OCR GCSE Ancient History The Persian Empire 559 to 465 BC: a complete period-study overview

What this option demands

The Persian Empire 559 to 465 BC is the compulsory period study in OCR's GCSE Ancient History Component 01 (Greece and Persia). A period study traces a theme across decades, here the rise, organisation and overreach of the largest empire the ancient world had yet seen. Because this is an ancient-history course, you are examined on prescribed sources as well as content: Herodotus as the main Greek narrative, and the Persian material evidence (the Cyrus Cylinder, the Behistun inscription, the Persepolis reliefs). This overview ties the dot-point pages together.

The rise of the empire: Cyrus, Cambyses and Darius

The empire was founded by Cyrus the Great (reigned about 559 to 530 BC), who conquered Media, Lydia (Croesus) and Babylon in barely a decade, succeeding through military strength and, above all, a policy of conciliation advertised by the Cyrus Cylinder. His son Cambyses (530 to 522 BC) added Egypt in 525 BC, but Herodotus paints him as a mad, impious tyrant. After Cambyses's death the empire fell into a succession crisis, resolved when Darius I (522 to 486 BC) seized the throne, an event told two ways by Herodotus (the seven conspirators) and the Behistun inscription (Darius alone, favoured by Ahuramazda).

Holding the empire together

Darius reorganised the empire so it could be governed: about twenty satrapies under governors, checked by royal inspectors ("the king's eyes and ears") and independent commanders; fixed tribute and standard coinage (the daric); the Royal Road and relays of messengers for fast communication; and a programme of monumental building at Persepolis and Susa. The Apadana reliefs at Persepolis project the empire as an orderly array of loyal peoples, an image of royal power rather than a neutral record.

Persia and Greece: the Ionian Revolt, Marathon and Xerxes

The empire then collided with the Greeks. The Ionian Revolt (499 to 494 BC), helped by Athens and marked by the burning of Sardis, was crushed, but it drew Darius into a punitive expedition that was defeated at the Battle of Marathon (490 BC). His son Xerxes (486 to 465 BC) launched a vast invasion in 480 BC, bridging the Hellespont and cutting a canal at Athos. After the heroic defeat at Thermopylae and the burning of Athens, the Greeks won the decisive sea battle of Salamis and the land battle of Plataea (479 BC). The invasion failed through Persian misjudgements and Greek strengths alike.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall questions covering the whole period study. Attempt them, then check the solutions.

1. Name the three kingdoms Cyrus the Great conquered. (3 marks)
2. What did Cambyses conquer, and in what year? (2 marks)
3. How do Herodotus and the Behistun inscription differ on Darius's accession? (2 marks)
4. Name two ways Darius governed the empire. (2 marks)
5. What was the Royal Road, and roughly how long was it? (2 marks)
6. In what year was the Battle of Marathon? (1 mark)
7. Name the decisive sea battle of Xerxes' invasion and the year. (2 marks)
8. Name the three prescribed Persian material sources. (3 marks)