Read this in my history book, thought it might have some merit here:
Now I want you to give your own opinions about this before I give you mine; I don't want you be influenced by my appliaction of it. Just curious.
Quote:
Cambyses and Darius Cyrus died in 530 B.C. His son Cambyses (kam-BY-seez), named after Cyrus' father, extended the Persian Empire by conquering Egypt. However, the son neglected to follow his father's wise example. Cambyses publicly scorned the Egyptian reltion. He ordered the images of Egyptian gods to be burned. After ruling for only eight years, Cambyses died. Immediately, widespread rebellions broke out across the empire. Persian control had seemed strong a decade earlier. It now seemed surprisingly fragile.
Cambyses's successor, Darius (duh-RY-uhs), a noble of the ruling dynasty, had begun his career as a member of the king's bodyguard. An elite group of Persian soldiers, the Ten Thousand Immortals, helped Darius seize the throne in 522-521 B.C. Darius spent the first three years of his reign putting down revolts. He spent the next few years establishing an unusually efficient and well-organized administration.
Soon the new king extended Persian conquests in the east. He led armies up into the mountains of present-day Afghanistan and down into the river valleys of India. The immense Persian Empire now embraced Egypt and Anatolia in the west, part of India in the east, and the Fertile Crescent in the center. This fast empire extended over 2500 miles from east to west. Darius's only failure, and that of his son, was his inability to conquer Greece.
Now I want you to give your own opinions about this before I give you mine; I don't want you be influenced by my appliaction of it. Just curious.
