It is very heartening to note that Parsis such as Dr Farokh Udwadia are continuing the tradition of studying our ancient history ("Learning from the Achemenians,” Books, Parsiana, September 7-20, 2019). Udwadia’s research on the Achemenians deserves plaudits as it clears many false impressions about them.
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Some of the reasons ascribed to the downfall of the Achemenians have been studied in great detail in recent times, especially by Josef Wiesehoffer (Ancient Persia, I. B. Tauris) and Pierre Bryant (From Cyrus to Alexander, Eisdenbrauns, 2002) and were found to be untrue, Hellenocentric and biased. While Wiesehoffer rejects the Greeks’ allegation of a decadent Persian empire at length, Bryant devotes many more pages to rule out the Hellenocentric version for the Achemenid defeat which is too detailed and academic to quote here. Just one conclusive statement will suffice to prove the point: "The Macedonian victory then provides no basis for any inference about a ‘crisis’ of the Achemenid Empire in 334 and even less basis for any claim about its ‘decadence’ throughout the fourth century (BC).” Alexander adopted so many Achemenid conventions that both these historians regard him as "the last of the Achemenids.”
"However,” Bryant notes, "by posing as the heir of Darius, Alexander at the same time caused insurmountable conflicts to erupt — Alexander never really succeeded in creating a new ruling class that was as homogeneous and stable as the socio-ethnic class that ruled the (Achemenid) Empire.” During Alexander’s long stay in India, satraps, both Iranian and Macedonian, violated the agreements he had made with them. "When Alexander died, none of the problems were resolved.” Bryant brings out the contrast between "the dramatic inability of the Macedonian authority to organize any dynastic succession” vis-à-vis "the remarkable Achemenid capacity for renewal even in times of the most intense dynastic crises.”
Moreover, he adds, "the Seleucid (Greek) enterprise was on a far smaller scale than that of the Achemenid Empire” and "satraps were quick to establish dynasties with close connections (that they loved to stress) to the Achemenid family.” This is not to say that the Achemenids were without faults, but many of the faults assigned to them stem from an unfair, biased opinion about the Persians by Herodotus, Xenophon, Ctesias, etc.
I am studying our ancient history in general and Greco-Persian relations in particular, among other topics, and hope to publish my findings in due time, which is the reason I was drawn to write this letter. Dr KERSEY H. ANTIA
Chicago, USA
kerseyantia@yahoo.com