This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Achaemenid Empire article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.
Please stay calm and civil while commenting or presenting evidence, and do not make personal attacks. Be patient when approaching solutions to any issues. Ifconsensus is not reached, other solutions exist to draw attention and ensure that more editors mediate or comment on the dispute.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ancient Near East, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of ancient Near East–related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ancient Near EastWikipedia:WikiProject Ancient Near EastTemplate:WikiProject Ancient Near EastAncient Near East
This article is within the scope of WikiProject European history, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the history of Europe on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.European historyWikipedia:WikiProject European historyTemplate:WikiProject European historyEuropean history
This article is within the scope of WikiProject History, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the subject of History on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.HistoryWikipedia:WikiProject HistoryTemplate:WikiProject Historyhistory
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Abkhazia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Abkhazia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AbkhaziaWikipedia:WikiProject AbkhaziaTemplate:WikiProject AbkhaziaAbkhazia
Achaemenid Empire is within the scope of WikiProject Armenia, an attempt to improve and better organize information in articles related or pertaining to Armenia and Armenians. If you would like to contribute or collaborate, you could edit the article attached to this page or visit the project page for further information.ArmeniaWikipedia:WikiProject ArmeniaTemplate:WikiProject ArmeniaArmenian
This article is within the scope of the WikiProject Assyria, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of Assyrian-related topics. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page.AssyriaWikipedia:WikiProject AssyriaTemplate:WikiProject AssyriaAssyrian
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Azerbaijan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Azerbaijan-related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AzerbaijanWikipedia:WikiProject AzerbaijanTemplate:WikiProject AzerbaijanAzerbaijan
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Caucasia, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.CaucasiaWikipedia:WikiProject CaucasiaTemplate:WikiProject CaucasiaCaucasia
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Classical Greece and Rome, a group of contributors interested in Wikipedia's articles on classics. If you would like to join the WikiProject or learn how to contribute, please see our project page. If you need assistance from a classicist, please see our talk page.Classical Greece and RomeWikipedia:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeTemplate:WikiProject Classical Greece and RomeClassical Greece and Rome
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Cyprus, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Cyprus on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CyprusWikipedia:WikiProject CyprusTemplate:WikiProject CyprusCypriot
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Ancient Egypt, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Egyptological subjects on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ancient EgyptWikipedia:WikiProject Ancient EgyptTemplate:WikiProject Ancient EgyptAncient Egypt
We should have an article on every pyramid and every nome in Ancient Egypt. I'm sure the rest of us can think of other articles we should have.
Cleanup.
To start with, most of the general history articles badly need attention. And I'm told that at least some of the dynasty articles need work. Any other candidates?
Standardize the Chronology.
A boring task, but the benefit of doing it is that you can set the dates !(e.g., why say Khufu lived 2589-2566? As long as you keep the length of his reign correct, or cite a respected source, you can date it 2590-2567 or 2585-2563)
Stub sorting
Anyone? I consider this probably the most unimportant of tasks on Wikipedia, but if you believe it needs to be done . . .
Data sorting.
This is a project I'd like to take on some day, & could be applied to more of Wikipedia than just Ancient Egypt. Take one of the standard authorities of history or culture -- Herotodus, the Elder Pliny, the writings of Breasted or Kenneth Kitchen, & see if you can't smoothly merge quotations or information into relevant articles. Probably a good exercise for someone who owns one of those impressive texts, yet can't get access to a research library.
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Egypt, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Egypt on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.EgyptWikipedia:WikiProject EgyptTemplate:WikiProject EgyptEgypt
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Georgia (country), a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Georgia and Georgians on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Georgia (country)Wikipedia:WikiProject Georgia (country)Template:WikiProject Georgia (country)Georgia (country)
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Greece, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Greek history on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.GreeceWikipedia:WikiProject GreeceTemplate:WikiProject GreeceGreek
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Iran, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to articles related to Iran on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please join the project where you can contribute to the discussions and help with our open tasks.IranWikipedia:WikiProject IranTemplate:WikiProject IranIran
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Turkey, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Turkey and related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.TurkeyWikipedia:WikiProject TurkeyTemplate:WikiProject TurkeyTurkey
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Zoroastrianism, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Zoroastrianism on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ZoroastrianismWikipedia:WikiProject ZoroastrianismTemplate:WikiProject ZoroastrianismZoroastrianism
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Former countries, a project which is currently considered to be inactive.Former countriesWikipedia:WikiProject Former countriesTemplate:WikiProject Former countriesFormer countries
[[Xerxes I#refkhshayayrsha|Iran-e-Bastan/Pirnia book 1 p. 873]]
The anchors may have been removed, renamed, or are no longer valid. Please fix them by following the link above, checking the page history of the target pages, or updating the links.
Remove this template after the problem is fixed | Report an error
The text should be divided into more chapters and there maybe should be less of it in general. Some of it seems to belong in other articles (is this really the place to go into detail about the story of the tomb of Kyros and Alexander?). I'm not knowledgeable enough to do it.
I came here for an overview of why they declined. There's a very long retelling of the countless rebellions, palace coups, civil wars, without much overview or conclusion offered. So was it like a time of troubles? Did it contribute to the decline? Seems to lose forest for the trees a bit.
For example, this is what ChatGPT gave for reasons for decline. I know 100% half of it is hallucinated or something, but I think it could serve as a good yardstick for an example:
Overexpansion: The Achaemenid Empire grew too large and too fast, which made it difficult to govern effectively. The empire extended from modern-day Egypt to Central Asia and India, which made it challenging to control and defend its borders.
Weak rulers: After the death of Cyrus the Great, the Achaemenid Empire experienced a succession of weak rulers who were unable to maintain the empire's power and stability. Many of them were also known for their extravagance and opulence, which drained the empire's resources.
Economic problems: The Achaemenid Empire relied heavily on tribute from its conquered territories to fund its military campaigns and government operations. However, the empire's economy suffered due to high taxes, corruption, and inflation, which led to widespread poverty and discontent among its subjects.
Revolts and uprisings: The Achaemenid Empire faced several rebellions and uprisings from various regions, including Egypt, Greece, and Central Asia. These rebellions weakened the empire's hold on its territories and drained its military resources.
External invasions: The Achaemenid Empire faced several external invasions from various armies, including those of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian armies in several battles and conquered the empire in the late 4th century BCE.
In summary, the Achaemenid Empire's fall was a result of a combination of internal and external factors, including overexpansion, weak rulers, economic problems, revolts and uprisings, and external invasions.MrThe1And0nly (talk) 19:17, 3 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]
@Remsense: Firstly, you might want to apply WP:BRD instead of edit warring. Secondly, please take a look at WP:NCROY, especially the point number 2: "If there is an overwhelmingly common name, use it: William the Conqueror, John Balliol, Peter the Great, Henry the Fowler, Mary, Queen of Scots, Gustavus Adolphus, Eric of Pomerania, Charlemagne. This is in line with WP:COMMONNAME." (that's the case here ...) and at MOS:PREFIX which says that that kind of honorifics should be included in the infobox and the lead but not mandatory after.---Wikaviani (talk)(contribs)20:18, 17 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
Either "Cyrus the Great" or a plain "Cyrus" is better than "Cyrus II", which is not the common name and is fairly rarely used. Furius (talk) 20:57, 17 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
The second image in the article shows Crimea not under the control of the Persian empire under Darius the Great. The other map, Map of the expansion process of Achaemenid territories, shows the opposite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:1c0:5084:c340:d4ef:ab92:1e79:625b (talk • contribs) 16:18, July 19, 2024 (UTC)
Are we sure that the Persians actually had rule over the regions which had difficult terrains/ geography? We can clearly see that in some regions there exists large areas without major city and no tribute, should these regions be even included in the map? Did they even have any imperial control over these regions? Do we even have any archaeological evidence of their rule over there?
The term "Medo-Persian Empire" is used commonly enough to score a redirect link here, as well as being the historical name in both Jewish, Christian, and classical Greek sources. Bible scholars continue to use it to this day. I would say it is FAR more common to say "Medo-Persian Empire" than "Achaemenid Empire," as "Achaemenid" was usually reserved to name the dynasty ruling that country. So, the House of Achaemenid controlled the Medo-Persian Empire, so to speak. While I do not believe this means the article must be renamed, it deserves a mention in the article's introduction. --2600:1700:45DF:10:B430:7EE2:3C3F:987 (talk) 19:07, 28 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]
level-3 vital article is rated C-class on Wikipedia's content assessment scale.
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
