Today a Shell of Its Great Past
THERE CAN NEVER BE PEACE BETWEEN NATIONS UNTIL IT IS FIRST KNOWN THAT TRUE PEACE IS WITHIN THE SOULS OF MEN.
—Persian proverb
We begin our journey by exploring the rise and fall of the Persian Empire, which at the time was the largest the world had seen, but today all that’s left is what we call Iran—hardly the empire it once was when formed in 550 BCE by King Astyages of Media.
Centered in what is modern-day Iran, Persia evolved from a series of imperial dynasties, not unlike many other empires. Cyrus the Great, who is mentioned by name or alluded to more than thirty times in the Bible, is regarded as the patron and deliverer of the Jewish people. He was the pagan monarch under whom the Babylonian captivity ended. According to Scripture, Cyrus was told by God to issue a decree to rebuild the Second Temple in Jerusalem and allow Jews who wished to return to their ancient land to do so. King Cyrus demonstrated his commitment to the project by sending back with the Jews the sacred vessels, which had been removed from the First Temple, along with a large sum of money to pay for building materials. He was today’s Home Depot in reverse!1
CAMEO: Xerxes I
If one needs an example from history of what harm military overextension and grandiose ideas can do to a nation, Xerxes I of Persia is a great one.
It could be argued, as many have, that most wars are unnecessary. Some wars are fought because the very survival of a nation is at risk. France and England declaring war against Nazi Germany after they were attacked is a good example of this. Other wars may be fought over a national interest that is not vital, like pride. The Persian invasions of Greece were launched not to protect a vital interest but ultimately because of pride. The conflict lasted on and off for nearly fifty years, between 499 and 449 BCE.
The Persian invasions of Greece were triggered in part by Athenian support for the rebellion launched by the cities of Ionia against Persia. While the rebellion was initially successful, a combined Persian army and naval force, once mobilized, was able to subjugate the cities once again. After the cities of Ionia were back under Persian control, Xerxes’ father, Darius, attempted to invade Athens. Why? Greece had no great wealth or resources to claim at this time. The answer is because the Athenians had sent aid to help the uprising against Persia. Wounded pride seems to have been partially at fault. Darius was defeated at the famous Battle of Marathon, and while the Persian Empire could easily absorb such losses, its pride was undoubtedly wounded.
Xerxes was determined to avenge his father’s defeat. He was like a bully on a playground. If someone weak stands up to the bully and manages to embarrass him, the bully must respond forcefully to maintain his position of dominance, even if it costs him more than the loss of pride he has already suffered. Xerxes launched a massive land and sea invasion of Greece and was defeated, losing most of his forces at the legendary battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale.
While the empire was as strong as ever, resistance by the Greeks managed to overcome what for them must have seemed like impossible odds. As noted by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, “The Greek triumph ensured the survival of Greek culture and political structures long after the demise of the Persian empire.”*2
The Persian Empire was able for a time to absorb the loss of a vast army and naval fleet, but there had been no existential threat to Persia, and so the calculation Xerxes I made was costly to his kingdom and his people.
The initial religion of Persia was Zoroastrianism—one of the world’s oldest religions, predating Islam. In 651 CE, Arabs conquered Persia and established an even larger Islamic caliphate. Subsequent rulers established the Shia branch of Islam as the dominant religion. Shia Islam endures today under the theocratic government in Tehran. It was imposed in a 1979 coup led by the Ayatollah Khomeini. The nation is now called the Islamic Republic of Iran.
What I find fascinating about Persia is the number of concepts it practiced that are still reflected in modern cultures. Persia was basically a collection of nomads and thus did not have a central government, courts, a police force, or even laws. What kept them from falling into a type of anarchy was a code of honor that eventually morphed into a religion. The man behind this was named Zoroaster. He lived around 1000 BCE and introduced the concept of a singular god, the creator whom he identified as Ahura Mazda, bringer of asha—light, order, truth, the law or logic by which the world was structured. Not everyone in Persia at the time practiced Zoroastrianism, but such was its influence that the entire culture was shaped by it and embraced its ethics.3
Imagine a faith so influential that even those who do not practice it are shaped by it. That was once the case in America, where what some refer to as a Judeo-Christian ethic prevailed, but no longer. What would it take for our faith to regain that kind of influence?
A successor to Cyrus (by way of intrigue and murder) was Darius I. He too is mentioned in the Bible, in the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Haggai, and Zechariah. Darius was a man of influence and consequence in the ancient world and in the biblical narrative regarding the history of the Israelites. The empire established by Cyrus and Darius lasted roughly two hundred years but eventually succumbed to decadence and became a victim of the very multiculturalism it embraced, which included an army with troops who spoke different languages and were trained and equipped according to their unique traditions. This has obvious modern implications, because no nation can retain its character if it forgets what it stands for and allows too many people into the country while failing to assimilate them. A military coup in 401 BCE by Cyrus the Younger and some associates against his brother, Artaxerxes (who is also mentioned several times in the Bible, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah), led to the eventual conquest of Persia by Alexander the Great in 334 BCE.
THE AGE OF PIONEERS
Not all empires followed the exact same path from their beginning to their eventual decline. Some have a clearly defined age of pioneers during which brave men and women forged new lives for themselves in new lands or developed new technology and stratagems that allowed them to take their civilizations to the next level. Persia is not quite like this. The Persian Empire was born in rebellion. The Persians already possessed a distinct identity and culture. What they desired was self-determination, freedom from the dominant power of the day. This, in a sense, was their pioneer period.
Ancient Persia occupied the same territory as modern-day Iran. Iranians still sometimes refer to themselves as Persians. In the early 500s BCE, Persia was ruled by the Medes. The Persians were vassals to the Median kings, and there is some evidence that Persians rebelled on more than one occasion. One of these rebellions was led by Cyrus II, a descendant of the perhaps mythical Achaemenes. Cyrus II (later known as Cyrus the Great) was successful in defeating the Medes in battle and drawing many previous Median vassals to his service. In a very short time, Cyrus the Great replaced a Median empire with a Persian one. This empire is sometimes known as the Achaemenid Empire, named after its supposed progenitor.
THE AGE OF CONQUESTS
The Persian Empire entered its age of conquests as Cyrus the Great immediately looked to expand his new empire. Initially, he bypassed the Babylonian Empire and struck the empire of Lydia, which was ruled by a man named Croesus. Croesus had attacked the Persian city of Pteria after consulting with the Delphic Oracle in Greece. Herodotus records in book 1 of his Histories, a record of the Greco-Persian Wars, that the oracle informed Croesus that if he went to war with Persia, a great empire would be destroyed. As with the ancient Israelites, who ignored biblical prophets foretelling coming disasters if God was disobeyed, Croesus misunderstood one of several oracles he consulted, hearing only what he wanted to hear. He also ignored the advice of a top adviser not to go to war, resulting in the empire’s destruction. Cyrus had his generals conquer Asia Minor after the conquest of Lydia, resulting in what is now modern Turkey falling under his control.
Soon after the conquest of Lydia, Cyrus the Great attacked Babylon, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy regarding the fall of the Babylonian Empire (Isaiah 13). Babylon quickly fell and without resistance from the Babylonian armies, Cyrus ruled all of what is modern-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Israel, and Armenia.
Cyrus had put together his own version of a union, made up of many tribes. He also engaged in a kind of religious pluralism and tolerance that is absent today in modern Iran and in other parts of the Arab and Muslim world. According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, “Cyrus, by contrast, saw cooperation as a strength, particularly when it came to securing the main prize: Babylon.
The Military
The United States’ military is the most powerful and sophisticated on earth. It is composed of some of the bravest and most selfless people in our country. Virtually all members join either because they love America to defend her against her enemies or to get help with training and an education for when they return to civilian life—or both.
Both motives are perfectly fine. Members of the US military are under the authority of civilians who are elected by themselves and their fellow citizens. Unfortunately, those leaders do not always use the military to its, or the nation’s, best advantage.
Some examples: George W. Bush used the military to topple Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and obliterate members of his Baath political party, creating a vacuum which Iran and the Taliban were eager to fill. That produced other problems, and not only in Iraq, which went through a period of instability as Islamic rivals battled each other for political power. At the end of 2018, the country seemed more stable, but neighboring Iran continues as the world’s number one sponsor of terrorism, and the region, whose borders were created arbitrarily by a small group of men led by Winston Churchill following World War II, remains in turmoil.
Then there is Afghanistan, the site of America’s longest war. While al-Qaeda, the terrorist organization behind the September 11, 2001, attack on America, seems decimated, its close ally, the Taliban, continues to surface from time to time, requiring additional military attention. Afghanistan is tribal and unfamiliar with the democratic processes of the West. Islam is a strong motivator, and many in the increasingly secular-progressive West don’t seem to grasp the influence of the religion on its political worldview.
Another example is Rwanda. Bill Clinton said not sending the military to that African country to stop the genocide was a mistake he still regrets. Perhaps, but it’s difficult to know whether US forces might have done more than temporarily suspend the violence without a permanent presence in the country, especially since white Westerners might have been viewed negatively by the warring tribal factions. An American force might have united the tribes against the invaders. And then there would have been the overwhelming cost and a further increase to the growing national debt.
When Margaret Thatcher was prime minister of Great Britain, she reportedly said that Westerners make a mistake when they transpose their morality on others who don’t share it. This was George W. Bush’s big mistake. Bush liked to say that freedom beats in every human heart. Unfortunately, many in the world have a different view of freedom than we do.
We can’t use our military to impose a Western-style democracy on others. Each time this has been tried, it has failed. What about Germany and Japan, you might ask? These were nations that had totalitarianism imposed on their people and when free of those dictators and their ideology reverted to a more democratic system. Big difference.
We need to constantly review not just the purpose of our military but our role in the world. President Trump properly demanded that nations which have benefited from our defense umbrella since World War II start paying more of their share of the bill. Some have, and it gives them skin in the game.
We can’t solve the problems of the world, so each challenge must be met individually. The blood and lives of our brave men and women (not to mention our tax dollars) should be committed only when the interests of the United States are at risk. There might be some exceptions, but that should be the rule.
Rather than trying to take the world’s greatest city by force, Cyrus fought a propaganda campaign to exploit the unpopularity of its king, Nabonidus. Babylon’s traditions would be safer with Cyrus, was the message.”4 The gates were opened, and palm fronds were laid before Cyrus as he entered the city, an activity that presaged another famous entry, on what we call Palm Sunday.
Cyrus implemented a policy of multiculturalism. While his conquests brought people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, he allowed them to maintain their separate identities. As long as they paid tribute to him as their ruler, he would let them worship their own gods and enjoy their own customs. Cyrus II was a multiculturalist before multiculturalism was cool. More important, this policy helped forge Persia into a great empire.
THE AGE OF COMMERCE
As the Persian Empire continued its ascendancy, it entered a period of economic expansion, what Sir John Glubb calls the age of commerce. We hear a lot about infrastructure in America and experience it in numerous road closings and road work signs, delaying traffic and frustrating drivers. But that is not the only “infrastructure” in need of repair in America. There is also a moral and spiritual component that is crumbling. Darius the Great, who followed Cyrus, was big on physical infrastructure. It helped him improve trade throughout his empire. Among his best-known achievements were the Royal Road, a standardized language, and a postal service to facilitate written communication.
The Royal Road should be of particular interest to Americans. It allowed mounted couriers to travel from Susa to Sardis—a distance of 1,677 miles—in just seven days. On foot it took ninety days. The Greek historian Herodotus praised these rapid messengers: “There is nothing in the world that travels faster than these Persian couriers.” He added a sentence that would come to be inscribed nearly two millennia later on the James A. Farley Building in New York City and is still today considered the official creed of the US Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”5
Like other empires and nations that followed, Persia experienced prosperity as well as remarkable cultural achievements in art and science. Though what we know as Iran today is a shell of its former greatness, its influence from this period is still felt throughout Europe and other parts of Asia.
THE AGE OF AFFLUENCE
Commerce brings wealth, and it wasn’t long before Persia amassed great wealth, primarily for its royal family. In addition to building the Royal Road, which enhanced trade with other regions, Darius initiated a standard currency, making it easier for him to collect taxes, which he used to finance great building projects and open new cities. Such was the wealth of Darius that he built an imperial capital, Parsa, with massive defenses protecting his riches. While small amounts of his vast riches trickled down to the masses, in essence Persia’s wealth was shared by a select few at the top.
THE AGE OF INTELLECT
One of the benefits of the Persian Empire covering such a large area was the ability to gather leading engineers and other thinkers from all over the realm. This allowed the Persians of this time period to accomplish things that the early Persians could only have dreamed of. A prime example of their engineering skills was the approximately 2,600-yard bridge Xerxes built to move his army across the Hellespont in order to invade Greece. The bridge was a pontoon bridge made by linking hundreds of boats together as a base, then building a road across the top of the boats. Building pontoon bridges rapidly for military transport may seem difficult today, so imagine doing this without modern equipment and knowledge. Yet the Persians built this bridge and moved an army so large that it reportedly took a week for all the soldiers to cross it.
The Persians also benefited from the administrative skills of the peoples they conquered or absorbed. The book of Daniel records Daniel’s service to Darius after Darius conquered Babylon. Darius recognized Daniel’s ability and placed him in a high position within the empire (Dan. 2:48). Unlike others throughout history, the Persians seem to have prized ability wherever it was found, and not just within its original people. Regardless of the era in which they exist, bureaucracies require skilled administrators who devote themselves to the intellectual exercises necessary to run a vast organization.
Persia is no longer the first empire that most students of history look at when it comes to intellectualism. But ideas promoted in ancient Persia would eventually shape Europe and the United States, and that’s why studying the subject is important. Knowing a country’s intellectual roots helps shape and sustain any nation, or group of nations, even empires. Persia enjoyed statesmen, artists (Persian art remains impressive and valuable today), and intellectuals who promoted ideas that were precursors to modern thinking.
Rise of the Eggheads (Intellectuals)
The first generation of Persian intellectuals arrived later than those in Europe and Greece. They surfaced in the nineteenth century and believed Persia could not rely solely on ancient history if it were to survive in the modern world. These intellectuals encountered widespread opposition, as many often do when trying to break from the past. These men tried to establish relationships with those in power by creating blueprints they believed would lead to needed reforms. The rulers of Persia, like so many people in power, regarded these blueprints as a challenge to their authority and position, so they rejected them.
It would take a second generation of intellectuals to introduce modern civilization to Persia. This introduction came not just through a strategy of imitating the West but also through a coherent and systematic approach to European culture. By the time a third generation of Iranian intellectuals arrived, Soviet Marxism had infiltrated political and social thinking. In the fourth generation, Iranian intellectuals had moved away from imitating modern Western values and bowed their knees to encroaching Sharia law.
The overthrow of Mohammad Reza Shah in the 1979 Iranian revolution and the rise to power of the ayatollahs canceled what was left of intellectual pursuits in Iran in favor of the imposition of Shia Islam. Perhaps the mullahs were looking backward to the original Islamic conquest of Persia (637–651), which led to the demise of the Sasanian Empire (the name given to the last iteration of the Persian Empire before it was conquered). They certainly seemed to be going back in time as they imposed dress codes on women and beards on men and discarded any notion of free and fair elections. The mullahs, not the people, became the rulers and established what secular states would define as a dictator.
Following the Iranian Revolution, there was a cultural revolution similar to one that occurred in China that began in 1966 and lasted ten years. Like China’s revolution, Iran’s led to the imprisonment, torture, emigration, and massacre of Iranian scholars, not to mention the same treatment of pro-democracy advocates, who were jailed, tortured, and/or murdered when they protested the election of 2009, which many observers believe was fixed by the regime. The same treatment has been meted out to advocates for women’s rights by a regime that believes women have only the rights the religious dictator gives them.
PERSIA’S AGE OF DECADENCE, ITS DECLINE, AND ITS FALL
Alexander the Great defeated King Darius III (who had become far less great) in 330 BCE, and Darius was eventually murdered by one of his own followers. While Alexander maintained the structure of the Persian Empire until his own death in 323 BCE, his defeat of Darius marked the end of what is known as the Achaemenid Dynasty, or the first Persian Empire.
When empires and great nations decline, there are multiple reasons that are usually interconnected. Such was the case with Persia. People who were not part of the upper class began organizing riots and other revolts against their rulers.
As this rebellion continued, Persian kings embraced “the dark side of the Force” and were perceived as working with evil spirits (Persian mythology viewed life as a struggle between good and evil). Kings became greedy (imagine that!) and started stealing from the nation’s wealth rather than sharing that wealth with the people.6
The political structure joined the social structure in decline. Again, weak rulers created a political vacuum, leading to numerous provincial revolts, especially in Egypt, which hated Persian rule. Provisional satraps (regional officials) were becoming increasingly independent, some carrying on their own foreign policies (imagine each member of a US presidential administration doing that). They even waged war against one another. This constant infighting caused serious economic problems. Without a strong ruler who could train armies (and pay for them), and without an ability to gain wealth, the economy began to suffer.
Taxes were raised and quickly became oppressive, which encouraged more revolts and in turn led to more oppression, a vicious cycle. Persian kings started hoarding gold rather than recirculating it, leading to charges they were stealing from the people. There was also a decrease in crop production, which affected trade.
With limited resources, less attention was given to the arts and to buildings. Still today there remains a gap in Persian art because of this decline. It doesn’t help that the mullahs who now run Iran show little interest in anything artistic or creative.
Finally, there was a decline in science, for which Persians (and other cultures throughout the region) had once been known. This decline in science and invention led to a reduction in weapons production, undermining the safety of the empire—the final reason historians believe it collapsed.
For a brief 250 years or so, the empire of Persia embodied greatness, which enhanced the lives of its citizens. During that period, I can imagine, friends were sharing meals and working alongside each other, thinking what they had would last forever: a strong economy, good jobs, robust contributions in art and science, a general feeling that all was well with the world. And then it was gone.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM PERSIA?
What happens in Persia doesn’t stay in Persia. If an empire as great as Persia can decline in such a short time into a shell of its former self, conscientious American citizens need to pay attention. No nation can survive on inertia, on the sacrifices and investments of past generations. Those qualities must be renewed by each generation, and sometimes within a generation.
Here’s a little clue to consider. In Persia, the decline began after the empire experienced great prosperity. It seems that wealth can have a dark and negative side, though we shouldn’t be surprised. Recall a Bible verse about the love of money being the root of all evil?7 Of course, wealth is relative. On the personal level—which is where everything begins for nations—it’s easy to look at someone who has more than you and condemn him as being consumed by his wealth. This is a constant refrain by some American politicians. The “wealth gap,” they call it. The more pertinent questions cause us to look inward. Most of us are doing a little or a lot better than when we started. How have you changed as your paycheck has grown? The values of a nation are shaped by the values of individuals. Once Persia achieved prosperity and intellectual sophistication, it slid into a period of decadence. Is this inevitable, or can we collectively contribute to a kinder, more civilized culture by living out biblical values which have proved their worth whenever they are applied to nations and individuals?
What if people of faith live as they profess to believe? There are approximately 185 million self-described Christians in the United States. Granted, not all sing from the same hymnbook, but most would acknowledge certain biblical values, such as the Golden Rule.8 Even a smaller number of believers in those values and principles can produce greater power. Large numbers of people, such as those involved in political movements, have displayed little power to redirect lives. Recall that the spread of the Christian faith began with one leader and twelve disciples and exploded to encompass much of the world. It did so not through politics or earthly power but with one person telling others about their need of salvation and the offer of a changed life. I recall a comment by the late Texas grocer Howard Butt. He was responding to the little red book of Chinese dictator Mao Zedong, which contained several of his quotations and Communist ideals.9 Mao had said that power comes from the barrel of a gun. Butt said that real power comes from an empty tomb.10
Is that power and the use of it sufficient to postpone America’s expiration date?
CAMEO: Cyrus
If Xerxes I was a bad guy for the Persians and so viewed in history, King Cyrus, who reigned over Persia for a relatively short period of time (539–530 BCE), was the opposite. The Israelites of that time could not have had a better advocate.
Mentioned more than thirty times in the Bible, Cyrus was a pagan king, demonstrating how God often uses people who don’t know him, or follow his ways, to accomplish his will.
As I pointed out earlier, it was Cyrus who gave permission to the Jews to return to Israel after their seventy years of captivity in Babylon (Ezra 1). In one of the Bible’s most amazing prophecies, Isaiah foresaw and predicted Cyrus’s kindness to the Jews and put it in writing: “This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him. . . . ‘I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me’” (Isa. 45:1, 4).
This was 150 years before his reign! It also fulfilled another prophecy, announced in 2 Chronicles 36:22–23: “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing: ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up”’” (ESV).
This is exciting stuff, but it gets better.
The prophet Daniel was among the Jews deported to Babylon (Dan. 1:1–7). He was later placed under the rule of King Cyrus, whom he served until at least the third year of Cyrus’s reign. He likely, then, influenced the king’s decree in support of the Israelites.
Besides his interactions with the Jews, Cyrus is also praised for his efforts in advancing human rights, his unsurpassed military strategy, and his bridging of Eastern and Western cultures. He demonstrated great influence and was miraculously used of God in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.
Not a bad resume.