The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient
Eastern World, Vol 5. (of 7): Persia, by George Rawlinson

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Title: The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 5. (of 7): Persia
The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea,
Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian
or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations.

Author: George Rawlinson

Illustrator: George Rawlinson

Release Date: July 1, 2005 [EBook #16165]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES ***

Produced by David Widger

THE SEVEN GREAT MONARCHIES

OF THE

ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD;

OR,

THE HISTORY, GEOGRAPHY, AND ANTIQUITIES OF CHALDAEA, ASSYRIA

BABYLON, MEDIA, PERSIA, PARTHIA, AND SASSANIAN,

OR NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE.

BY

GEORGE RAWLINSON, M.A.,

CAMDEN PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

IN THREE VOLUMES.

VOLUME II.

WITH MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

PERSIA PROPER.

[Illustration: MAP]

THE FIFTH MONARCHY.

PERSIA.

CHAPTER I. EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE.

The geographical extent of the Fifth Monarchy was far greater than that
of any one of the four which had preceded it. While Persia Proper is a
comparatively narrow and poor tract, extending in its greatest length
only some seven or eight degrees (less than 500 miles), the dominions of
the Persian kings covered a space fifty-six degrees long, and in places
more than twenty degrees wide. The boundaries of their empire were the
desert of Thibet, the Sutlej, and the Indus, on the east; the Indian
Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian and Nubian deserts, on the south;
on the west, the Greater Syrtis, the Mediterranean, the Egean, and the
Strymon river; on the north, the Danube, the Black Sea, the Caucasus,
the Caspian, and the Jaxartes. Within these limits lay a territory, the
extent of which from east to west was little less than 3000 miles,
while its width varied between 500 and 1500 miles. Its entire area was
probably not less than, two millions of square miles--or more than half
that of modern