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The Glorious History of the Persians
Monarch, 8 Civs, Standard map, continents.
The Glorious History of the Persians
The glorious civilization of the Persias started in 4000BC when their capitol city of Persepolis was founded near the shores of the Western Ocean. For several thousand years the Persians expanded, though hampered many times by the pillaging barbarian hordes to the south. When Xerxes, the great Persian leader, sent warriors north for exploration, they discovered the tribe of the Babylonians.
The Persias saw the Babylonians as a threat to their expansion plans and Xerxes sent settlers towards the Great Jungle that separated the two civilizations. There they founded towns that bordered the dense jungle land to prevent Babylon from expanding into the southern part of the continent that the Persias thought rightfully theirs. In doing so, the Persians ignored the lands to the south, which remained a barbarian nussance.
Soon the Persians learned of the Zulu tribe which had settled north of the Babylonians. The Persians acquired maps of the entire continent that showed them they had all of the land south of the Great Jungle with the Babylonians sandwiched between they and the Zulus.
Around 1400BC the Persians discovered Iron working and found that throughout the entire continent there was but one source of the metal, on a lone mountain, which the Persians dubbed Mt Ironia, in the middle of the Great Jungle. This area was not within the borders of their rivals and Xerxes knew this would be prized real estate. He immediately sent settlers and spearmen to secure the source of iron, lest it fall into the hands of the Babylonians or Zulus. Especially Babylon, as Mt Ironia was only a few miles away from the Babylonian capitol. Persia got there first and established the town of Arbela and thus secured Iron. Mt Ironia was the northernmost tip of the Persian empire as it bordered with Babylon. With iron, the Persians were able to train and equip the fearsome Immortals. These units struck fear into the hearts of Babylon and Zululand. They were able to quell the barbarian hoards of the south and for a time, peace reigned.
But peace was not to last. The Babylonians and Zulus grew jealous of the Persians, their iron and their mighty Immortals and took advantage of a lax Xerxes when they signed a military alliance against Persia around the birth of Christ. Arbela and Mt Ironia at once became the focal point of what would be a centuries long war. The Zulus were able to capture the key city in 110AD with hoards of Impi and horsemen. Now without iron, the Persians could no longer produce their famed Immortals. In fact, Persian defenses were not up to the task and soon the Zulus captured two more cities on the east coast and were driving the Persians back in despair.
Xerxes became so distraught that he seriously considered retiring in shame at this point, so humiliated was he. Not only was he being defeated on the battlefield, but was also losing the battle for cultural supremacy as well. The Zulus and Babylonians were dismissive of Persian culture. Add to this the fact that Persia was woefully behind in technology as well and you can see why Xerxes was truly depressed.
But Xerxes decided to tough it out and win back Arbela and the other cities. While a benevolent despot at heart, Xerxes knew these tough times called for tough measures. So he put the population into forced labor in order to produce the military units necessary to recapture Arbela and the other occupied cities. Many, many citizens died in the cause and while Xerxes regretted this, it was the only way to ensure Perisan survival. Horsemen and spearmen were raised by the dozens and the counter attack on Arbela commenced in earnest.
The siege raged for years with the Persians having a difficult time even getting to the city. But the tide eventually turned with Xerxes plan of whipping troops up and by 580AD the Persians finally captured Arbela and the other cities back. They were able to produce Immortals again and soon raised an army of them. Arbela was garrisoned with many troops as well as troops guarding the iron mines of Mt Ironia. With their mission accomplished the Perisans sued for peace and were finally able to concentrate on growing an empire from within instead of defending from attack. By this time they were a monarchy and they began the long road to cultural respectability.
Next: Contact with other civs, war again with Babylon.
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