The Achaemenid Empire stood at the edge of the Western World, and was the bogeyman of Ancient Greek History. What we actually know about it isn't all that certain, due to serious problems and gaps in the primary sources. This video is a concise examination of what we do know, between the reigns of Cyrus and Xerxes I, who famously sent the Persian army against the Greeks at Thermopylae.
SOURCES:
A History of the Ancient Near East, Van De Mieroop
From Cyrus to Alexander, Briant
Ancient Persia, Waters
