Herodotus divided the Achaemenid Empire into 20 districts for the purpose of tribute payments. The following is a description of the ethnic makeup of the districts and the amount they paid in taxes, translated from Herodotus' Histories . [1] [2]
Herodotus divided the Achaemenid Empire into 20 districts for the purpose of tribute payments. The following is a description of the ethnic makeup of the districts and the amount they paid in taxes, translated from Herodotus' Histories . [1] [2]
The quantities of silver are given in Babylonian talent (1 Babylonian talent = about 30.3 kg), while the quantities of gold (India only) are given in Euboïc/Euboean talent (1 Euboïc talent = about 26 kg). [2] [1] Only the Hindush paid in gold, the exchange rate of gold to silver being 1 to 13 by weight at the time of Herodotus. [2] [1]
The order of the districts given here follows Herodotus, Histories, III.90–94. In hellenocentric way it starts with Ionia and Mysia. The official Persian order of the provinces, as devised under Darius I in 518 BCE, was different and started from the Empire's capital: 1. Media, 2. Susa, etc. [4] For comparison, it is given in the rightmost column.
| District | Satrapies | Tribute per District | % of total | Darius's provinces |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | Ionians, Asian Magnesians, Aeolians, Carians, Lycians, Milyans, Pamphylians | 400 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.6% | 10. Ionia |
| II | Mysians, Lydians, Lasonians, Cabalians, Hytennians | 500 Babylonian talents of silver | 4.5% | 9. Lydia |
| III | Hellespontine Phrygians, Phrygians, Asian Thracians, Paphlagonians, Mariandynians, Syrians | 360 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.2% | 8. Cappadocia |
| IV | Cilicians | 500 Babylonian talents of silver along with 360 white horses (one for each day of the year); of the talents, 140 were used to maintain the cavalry force that guarded Cilicia | 4.5% | 11. "Sealand" (Cilicia and Cyprus) |
| V | The area from the town of Posidium as far as Egypt, omitting Arabian territory (which did not pay taxes). All of Palestine, Cyprus, and most of Phoenicia were herein contained. In the biblical Book of Ezra, this district is called Abar Nahara ("beyond the Euphrates river") | 350 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.1% | 4. Assyria, 5. Arabia |
| VI | Egyptians and the Libyans in the border towns of Cyrene and Barca | 700 Babylonian talents of silver, in addition to the money from the fish in Lake Moeris, and 120,000 bushels of grain for the Persian troops and their auxiliaries stationed in the White Castle at Memphis | 6.3% | 6. Egypt |
| VII | Sattagydians, Gandharans, Dadicae, Aparytae (Indian Satrapies) | 170 Babylonian talents of silver | 1.5% | 19. Gandhara |
| VIII | Susa and the surrounding area, Cissia | 300 Babylonian talents of silver | 2.7% | 2. Susiane |
| IX | Mesopotamia (Babylonia and Assyria) | 1000 Babylonian talents of silver and 500 eunuch boys | 9% | 3. Mesopotamia |
| X | Ecbatana and the rest of Media along with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians | 450 Babylonian talents of silver | 4% | 1. Media |
| XI | Caspians, Pausicae, Pantimathi, and Daritae | a joint sum of 200 Babylonian talents of silver | 1.8% | |
| XII | Bactrians and all neighboring peoples as far as the Aegli | 360 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.2% | 15. Bactria |
| XIII | Pactyica, Armenians, and all the peoples as far as the Black Sea | 400 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.6% | 7. Armenia |
| XIV | Sagartians, Sarangians, Thamanaeans, Utians, Myci, and the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf islands (where prisoners or displaced people were sent) | together they paid 600 Babylonian talents | 3.6% | 12. Sagartia |
| XV | the Sacae and the Caspians | 250 Babylonian talents of silver | 2.2% | |
| XVI | Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians | 300 Babylonian talents of silver | 2.7% | 13. Parthia, 14. Aria, 16. Sogdiane |
| XVII | Paricanians and Asiatic Ethiopians | 400 Babylonian talents of silver | 3.6% | 20. Maka |
| XVIII | the Matienians, Saspires, Alarodians | 200 Babylonian talents of silver | 1.8% | |
| XIX | the Mushki, Tibareni, Macrones, Mossynoeci, Marres | 300 Babylonian talents of silver | 2.7% | |
| XX | India | 360 Euboïc talents of gold dust, equivalent to 4680 Euboïc talents of silver, or 3600 Babylonian talents of silver. [1] [2] | 32% | 17. Arachosia, 18. India |
| Total | Total of all annual tributes, in Babylonian talent silver equivalent | 11,200 Babylonian talents of silver, equivalent to 14,560 Euboïc talents of silver | 100% |
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See also Taxation districts of the Achaemenid Empire (according to Herodotus) | ||
Xerxes I, commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great. In Western history, Xerxes is best known for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, which ended in Persian defeat. Xerxes was designated successor by Darius over his elder brother Artobazan and inherited a large, multi-ethnic empire upon his father's death. He consolidated his power by crushing revolts in Egypt and Babylon, and renewed his father's campaign to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and its allies for their interference in the Ionian Revolt. In 480 BC, Xerxes personally led a large army and crossed the Hellespont into Europe. He achieved victories at Thermopylae and Artemisium before capturing and razing Athens. His forces gained control of mainland Greece north of the Isthmus of Corinth until their defeat at the Battle of Salamis. Fearing that the Greeks might trap him in Europe, Xerxes retreated with the greater part of his army back to Asia, leaving behind Mardonius to continue his campaign. Mardonius was defeated at Plataea the following year, effectively ending the Persian invasion.
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Darius III was the last Achaemenid King of Kings of Persia, reigning from 336 BC to his death in 330 BC.
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Aryandes was the first Achaemenid satrap of ancient Egypt between 525 BCE and 496 BCE, during the early 27th Dynasty of Egypt.
Skudra was a province (satrapy) of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in Europe between 510s BC and 479 BC. Its name is attested in Persian and Egyptian inscriptions (an Egyptian record of c. 498–497 BC, and a list on the tomb of Darius the Great at Naqsh-e Rustam, c. 486 BC. It is believed to have comprised the lands now known as Thrace and Macedon.
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the First Persian Empire was the ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was the largest empire the world had ever seen at its time, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east.
The Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley refers to a process beginning in the 6th century BCE and ending in the 4th century BCE, whereby the Achaemenid Persian Empire established control over the northwestern regions of the Indian subcontinent, today predominantly comprising the territory of Pakistan. The first of the two main invasions was conducted around 535 BCE by Cyrus the Great, who annexed the areas to the west of the Indus River, consolidating the early eastern border of the Achaemenid Empire. With a brief pause after Cyrus' death, the campaign continued under Darius the Great, who began to re-conquer former provinces and further expand Persia's political boundaries. Around 518 BCE, Persian armies under Darius crossed the Himalayas into India to initiate a second period of conquest by annexing regions up to the Jhelum River in Punjab.
Cissia（Ancient Greek: Κισσία, Kissia) was a very fertile district of Susiana in the Persian Empire, on the Choaspes. According to Herodotus, the inhabitants, Cissii, were a 'wild', free people, resembling the Persians in their manners.
Gandāra, or Gadāra in Achaemenid inscriptions was one of the easternmost provinces of the Achaemenid Empire in South Asia, following the Achaemenid invasion of the Indus Valley. It appears in various Achaemenid inscriptions such as the Behistun Inscription, or the DNa inscription of Darius the Great.
Nidin-Bel might have been a rebel king of Babylon who in the autumn of 336 BC and/or the winter of 336–335 BC attempted to restore Babylonia as an independent kingdom and end the rule of the Persian Achaemenid Empire in the region. The only known surviving reference which points to there being a ruler by this name in Babylon is the Uruk King List, which records rulers of Babylon from the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. In this list, the rule of Darius III, the last Achaemenid king, is immediately preceded by a fragmentary reference to Nidin-Bel.
The first Achaemenid conquest of Egypt took place in 525 BCE, leading to the foundation of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt, also known as the "First Egyptian Satrapy". Egypt thus became a province (satrapy) of the Achaemenid Persian Empire until 404 BCE while still maintaining Egyptian royalty customs and positions. The conquest was led by Cambyses II, the King of Persia, who defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Pelusium, and crowned himself as Pharaoh of Egypt. Achaemenid rule was disestablished upon the rebellion and crowning of Amyrtaeus as Pharaoh. A second period of Achaemenid rule in Egypt occurred under the Thirty-first Dynasty of Egypt.
