By Ehsanul Hoq
Persian empire was the jewel of the history of mankind. It was one of the oldest and largest civilizations in terms of population and land. King Cyrus the Great established the Achaemenid Empire which was the beginning of a new era. The Bible mentioned about Cyrus the Great as the liberator of Jewish people from the rage of Babylon. However, the financial and economic developments during the Persian empire was never discussed.
During the ancient era, most of the nations were developed under city-states: Greece, Rome, Babylon, etc. All the mighty countries were actually cities that formed a state. Persian Empire was one of the first transforming smaller city-states into a united republic. The King was the center of all the activities in the mammoth nation while certain governors were appointed in several provinces known as Satrapies in ancient Persia.
The newly formed provinces helped the king of the kings to develop the financial backbone of the Persian empire. In 522 BC, Darius the Great started to conquer large territories. He was ruling from Egypt to Indus valley in 530 BC. So he made large reforms of the financial sector of his empire.
5 of the financial development by the Persian Empire kings are discussed below:
Introduction of Provinces
The term Province came from the Ancient Roman term provincia. For the ancient empires, it was a good technique to use decentralized provincial rulers to help the emperor to focus on expansion. Before the rise of the Persian Empire, very few dynasties were known for such sub-division under the central government. It was documented that the Median empire in ancient Persia had satrapies before the Achaemenid dynasty which indicates that it became a political norm for other dynasties to have satrapies in ancient Persia. During the reign of Darius, Egypt was a part of the Persian empire and Egypt was known as a land of vast wealth. So he divided his empire into several satrapies making Egypt a province or satrapy. This helped the local authority to improve trade and commerce without the direct supervision of the emperor himself. The satraps lived in his province and could give more time to the development of his region.
Standard Currency
The coin introduced by Darius was Daric. He standardized the currency in the entire Persian empire. The introduction of a centralized exchange system created a new opportunity for human civilization. The collection of taxes and tributes became easier. The flow of wealth around the corners of the empire was easier which was a great advancement in the ancient era. Before the rise of the Persians, gold and silver were a standard currency for the kings and emperors. Using gold and silver for a large empire like Persia was not easy. Financing projects using Daric added a new level for the development of the nation. New cities, bridges, and roads were found during the time leading to a prosperous nation. Using the newly accumulated wealth Darius created a vast network of roads linking Greece to Indus valley and Egypt which also helped the next generation of conquerors like Alexander the Great to create their own empire from west to east.
Imperial Capital
An imperial capital was a new concept in ancient times. During the Persian empire timeline, most of the ancient lands were dominated by city-states. Creating one single imperial capital was rare in those times. The Persian Empire was the first to create an imperial capital which was the center of all development and economic activities within the empire. The emperor Darius constructed an impressive capital called Persepolis. The capital controlled the empire for almost two centuries until the conquest of Alexander the Great. Since then most of the ancient superpowers like Rome, Greek, India, and Egypt had an imperial capital. The imperial capital was in those times, a symbol of power and prosperity of the empire itself. The more economic might an empire had the more beautiful structures you can find the capital city. After the excavation of Persepolis, we can see the pictures of large imperial halls and buildings marking the power and might of the then Persian Empire. The concept of the capital for the Persian king was to create a center of the world under which all the countries will bow to the emperor and to his financial power. Hence, Darius and his son Xerxes started a mission to subjugate Greece under Persian rule. Since the Persian Empire failed to conquer the Greek lands, Roman emperors kept the dream alive to make the city of Rome a center of the world. Romans successfully made their capital the center of Europe and part of Asia and Africa. The Persian concept of a central capital made it possible to gain strong financial power for the ancient civilizations.
Royal Roads
The development projects of the Achaemenid Empire was one of the building blocks of future empires. For example- we heard the name of Silk Road which connected Europe and Asia. Persian Emperors understanding the importance of financial might constructed canals in the Nile river to make trading easier and increase the wealth inside the empire. But the most important construction before Silk Road was building the Royal Roads. The road connected the city of Sardes to Susa which helped the emperor to run the empire. Trading with Persia and modern Turkey was possible using the royal road.
Tax Reformation
The introduction of currency helped the Persian Empire to reform the ancient tax system. The new tax system increased the revenue of the government which was used later for military expansion against Egypt and Greece. The irrigation system was improved in the drylands. A new state banking system creating banking firms was introduced. They also had Murashu’s Sons Bank which helped the empire to expand its finances during the time of Darius and Artaxerxes. The banking system gave loans for larger projects and credits to businesses helping the empire to strengthen the finances.
In 334 BCE, the Persian Empire was defeated by Macedon marking an end of the superpower of the world. The financial and economic reforms of the Persian Empire was a breakthrough in ancient times. Many of the developments were accepted in the future Roman and Greek empires. Using centralize currency, capital, provinces, and the modern tax system was not known before the rise of the Achaemenid empire. Seleucus, a general of Alexander, gained the Persian territory after Alexanders death. Then new dynasties like Parthia and Sassanids became the sole ruler of Persia till the rise of Islam.
Ehsanul Hoq
Ehsanul Hoq is a research associate and freelance content writer/Blogger
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