阿契美尼斯王朝

阿契美尼斯王朝
西元前7世紀～西元前330年
Achaemenian dynasty
波斯王朝。始祖阿契美尼斯（Achaemenes）據傳活動於西元前7世紀初期，從其子泰斯帕斯（Teispes）之後分為兩支系。長系包括居魯士一世（Cyrus I）、岡比西斯一世（Cambyses I）、居魯士二世（Cyrus II，即居魯士大帝〔Cyrus the Great〕，西元前559～約西元前529年在位）和岡比西斯二世；幼系以大流士一世（Dairus I，西元前521～西元前486年在位）開頭，直到大流士三世（Dairus III）去世為止（西元前330年被亞歷山大大帝打敗之後）。最偉大的君主分別是：居魯士二世，他真正建立了波斯帝國（Persian empire），而且從他即位起開始有歷史記載；大流士一世，他確保了疆域不受外人侵略；薛西斯一世（西元前486～西元前465年在位），完成許多大流士留下的公共工程建設。帝國版圖在顛峰時期，西起馬其頓，東到北印度，北達高加索山脈（Caucasus Mountains），南到波斯灣。黃金時代的故都波斯波利斯（Persepolis）遺址仍存留著。
English:
Persian dynasty. Achaemenes, its founder, is thought to have lived in the early 7th century BC. From his son Teispes were descended two lines of kings. The older line included Cyrus I, Cambyses I, Cyrus II (the Great), and Cambyses II; the junior line began with Darius I and ended with the death of Darius III after his defeat by Alexander the Great (330 BC). Its greatest rulers were Cyrus II (r. 559-529? BC), who actually established the Persian empire and from whose reign it is dated; Darius I, who secured the borders from external threats; and Xerxes I, who completed many of Darius's public works. At its height, the Achaemenian empire reached from Macedonia to northern India and from the Caucasus Mountains to the Persian Gulf. The ruins of Persepolis survive from its golden age.