Persian royal road
The Persian Royal Road was a historic main street that was built by the Persian King Dareios I in the 5th century BC. . BC was created. Darius had this road built to facilitate quick communication within his very large empire from Susa to Sardis . His couriers were able to cover 2,699 km in seven days. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote: “There is no one in the world who travels faster than these Persian couriers.” Herodotus praise for these messengers - “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness prevent them from carrying out the task entrusted to them with the greatest possible Speed it up ”- was the template for the postman's unofficial motto.
course
The course of the road has been reconstructed on the basis of Herodotus writings, archaeological research and other historical evidence. It began in the west in Sardis (approx. 95 km east of Izmir in today's Turkey ), actually already in Ephesus , led east through the central northern area of today's Turkey to the old Assyrian capital Niniveh (today Mosul , Iraq ) and further south to Babylon (90 km south of Baghdad , Iraq). It is believed the route that near Babylon said, one arm northwest through Ecbatana and along the Silk Road , the other to the east through the future Persian capital Susa (in present-day Iran ) and then southeast to Persepolis went .
history
Since the road followed neither the shortest nor the easiest route between the major cities of the Persian Empire, archaeologists suspect that the westernmost sections of the road were originally laid by Assyrian kings, as the road runs through the heartland of their ancient empire. More eastern sections of the road (in what is now northern Iran) correspond to the great trade route known as the Silk Road .
Dareios I laid out the Königsstrasse as it is known today. He improved the substructure and combined the sections into a unified whole, especially as a basis for fast communication with the help of the royal pirradaziš (messengers).
The construction of the road, improved by Darius, was of such a high quality that it was used until Roman times. A bridge from this period is preserved near Diyarbakır (Turkey).
The Persian Royal Road played an important role in the campaign of Alexander the Great , who followed the road to conquer the Persian Empire.
Cultural quotes
The anecdote of Euclid is told that when Pharaoh Ptolemy I asked about an easier way to learn mathematics, he replied: “There is no royal road to geometry”. This phrase was taken up again in a modern context in the essay No Silver Bullet , in which Fred Brooks said of improving software development : "There is no silver bullet , but there is a way."
See also
- Rāmhormoz , ancient city on the Persian King's Road
literature
- Wolfgang Kleiss: A section of the Achaemenid King's Road from Pasargadae and Persepolis to Susa near Naqsch-e Rostam . In: Archäologische Mitteilungen aus dem Iran 14, 1981, pp. 45–53.
- Ekrem Akurgal: The Art of Anatolia from Homer to Alexander . W. de Gruyter, Berlin 1961, ISBN 978-3-11-001351-1 .
swell
This article is based on a translation from the English Wikipedia, which in turn used the following sources:
- Herodotus Description of the Persian Royal Road (in English)
- Iran Chamber Society: History of Iran (in English, with map)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hermann Bengtson : from the beginning to the Roman Empire . Greek history. In: Handbook of Ancient Studies . Ancient Orient-Greek History-Roman History. 5th edition. tape III , no. 4 . CH Beck, Munich 1977, ISBN 978-3-406-06660-3 , pp. 134 ( limited preview in Google Book Search [accessed August 23, 2011]).
- ↑ Robin Lane Fox: Alexander the Great. Conqueror of the world. Reinbek 2010, p. 125