The Persian army of the sixth and fifth centuries BCE was, at that time, the_most massive army that had ever existed. At one point in time, the army is said to have comprised more than a million soldiers, although such claims are probably exaggerated. All subjugated people had to supply troops to Persia, which resulted in an army that consisted of groups of foreign soldiers who each had trained to fight with different weapons and with different strategies.
The king had three units of royal troops, each consisting of 2,000 horsemen and 2,000 infantry, and an elite regiment of 10,000 soldiers called the Immortals. These Immortals were the king's personal bodyguard, and their number never fell below 10,000; there was always a replacement ready to step into the shoes of any Immortal who became ill or died. The uniform of the
Immortals was richly decorated with gold, and each soldier carried a spear, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. The members of this privileged regiment were allowed to take servants and concubines along on campaigns.
The provinces all had to supply their own contingents of troops, which were divided into squads, companies, regiments, and brigades that consisted of ten, one hundred, one thousand, and ten thousand troops respectively. Altogether, the army of Xerxes had six corps, each under its own corps commander. Many of the provinces also supplied cavalry and charioteers, while the maritime provinces supplied ships and oarsmen for the redoubtable Persian navy. The Persian army on the move was a truly formidable sight, calculated to inspire terror in the hearts of all who saw it.
The tomb of the Persian king Cyrus the Great is located in Pasargadae (in southern Iran), which was the location of Cyrus’s palace when he was alive.
Darius established a secret service, called “the king’s eyes and ears,” which consisted of messengers who inspected each province annually and reported back to the king.
Darius also instituted a new legal system to be imposed on the whole empire. In each province, there were to be two courts. One court would hear cases relating to local laws. The other court would deal with cases that came under Persian imperial jurisdiction. The tax system was also revised by Darius. While Persians were only required to pay taxes in times of national emergency, each province had to pay a fixed annual amount of money and goods to the king’s treasury. Because of the different harvest sizes in the various provinces, surveyors were sent out to estimate the yield in each province, and taxes were assessed accordingly. Another improvement carried out by Darius was to establish a uniform system of coinage throughout the empire, which, together with standardized weights and measures, greatly simplified the process of collecting taxes.
World History
