Achaemenid

A group of Persian communities that moved into western Iran during the early 1st millennium bc. The founding father of the ruling house was Achaemenes who lived in the 7th century bc, his descendants expanding the area of influence to create an empire that extended from central Asia and northern India to France and Egypt in the 6th century bc. Notable later rulers of the Achaemenids include Cyrus II (559–530 bc), Darius (522–486 bc), and Xerxes I (485–465 bc). The Achaemenid period was an important one for Iranian civilization and was one of the richest in terms of contacts between the classical world and the Near East. It saw the appearance and spread of Zoroastrianism, and some spectacular architecture at, for example, Darius' capital at Persepolis. However, tensions between the Achaemenids and the Greeks were always in the background, and erupted into several key battles: Darius was defeated by the Greeks at Marathon in 490 bc and the same fate befell Xerxes ten years later. In 330 bc Alexander the Great conquered and destroyed the Achaemenid empire.