Lifestyle

Herodotus also provided a description of the Persians’ lifestyle, saying that they had no statues of gods, or temples, or altars (although archaeological evidence says otherwise). “They also bring offerings to the god of the sun, the moon, fire, water, and wind,” he continues. “Of all the feasts, the most important one for the Persians is their birthday.” He goes on to say that after courage, the Persians most admire fertility: “Each year the king sends gifts to the family with the most children.” According to Herodotus, children were taught only three things between the ages of 5 and 20—horseback riding, archery, and telling the truth. “The most contemptuous deed is to tell a lie,” Herodotus reports,“and after that comes getting into debt. The Persians never pollute the waters of their rivers with garbage, and neither do they wash their hands in them. They consider the rivers to be holy.”

Before the rise of their empire, the Persians were still a relatively primitive people. When Croesus of Lydia was preparing to go to war with the Persians around 550 BCE, one of his counselors advised him: “You are going to war against a people who wear leather pants, live off dry ground, drink water rather than wine, and do not know figs. If you conquer them, you will still own nothing. If they vanquish you they will be incredibly rich.”

Whatever their reputation, the Persian lifestyle certainly did not exclude a love of wine. The alcoholic tendencies of Cambyses II were legendary, and Herodotus reports of the Persians: “It is their custom to discuss business when they are drunk—but they only make their decisions the next day, when they are sober again”

Despite this dubious press, the Persian kings were on the whole enlightened and benevolent rulers. For the most part, when they conquered a territory, they respected the local customs and gods and often employed local people as officials. Although the regional satrapies had to pay heavy taxes, in return they enjoyed the benefits of the public projects that the Persian government carried out throughout the empire. These projects included improving drainage and irrigation of agricultural land by constructing a system of underground channels to carry water in desert regions. One vast water project carried out during Darius’s reign was the building of a great canal to link the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. The journey along the canal took four days to complete.