Achaemenid Empire Analysis

The soffit of the axial archway is deeply coffered with a relief of the apotheosis of Titus at the center. The sculptural program also includes two panel reliefs lining the passageway within the arch. Both commemorate the joint triumph celebrated by Titus and his father Vespasian in the summer of 71.

It is evident that the two main largest classical empires were the Roman Empire and the Chinese Empire under the rule of the Han kings. These two empires had many social, political, and economic features in common, but likewise many of those features different from one another. A political feature that both classical empires shared was that both had powerful executive emperors who held absolute power. A second political feature that both empires had in common is that both empires had a central governmental body which maintained order, organized funds, collected taxes, and made executive decisions. Socially, the two empires also had features in common. The first similarity between the Roman social organization and the Han social organization

Relief sculptures can be found inside the palace above the arched walkways and in the chapel (Perouse de Montclos 285). In the salon of war an equestrian relief sculpture is place above the fireplace (Perouse de Montclos 239). The palace has an abundance of sculpture to connecting it to classical culture.

The artifact functions as a music box and was a prominent instrument during the Sumerian age and was most commonly used during funerals. In addition, since the piece of work was found in a royal tomb, one can further assume that it played a role in ancient funeral rites or banquets13. The Epic of Gilgamesh, explained earlier, could have also played a role in the development of this piece since it was a large part of literature in the Sumerian age. Even though the poem was written down hundreds of years after this plaque was created, it could be evidence for the first documentation of a long oral tradition13. Although there is no known patron of the work, it was most likely intended to be played and seen by an audience and give respect to the dead. In contrast, the Lapith Fighting a Centaur was apart of the Parthenon and had been widely known for centuries; it wasn’t a recent discovery. The relief, along with the 96 others on the building, depicts a legendary war between two factions. Even though these were mythic tales, they played a large role in Ancient Greek lives. The reliefs were created to most-likely educate the people of Greece about their gods and to recreate their religious

Many pieces in Mesopotamia represent the status of the kings as being a greater figure than the common people and even an alike or greater figure than the gods. One piece that depicts the high status of the ruler is the “Fragment of the victory stele of Eannatum”, from Girsu, Iraq. ca. 2600-2500 BCE. On the stele, is Eannatum, who is the ruler who leads the battle, and obtained the city of Umma. He is depicted larger than the army, except Ningirsu, who chose him as the ruler. The audience of the stele is the people of Sumer, but more importantly, his enemies. The second piece that depicts propaganda in Mesopotamia is the “Head of the Akkadian ruler”, from Nineveh, Iraq, ca. 2250-2200 BCE. The hollow-cast sculpture made with Cooper is believed to be an Akkadian king. The sculpture demonstrates propaganda in Mesopotamian art because it reflects the idea of absolute monarchy, and focuses on the kings, instead of the city-state. However, the head was vandalized as its eyes were gouged, and its beard and nose were slashed by the Medes because they were opposers of the absolute monarchy. In addition, another example of propaganda in Mesopotamia is the “Votive disk of Enheduanna”, from Ur, Iraq, ca. 2300-2275, in which the Alabaster disks represents the daughter of King Sargon, Enheduanna in which the cuneiform inscriptions which mentions that she is the daughter of Sargon, who is the king of the world. Moreover, the disk also mentions that she is the

     The ancient Greek and Roman civilizations of Europe began to progress toward a more civilized order of society. As there were no previous establishment to base their ideals on, it was understandable that there were some difficulties in their progression as a society. Although the ancient Greek and Roman governments fell, both had similar paths of creation, conquest, and destruction.

There is lots of strategies that have led the ancient empires to their success and staying strong. .Geography was a huge part of history, this is because many people live upon geography. They rely on geography to live. To add on, the success and failures all come from geography, which is very important. Ancient Egypt had many ups and downs through their empire, geography helped them a lot for planting crops and getting resources. Ancient Greece was affected by the geography near their location a lot. The Aksum empire heavily relied on the geography near their empire, it helped them a lot with the way they traded with other empires. In all of the empires, geography was the breaker or the winner and determined whether the empire would fall or

Rome, the ever growing metropolis, one of the most strongest military forces we know today, a haven for riches and trade, and one of the most successful empires to history today. Rome was a growing empire, with its professional army quickly conquering several kingdoms left, right, up, and down, from the two Punic wars with Carthage, a war with Gaul, the conquering of Egypt, and Iberia, but, these expanding territories had its advantages and disadvantages. Rome had to quickly invent something able to move its soldiers to all of its territories that would give them enough time to get around to manage conquered people. The seas connecting Rome’s empire also played a role into how it’s geographical location would play into their success and prosperity.

Rome has many achievements that led up to a successful empire. For example, Julius Caesar was a mighty emperor that altered Rome from a republic to an empire. But these success’ led to it’s “fall."

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires in history. Rome shifted from a republic to an empire and was under control of an emperor. They were able to successfully conquer several places and were undefeated for many, many years. How did such a strong, thriving empire fall so easily? There were several minor factors that led to the downfall, but the three primary reasons that caused the “fall” of Rome were disease, overexpansion, and invasion.

For about 200 years, the Roman Empire was thriving in a time called the Pax Romana. It was a time with emperors that brought peace, order, unity and prosperity throughout all of its conquered land. However, like with any great empire, problems arise and lead to its downfall. Many different factors contributed to its fall, both from in the empire and outside it. However, most of the downfall of the Roman Empire was caused from within, through its political corruption, economic problems and a lack of their previous social values, the Roman Empire fell into a decline which lead to their end.

The foundations of an ancient empire are shaped by many characteristics originating in a civilization’s social, philosophical, and theological values. Collectively these will bring about an empire that has aspects which will classify them in distinctive ways. The aspects that will be compared between Persia and Rome are the motives for expansion, methods of expansion, the administration, the impact on those conquered and the original empire, and the reasons for the decline of each empire. When combined, these aspects predispose the individual overall shape of ancient Rome and Persia. Both empires began with conquering larger rulers and creating vast empires which had never been seen

The British Museum in London holds many ancient pieces of art. There are so many galleries and exhibits inside the museum that several pieces do not get the attention they deserve. One such piece resides in the Assyrian exhibit inside the museum. It is a collection of three alabaster panels that act as registers of a narrative story. The expertly carved reliefs illustrate the great lion hunt performed by an Assyrian king in an arena. So much emotion is portrayed in the brutal imagery of the lion hunt. These great alabaster slabs once resided in an Assyrian palace in present day Nineveh. The reliefs were excavated in the 1840’s by Hormuzd Rassam, employed by Austen Henry Layard of the British Museum. Rassum found the palace by secretly digging at night because the site was originally claimed by French archeologist Victor Place. Since the excavation, the lion hunt reliefs have been displayed in the British Museum. The lion hunt reliefs features so many qualities ranging from historical to artistic. In this report the topic of why the reliefs were made, how they represented the king, the symbolism of the lion, and artistic prowess of the piece will be exposed.

The two sculptures presented for this assignment are the Statue of Gudea, which dates back to 2090 B.C. (“Statue of Gudea,” 2000) and The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu, which dates back to 2575–2465 B.C. (“The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu,” 2000). Both statues represent people; however, they depict different types of people from completely different time periods and cultural backgrounds. The Statue of Gudea shows the ruler of southern Mesopotamian, Gudea, whose reign was from 2144-2124 B.C. (“The votive statue of Gudea: A formal analysis,” 2011) sitting in a praying position with his hands locked and his eyes forward. He is dressed in what appears to be a lavish robe with an inscription that clearly depicts what Gudea thought of himself and his successes during his time as ruler. The Royal Acquaintances Memi and Sabu represent what is thought to be a married ancient Egyptian couple who are lovingly embracing each other. Aside from looking at

Throughout time there have been a number of Persian Empires, but none of them can compare to the great Achaemenid Empire, which ruled between 550 to 330BC. The Achaemenid Empire is known as the largest empire in Ancient history which stretched out approximately 8 million km² at the height of its power. So how does an Empire so large and with such great power collapse? Was it struggle for power, which every new king had to suffer after the death of Darius the Great? Or was it because of corruption of the ministers and Satraps that made the empire decline. Maybe it could have been the invading Greek forces lead by Phillip the II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great or are all these to blame?