotle is a well-known chapter in the King of Macedon's life. One of the greatest philosophers in history had tutored the future emperor of the largest part of...
Researchers are reshaping what we know about Persia’s Royal Highway, the ancient backbone of the Achaemenid Empire. A new study from archaeologist Davide Salaris uses digital modelling to trace the routes once used by the Persian kings to move...
