Editing Iran (section)

====Achaemenid Empire====
[[File:Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent according to Oxford Atlas of World History 2002.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest extent]]

The Achaemenids united all [[Persians|Persian]] tribes under Cyrus I's son [[Cambyses I]]. Under Cambyses I's son, [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus II]], the Achaemenids defeated the Medes and established the [[Achaemenid Empire]],{{Sfn|Middleton|2015|p=148}} the largest ever Iranian state.{{Sfn|Shenkar|2014|p=5}} He later conquered the [[Lydia]]n, and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian]] empires, creating an empire far larger than Assyria. He was better able, through more benign policies, to reconcile his subjects to Persian rule; the longevity of his empire was one result. The Persian king, like the [[Assyria]]n, was also "[[King of Kings]]", ''xšāyaθiya xšāyaθiyānām'' (''shāhanshāh'' in modern Persian) – "great king", [[Basileus|Megas Basileus]], as known by the [[Greeks]]. Cyrus's son, the [[Cambyses II]], conquered the last major power of the region, [[ancient Egypt]], causing the collapse of the [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt]].

After the death of Cambyses II, the [[Darius the Great|Darius I]] ascended the throne by overthrowing the legitimate Achaemenid monarch [[Bardiya]]. Darius' first capital was at Susa, and he started the building program at [[Persepolis]]. He improved the extensive road system, and it is during his reign that mentions are first made of the [[Royal Road]], a great highway stretching all the way from Susa to [[Sardis]] with posting stations at regular intervals.<ref>{{Cite web| url = http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/persia/darius.html | title= Forgotten Empire— the world of Ancient Persia| publisher= The British Museum | year = 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070423012310/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/forgottenempire/persia/darius.html |archive-date=2007-04-23 |access-date=2023-03-16}}</ref>

In 499 BC, [[Classical Athens|Athens]] lent support to a revolt in [[Miletus]], which resulted in the sacking of [[Sardis]]. This led to an Achaemenid campaign against mainland Greece known as the [[Greco-Persian Wars]], which lasted the first half of the 5th century BC, and is known as one of the most important wars in [[European history]]. In the [[First Persian invasion of Greece]], the Persian general [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]] re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedon a full part of Persia.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|p=345}} The war eventually turned out in defeat, however. Darius' successor [[Xerxes I]] launched the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]]. At a crucial moment in the war, about half of mainland Greece was overrun by the Persians, including all territories to the north of the Isthmus of [[Corinth]],<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Carey|first1=Brian Todd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3OSfBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT32|title=Warfare in the Ancient World|last2=Allfree|first2=Joshua B.|last3=Cairns|first3=John|date=2006-01-19|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-84884-630-2|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Aeschylus, Burian2009">{{cite book|author1=Aeschylus|author2=Peter Burian|author3=Alan Shapiro|title=The Complete Aeschylus: Volume II: Persians and Other Plays|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0kTiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|date=17 February 2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-045183-7|page=18|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-date=23 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923003450/https://books.google.com/books?id=0kTiBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT18|url-status=live}}</ref> however, this was also turned out in a Greek victory, following the battles of [[Battle of Plataea|Plataea]] and [[Battle of Salamis|Salamis]], by which Persia lost its footholds in Europe, and eventually withdrew from it.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2011|pp=135–138, 342–345}}

The empire entered a period of decline, weakening it. From 334 BC to 331 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] defeated [[Darius III]] in the battles of [[Battle of the Granicus|Granicus]], [[Battle of Issus|Issus]] and [[Battle of Gaugamela|Gaugamela]], swiftly conquering the Achaemanid Empire by 331 BC. Alexander's empire broke up shortly after his death, and Alexander's general, [[Seleucus I Nicator]], tried to take control of Iran, [[Mesopotamia]], and later [[Syria]] and [[Anatolia]]. His empire was the [[Seleucid Empire]].