At its height the Achaemenid Persian Empire was the largest the world had yet seen, stretching from the Aegean to the Indus. It was built and led by a line of remarkable kings, conquerors and organisers alike, whose wars shaped the ancient world and clashed famously with Greece. These are the great commanders of the Persian Empire, each linked to their conquests and campaigns.
Cyrus the Great. The founder who conquered Media, Lydia and Babylon and built the first Persian Empire.
The tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae, photographed by A. G. A. van Eelde in May 1925 (Rijksmuseum). CC0 (public domain)
Cambyses II. The king who added Egypt to the empire after his victory on the Nile in 525 BC.
Darius the Great. The organiser who raised the empire to its height and launched the first invasion of Greece.
The Persian Empire about 500 BC, with its satrapies under Darius I and the Royal Road, from William R. Shepherd's Historical Atlas (1923 edition). Public domain
The Persian kings were a study in contrasts. Cyrus the Great was the conqueror-founder, remembered for tolerance as much as for victory; Cambyses II carried Persian arms into Egypt; Darius the Great was the administrator who turned conquest into a lasting empire; and Xerxes I led the greatest invasion of the age, only to break against the Greeks.
Cambyses II and the captured Egyptian king Psamtik III, painted by Adrien Guignet in 1842 (Louvre). Public domain
Among the most important are the Achaemenid kings Cyrus the Great, Cambyses II, Darius the Great and Xerxes I, who founded, expanded and led the Persian Empire.
Who founded the Persian Empire?
Cyrus the Great founded the Achaemenid Persian Empire in the 6th century BC, conquering Media, Lydia and Babylon.
Which Persian king invaded Greece?
Both did: Darius the Great launched the first invasion, defeated at Marathon in 490 BC, and his son Xerxes I led the far larger invasion of 480 BC, turned back at Salamis and Plataea.
How big was the Persian Empire?
At its height under Darius the Great it stretched from the Aegean and Egypt in the west to the Indus in the east, the largest empire the world had yet seen.
Why did Persia lose to the Greeks?
The Greek city-states, fighting on home ground with heavy infantry and, at Salamis, a well-handled fleet in narrow waters, turned back invasions launched from the far side of the empire; the wars were a frontier struggle, not a fight for Persia's survival.
Where can I read about their battles?
Each king links to their key campaigns, and the guides to the greatest battles of ancient Greece and the greatest ancient battles collect the great clashes of the age, from Marathon and Thermopylae to Salamis and Plataea.
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