The government of ancient Persia was based on an efficient bureaucracy which combined the centralization of power with the decentralization of administration. The Achaemenid Empire (c. 550-330 BCE) founded by Cyrus the Great (r. c. 550-530 BCE) is sometimes claimed to have invented this form of government but actually drew on earlier models of Akkadian and Assyrian administration.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 550 BCE - 530 BCEReign of Cyrus the Great in which he borrows from earlier empires to form government model for Achaemenid Empire.
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522 BCE - 486 BCEReign of Darius I The Great; model of Achaemenid Empire's government is revised and refined.
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312 BCE - 63 BCESeleucid Empire adopts the model of the Persian Achaemenid Empire's government.
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247 BCE - 224 CEParthian Empire adopts Persian model of government with some modifications.
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224 CE - 651 CESassanian Empire adopts Persian model of government but bases it on religion of Zoroastrianism.
