How to Run a Persian Empire

André, Melissa, Thomaz, Cristina and Alex.

Table of ContentsIntroduction ArmiesLaws

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Public Works projects Religion Stable Food Supply

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My Eldest Son,

My days as a ruler are coming to an end. I am old, my strength is failing , and my days are numbered. Before I pass on, I entrust the rule of my empire to you.

You are a young man, though, and need much guidance in the ways of building and maintaining an empire. Along with the help of my scribes, I have decided to create a guide to ensure that my empire remains strong and prosperous for generations to come.

May the Gods be with You,Cyrus.

Introduction

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Having laws was important for an empire because they helped keep order, they could give freedom and new opportunities to people, and they made citizens more educated. First, laws were important because it helped keep order. Laws were made because there were conflicts going on. For example, houses weren't being built properly and people were dying and children were being mean to their parents. The people didn't want the conflicts to happen, so the Government made laws to calm the place down, and make order, so they made laws. Laws are also important because they could help people, such as slaves. In Hammurabi’s Babylonian, slaves could make their own money, and they could buy their freedom. Laws also helped women. Before, women could not work outside home, and they had to be housekeepers, and there was no option. With the laws, they could make their own money, and own land, something they couldn't do before. Finally, laws are important for creating and maintain an empire because it makes people more educated. Before laws, people did bad things, so they invented laws with bad consequences. People knowing that they if they didn't follow the laws they'll most likely be killed, they followed the laws, and the city-state became very calm, and there was lots of order in it, citizens were good to each other, things were build properly, etc. Laws are important to create and maintain an empire because it puts order, makes people more educated and it gives new opportunities to people.

Laws by: Thomaz M.

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Laws

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Armies were important in ancient Mesopotamia because they were the ones who would fight the battles in and would help obtain land. Armies also helped obtain slaves by kidnapping people from the other lands when they were in battle. However, having a lot of armies’ means that you have to feed them all and that costs a lot of food for the citizens. Armies can be a great and an important thing to help an empire keep running and expanding. You do need to train them to fight well and keep them well feed and strong so they can fight well. For example, Sargon taught his armies to have the men in the back hold the spears and weapons and the men in the front would hold the shields so the men in the back would not get hurt and they would still kill the other armies in the battle. Some armies need special training to fight to win but that can only be possible if they have a great king like Sargon.

Armies by: Alex Morales

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Public Works projects

Public works projects were important to maintain an empire because they were projects where everyone worked together for the common good.These works were crucial to the survival of everyone living in an empire because they helped the people from the empire by supporting the farmers, building religious structures, and providing protection. Firstly, irrigation systems were built and kept in good conditions to ensure water was available to crops. The canals brought water from the rivers to the fields further away. This allowed farmers to grow crops on land that would otherwise be dry. Also, public works included the construction of ziggurats which were tall buildings where people believed their main god lived. People thought that having a ziggurat made the gods happy. This helped the people because they believed that if they made the gods happy, then in return, the gods would grant them very good crops and would help them win wars. Finally, public works dealt with the construction and maintenance of the city walls. These walls were thick walls made for military protection. City walls helped the people because it offered protection from incoming attacks by other empires or city-states. In summary, public works projects were critical to the prosperity and survival of everyone living in an empire.

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Public Works projects

Name: André Soares Pinto

Canals As you can see, canals bring water to the farmers from the river. This allows farmers to grow crops, raise cattle and feed us all!!

City walls.As you can see, city walls are great elements of protection for our cities.

Ziggurat.As we believe that our main god lives in that shrine at the top, the ziggurat must be as tall and beautiful as possible.

Everyone must take part in public works as they are crucial for the city!!

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Melissa M

In ancient times, people thought that to survive it was essential to please the gods. People believed that if you did not please the gods then tragedies of weather like earthquakes, deadly storms, droughts, and floods would happen. Also if you did not please them you wouldn't be protected from your enemies, your health would be bad, and you wouldn't have success. So in ancient times everybody had to please the gods. They had to because they did not like tragedies. It could ruin their piece of land and they would lose all their food. Without food you "couldn't" survive. Tragedies could ruin their piece of land by a storm just breaking down stuff. A flood could ruin the crops, houses, people could die and they will have to built it all over again. Building things over again costs a lot so it would be hard. They wanted success because with it you could become a good empire. If you don't have success in Mesopotamia its like being a loser in school. You will be alone and feel depressive and desist about things. As well, they did not want to be attacked by their enemies or else their empire could fall apart. Finally, they wanted health because they don't want to die. To make sure gods were happy people trained dancers and singers, organized ceremonies and offered sacrifice of small animals and sometimes humans. Plus of course ziggurats, that was the center of worship in the city.

Religion by: Melissa M

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Melissa M 10

Stable Food Supply by: CRistina

A stable food supply is essential because it allowed empires to grow. Without a stable food supply, an empire would not be able to function. It would not even be able to become an empire. Armies would not be able to attack each other or get more resources. Everyone would be scrimmaging for food. Without attacking other city-states, it would not be possible to dominate other city-states and create larger empires. Also, if there was no stable food supply, an empire would not be able to manage itself. It would have few or no specialized jobs, and it would be very hard to create publics works projects. Without a stable food supply, there would be no empire.

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