The Entire History of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (550-330 BC) / Ancient History Documentary 

This took a monumental effort to make. Working all day from when I woke up until I went to sleep for days on end. Now I'm going to relax for a few minutes before embarking on the next hour and a half project. Don't forget to like, subscribe, share and all the other generic RU-vid things. Also go subscribe to History with Cy & follow me on Instagram for travel stories (related to history of course) instagram.com/petekellywriter

Persia seems to be massively underrated in historical terms. Thanks for the videos these are amazing

I am Zoroastrian, Parsi, living in Bombay, this is part of my ancestry, lots of missing history but roughly this is it, thank you.

As you educate yourself, you quickly realize the things you were taught in school is mostly propaganda for your home country. I particularly like how the Persians respected other cultures and beliefs.

I'm from Rome and in all the Roman empire's maps of our books in school, you can see that we have never conquered the Parti's kingdom (Parthia) . They could resist and win against Romans themselves. As a Roman i have Persia in high regards. 🇮🇹Respect🇮🇷

The Persian civilization was Mentioned in the OLD TESTAMENTS, how fascinating!! Very inspiring!! And as a Korean, our ancient Kingdoms once had a strong trading ties with Persia and India through Silk road... it was written in our historical annals(in the form of bamboo woods before the paper was invented) found in the monasteries here and in China..

From Persia/Iran Hello to whole world.Respect and peace✋☝💚

Amazing - this I never learned in history, not even college. Thank you.

This was the best non biased documentary about Persian history that I've ever seen. Well done.

Whenever we had history class and talking about Greece and Rome etc there was always this mention of "The mighty Persians" and one day I just asked my teacher "Hey why don't we learn anything about this?" Didn't really get an answer. If you don't know Persia you would think it's just a savage warrior civilization, but instead much of the Greek wisdom has its origins in the Persian courts, Heraclitus was not Greek as often believed but a Persian man. We westerners cannot continue to think that civilization started with Greece and Rome, Persia established freedom of religion, laws etc thousands of years before that, this is the world history we should all know!

As a Persian, I am proud of myself and my ancestors. I love my language and our history. I want to say that we say Koorosh intead of Cyrus, Daryosh instead of Draius and much more different pronunciation for the names that you have used , but it was totally fascinating 😊❤

Fun fact: The Japanese car manufacturer "MAZDA" has its name after Ahura Mazda the God of ancient Iranic religion Zoroasterianism. Edit: Guys, this is on official Mazda website! I'm not making it up.

As a Persian i am telling you you did the great job 🙏🏼

Achaemenids are criminally underrated, thank you for making this, very nice job.

Most everything civilized about the modern world, appeared first in Persia, even furniture styles and design. There are classic styles of furniture attributed to Europe and Great Britain that are copies of classic Persian furniture design, refined and distinctive. The culture, style and art of Persia/Iran today still reflects the deep roots of modern culture. We owe a debt.

I love the Persian Empire. History has shown that they were and are good people

Greeting and respect to all, As a Persian i am much grateful for all your kind and heartwarming words. As your human fellow, I hope we all can put our differences aside to save our only Mother Earth and Race. Much Love From your Persian Friend.

Iran/Persia is a cradle of civilization and has a great culture, civilization, rich mythology, and history. Persians/Iranians gave to the world many great scientists, poets, and philosophers such as 1. Khayyam, the great Persian mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and poet. 2. Rhazes, the father of psychology and psychotherapy, the father of pediatrics, a pioneer in ophthalmology, and also first to categorize the Hospital dept as well. Many scholars consider Rhazes one of the greatest medical doctor. Rhazes also discovered numerous compounds and chemicals including alcohol and sulfuric acid. 3. Bubares, he was a Persian engineer in the service of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, 500 BC. Bubares built the Xerxes Canal 4. Khwarizmi, the father of Algebra and Algorithm 5. Nasir Tusi, 6. Mani, 7. Borzuya, 8. Fakhruddin Razi, 9. Jamshid Kashani, 10. Abd Rahman Sufi, 11. Avicenna, 12. Ferdowsi, 13. Hafez, 14. Saadi, 15. Attar, 16. Qutb Din Shirazi, etc, etc. And the Persian emperors such as Cyrus the Great, Shapur I the Great, Darius the Great, etc. They are among the best scientists, poets, philosophers, kings, and emperors of human history. Persians/Iranians gave to the world : 1. Sulfuric acid, 2. Alcohol, 3. The first practical windmills, 4. Persian gardens, 5. An ancient type of evaporative cooler and refrigerator, 6. Ice cream, 7. Rosewater, 8. The art of tile-work, 9. Qanat, 10. Polo, 11. Algebra, 12. philosophy, 13. Mathematics, 14. Astronomy, 15. Piped running water 16. Postal service, etc, etc. Sulfuric acid today is used to make many substances from fertilizers to detergents and has impacted everything from agriculture to our domestic lives. A nation’s industrial strength can also be gauged by the amount of sulfuric acid that it produces. Throughout history, Persia/Iran was always a cradle of science, contributing to medicine, mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy. Iranian/Persian culture and history are deep and great. From Jiroft in 6,000 BC, Susa 6,000 BC, Elam civilization 3,200 BC, Achaemenids 550 BC, Parthians 247 BC, Sassanids 224 AD , etc, etc. In the Persian empire, in Persepolis palace in Iran/Persia female workers even had paid maternity leave. The Persians were also known for having women take part in high governmental positions such as in Construction, Administration, Politics, etc as evident by the record-keeping clay tablets throughout Persepolis. This is something that would not be seen until at least many centuries after. The Persian language is one of the oldest living languages. Persian literature is one of the world's oldest literature. The Persian literature described as one of the great literatures of humanity, and it is one of the four main bodies of world literature.

Love to our old neighbors! Italy 🇮🇹 🇮🇷

I have goose-bumps! Only geology gives me goose-bumps like this! 😍

Thanks به عنوان یک ایرانی سپاسگزارم

Beautiful Persia

Cyrus the Great was truely great. The first peace maker

This was amazing. We need ones on the Parthian and Sassanian Empires now

One of the best history documentaries I've seen. And what an amazing history the Persians have. First time I see it through non-Greek view.

Thank you for expressing our past and for recounting the power of the Persians, and thank you for your efforts.

هى افضل امبراطوريه فى التاريخ لديها كثير من الإنجازات فى الطب والعمارة والنقل والإدارة والصناعه واخترعت افكار اقتصاديه سهلت العالم

The Achaemenid Empire has a special place in my heart. I adopted their practices and brought them into Mauryan governance after I defeated Alexanders generals

Archaeological findings are useful for knowing historical events. Achaemenids were a global kingdom. The study of ancient Iran is my favorite. I worked on Persepolis, Suse, Pasargede, and some Median palaces.

Great production. Hard to believe as a one man project how well you've documented the history of that era in the known world

Another great period/empire please keep doing the lesser known empires & periods in history alongside the best known historical topics like Rome or Egypt. Thanks as always for helping expand our knowledge.

BRILLIANT! This documentary is simply amazing, one can easly see the HUGE amount of work and dedication put into it. From narration to video imagery composition, the quality is top tier. Being a history lover, I thank you, and all the youtubers bringing such amaizing works here on this platform! Can't wait to watch other videos!

I do adore persian history these days very much even though I'm not Iranian.

Bloody hell.... lost another hour and half to this guy's calm demeanor and subtle tone of voice. But.... on the other hand... loved getting this awesome history lesson! Thanks!!

History With Cy is one of my favourite channels I'm so happy to seeing him collaborating with History Time.

Not a single word about Aryo Barzan who led the last stand of the Persian army at the Battle of the Persian Gate against Macedonian King Alexander

My God, I saw many things about the history of the Medes, Persians, Sassanians, Parthians, Iranians in the historical books of the Ancient Greek Museum. Iran is a legendary country. Greetings from the Netherlands, I love Iran. ❤❤❤❤❤

i'm so happy that i finally find a video about my country! thank you, love from iran

500 points for pronouncing "Darius" correctly.

The videos and Information are great, But Brother your voice makes this history stuff come alive and real great Job my friend. top 10 RU-vid Channel for sure.

Darius inscription mentions the construction of the Suez Canal. It is a historical masterpiece

If there were history teachers who can teach the way you present your documentaries students would be fascinated with the world history. Its sad that only a few teachers have that skill!

First-class documentary.

Thank you for beautifully made video and wonderfully researched and rich explanations you provided about the cradle of civilizations from Assyrians to Persians and the glory of the Empire they built. Looking forward to your other videos. By the way, slavery was not practiced by Persians, Cuneiform texts on clay tablets from Persepolis have described that people who were in the Persian army , the architects, builders and construction workers of Persepolis which were including both men and women, all were salaried based on their rank and profession and in fact women who were nursing in addition to working, had higher salaries. Oriental institute of Chicago would be the source for such info. Some believe Amazon women who were warriors were from Iranian origin tribes.

Really Enjoyed You're Vid on the History of the Persian Empire.

Brilliant documentary, beautifully read. These are my go to documentaries 👌❤️

Persian empire will remain as one of the greatest in history of the world.

This was incredibly well done! Thank you

Love this and the History with Cy Channel! Very good narration

So happy to find this!! I shall be watching daily!

Dan Carlin does a fantastic podcast about the Persian empire from the beginning to its fall. I would HIGHLY recommend listening to it, theres 3 separate episodes and its the reason I started looking more into eastern and middle eastern history.

Brilliant as ever. Rarely do mainstream TV match such content.

Thé Persian Empire, so interesting and important to explain middle eastern history

How do you not have your own show on the History Channel?! Thank you for all of the knowledge.

I named my son Darius. My cusin named his son Cyrus(in persian: Koorosh). Iranian people want to regain their greatness and get rid of Islam. Islam is like a rusted chain which holds us back. This chain is going to snap very soon. Once that happens you'll see sun again rises from the east.

My first time here... Voices of the past is your brother? 🤩 I love that channel. Very good material, keep it up.

Long Live The King of Kings Cyrus the Great and the Persians ! Zoroastrianism is more than 4000 years old. Last 150,000- 200,000 left globally. Proud to be one. Hopefully our population increases and not diminish over the next century.

Gosh The best and the most complete documentary about one the oldest empires of the world and history of the middle east,central Asia and east of urope and Persia I've ever seen .better than all the books we've read. And the music is great. I'd suggest this to every one .

Hi there, at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="195">3:15</a> i noticed an error then you counted the ethnic composition of the achaemenid persian army. You placed the Kushites in the wrong spot in ancient ghandara, modern day peshawar. Perhaps you mistook them for the Kushan, who would not emerge there until the the 1st century BCE. The Kushites instead would have lived in the region below egypt, where modern day Sudan exist. I am sure this was an minor error yours that can be forgiven. I hope that i help you by spotting this error. Enjoy your day. :)

Finally, the achaemenid empire is finally here! Also, i need to know where you got that Sutton Hoo helmet.

Your analysis and ability to summarize and overview is excellent. Your videos are excellent.

VERY GOOD - You landed right into the middle of my area of interest. I taught Archeology, Ancient History, and Ancient Literature in college for quite sometime. Of all the Empires, of history, the Medo-Persian was the most interesting. I was able to tap into some of the earlier history of where they originated and why they had migrated from so far. The fall of Babylon without a shot being fired is a fabulous study in and of itself. Keep up the good work. I learned a lot from your excellent way of presentation.

Really well put together, the images sound effects and great narration, definitely one of the best channels on RU-vid! Bravo 👏

This is a terrific summary of the origins of the Achaemenid Empire and the palace intrigues and rebellions that shaped what I call the birth of western civilization. Yes, our professors tells us to look to Greece and Rome, but I say, no, start with Persia. Have watched this a couple of times and will watch again and again.

Thank you History Time, for another excellent documentary.

Another great video. I recommend a book titled "Persian Fire" by Tom Holland, which serves as a great companion piece to this video.

I am only 2.5 minutes into the video but I already have to praise you for your awesome choice with the music 🦜

Thank you Mr Ross for your insight to Scripture and also for the calming deliverance you always achieve! God bless you and your viewers!

Dear Pete Kelly, your enormous and in-depth knowledge of history and the accuracy of your informations are just simply awe inspiring and mind boggling. You deserve your own channel on tv in every country.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="346">5:46</a> you’re entire synopsis of Zoroastrianism is somewhat wrong. That winged image is Faravahar, not God (Ahura Mazda). Zoroastrians believe in an everlasting fight and between darkness and light, good and evil.

So it was Cyrus who freed the Jews :)

I was starting to work on my car, notification of a new video from History Time.....well, car can wait.

Very informative, well put together and well narrated. Many thanks.

An hour spent well. Thank you

I must have watched this dozens of times and still find more incite to actual history every time. Thank you 👍🏻👍🏻

I try to be somewhat educated about history and culture but this excellent presentation was a reminder of how much I still have to learn. Many thanks.

Thank you for putting up the best content it's incredible how detailed you document everything!

One can only begin to appreciate the tremendous talent, intellect, humanity, religious and cultural tolerance as well as organizational skills it took to build the first and largest empire ever (population wise), that achieved so much and lasted so long! Specially since Persians were one of the smaller ethnic groups at that time.

Fantastic. Really well done. Your videos are very easy to follow, riveting and offer such a complete picture of the periods. The viewer really gets a full picture of what, why and when of each part of the periods you cover. You really take your audience on a journey through time.

Absolutely magnificent, I hope video on Parthian and Sassanian on your list.

history teaches us the extraordinary experiences of our predecessors and also the great greatness of our predecessors 😊

long life to Iran, Persia the mother on civilization and the richest history and culture in the world. ❤❤❤❤

What a powerful ancient history documentary! It brings ancient civilizations back to life.

Thank you again, History Time, for making this type of knowledge more accessible to everyone.

Romans: 3 million documentaries Achamenids: barely 3 So were you saying eurocentrism?

Everything started there even reading&writing, science , Art, law, rules&regulations , taxes , banking , agriculture…what ever involved to our life style .

Darius's father was Hystaspes (!) remote relative of Cyrus the Great

The Persians are an amazing people with a glorious past.

An excellent documentary right here.

Cyrus wasn't a monarch it's true that he'd title of a king but he was exactly like King Solomon.

Love and peace from Persia to all the world 🌹🙏🥃

As an Iranian, I am proud to be a descendant of Cyrus the Great, and thank you for your efforts

One of my favourite channels on RU-vid. Learning real history shows how entertwined all humanity is. In my opinion, a comprehensive understanding of history would destroy daft ideologies like racism

Cyrus the Great is one those “Greats” who deserved his title.

Very good and thorough documentary of the history!! Enjoyed this very much. I will be a new subscriber for sure. And to be honest your voice is soothing to listen to.

It’s so sad to think of these historically rich countries/peoples and how they destroyed or suppressed so much of their beautiful, painful, truthful, artful and educational history.

I found the presentation to be extremely informative, presented well and very interesting... I enjoyed learning about Alexander and the various Persian kings...

Damn learned so much from this and found answers i wanted to know, great video

Thank you for this video i am a pesian and my city marvdasht is near perspolis

Tip: Watch this at night via ear buds. You would drown into this video and when you finish it you don't even know where you are 😂