Persia (TRIH ep 41)
550 BCE · Resource
Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian studies, to argue for Persia/Iran's outsized influence on world history. Ansari explains the continuity between Persia and Iran, outlines pre-Islamic Persian empires (Achaemenid, Parthian, Sassanian), and contends Persia contributed foundational elements to empire, religion, and culture. He highlights Zoroastrian influences on Jewish and Christian texts, Persian roles in Islam’s development, and the Persian origi...
On these timelines: The Rest Is History (podcast), Resources: Combined
Around 550 BCE
- Persian invasions of Greece (499 BCE)
- Ramayana (500 BCE)
- Gautama Buddha (563 BCE)
- Achaemenid Persian Empire (550 BCE)
- Confucius (551 BCE)
- Roman Republic founded (509 BCE)
- Cyrus the Great (600 BCE)
- Cleisthenes' reforms (508 BCE)
- Babylonian Captivity of the Jews (586 BCE)
- Socrates (469 BCE)