Were Persians war mongers?

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Question:

After watching "300", I kind of got the feeling that Persians were indeed war mongers!.!.!. But some other place like Wikipedia shows Persians as Peaceful people!. People who havent attacked anyone in 350 years!.

Whats your opinion!? Were they war mongers or not!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Well firstly, its important not to confuse Hollywood with 100% accurate History, it NEVER is!.

The Persians were no more or less violent than any other race in that era!.

Its factually wrong to say they had not attacked anyone in 350 years, it is also wrong to say they were any more bloodthirsty than anyone else!.

Originally, when the Persians and their close kinsmen the Medes arrived in the area we now know of as Iran in around 900BC,(Cathorio is a little wrong regarding neolithic Persia, because Persians had not yet migrated there) they were conquered by and came under the control of the Assyrian Empire!.

After Assyria fell apart, Persia became independent!. They eventually overthrew the Medes, Parthians,Sogdians and Elamites to gain control over all of what is now Iran!.

When Babylon, their main rivals, came under the control of the mad King Nabonidus(Nabu Naid), the Persians simply walked into Babylon, and thus came to control Babylon and Assyria(from 526BC not 612BC as Cathorio says), as well as Babylonian colonies in Arabia, Aramea(Syria), Israel and Asia Minor!.

So the Persians did fight and defeat other races to conquer Iran!.

They also fought to control Babylon's former Empire!.

The Persians also fought and won battles against the Urartians, Scythians, Phrygians,Greeks and Lydians in Asia Minor(modern Turkey)!.

In addition to this, they had to put down violent rebellions in Assyria and Babylonia, and had invaded Egypt, and the area we now call Afghanistan!.

However, all this was normal at that time in history, everyone did it!. So they were no different from the Sumerians, Egyptians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians,Elamites, Medes, Scythians that had come before them, and were no different to the Greeks themselves, who were constantly at war with other Greek states!.

So yes, if we judge the Persians by TODAYS standards, they were war mongers, but to do this would be very wrong!.

You can only study history and historical events in the context of the times they lived in!. Together with the accepted values, political, moral and social attitudes that were acceptable in that time!.

EDIT- Nice to get a thumbs down from someone! What i have said is pretty much correct, sorry, someone doesnt know their history! lolWww@QuestionHome@Com

I saw some of "300" on the TV, when Xerxes appeared and then his star wars executioner, I changed channels!. Although the theme is historical, the film is fantasy, so, don't take it as a reference!. The Persians at the time of the Median Wars were expanding their empire and were very warlike!. After their empire fell to Alexander, they were subdued but did not became peaceful, they emerged back as a warring nation against the Roman and Byzantine empires!. The Khwarizmi Empire was Persian and fought against the Mongols of Genghis Khan for the control of Central Asia and the Middle East, losing the war!. When the Mongol era ended, the Persians restablished their country and were at war with the Ottoman Empire, Czarist Russia and, I believe, Afghanistan!. The feelings of the common Persian/Iranian people may be peace loving but the governments of Persia/Iran have been aggressive!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

No!.

Keep in mind 300 is a film based on a comic book based very loosly on historical events and figures!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

my opinion is 300 was a film!Www@QuestionHome@Com

i agree with hammurabi mainly, hes said it all!.!.!.sort of!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Hi Blake,
I had to think about your question for a while!.
You have to consider the time of which we speak!.
If your Country was peaceful then chances are you would have been invaded!. So it was a case of do onto those before they do it to you!.
Ancient Persia has been an important part of history!. Dating back to before the Neolithic Period, the first communities in ancient Persia domesticated animals and planted such crops as wheat and barely!. The most distinctive attribute of the Persians was their hand painted pottery!. Pottery was the most abundant artifacts found in many ancient Persian archeological sites!.

For the most part, the Persian Empire ruled many other empires, including those of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, and some parts of Asia Minor and India!. The Persians dominated Mesopotamia from 612 BC to 330 BC!. Approximately 520 BC, Darius I took over the throne of Persia!. He did many great things for the Persian Empire, including making Persepolis the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenian Empire!. Other kings later developed Persepolis further, though most of the credit was given to Darius I!. It contained many great monuments and temples!. Unfortunately, the ceremonial capital was reduced to columns, stairways, and doorjambs of the great palace of Persepolis after it was burned to the ground by Alexander the Great in 331 BC!.

One of the best things Darius did during his career was develop a government that many other governments modeled themselves after!. This new government included a tax collecting system, allowed locals to keep their own customs and religions and had its own system of roads!. The new government also appointed the Persian Empire with two official capitals, one at Susa and one at Persepolis!.

Darius also had visions of pushing Persia’s borders as far westward as Egypt and east as the Indus River!. The city-state of Ionia of Asia Minor was already under Persian rule, but they were unhappy with the conditions of their lives!. The previous ruler of Persia, Cyrus the Great, had conquered it before Darius had taken the throne!. During the 5th century BC, Darius led Persia in the Persian Wars, an attempt to conquer all of Greece!. The wars lasted 20 years, from 499 BC to 479 BC!. It began when a local tyrant, a ruler of Miletus, organized a revolt against Darius!. Darius crushed the revolt, although lost the war in the long run!. His forces were defeated by the Greeks at the historic Battle of Marathon in 490!. Darius died before the wars were completely over!. His son and his successor, Xerxes, attempted to fulfill his father’s plan of the Persian expansion!. Eventually, however, Xerxes watched his army be defeated in the long run by the Greeks, and a year after he retreated, the wars were over and Persia had lost!.
War mongers I still don't know!.
It's all relative!.
Cathorio!.Www@QuestionHome@Com