Persepolis was built with the wealth of many peoples. With each new conquest, the Persians added to the flow of tribute that helped make their empire possible. Treasure, goods, and slaves offered up by dependent peoples helped the Persians field mighty armies, build roads across their empire, pay the officials who oversaw the empire's governance, and construct the very capital from which they ruled. The capital's design and decorations made it an embodiment of this process. Everywhere a visitor looked, he or she saw representations of the relationship between the Persians and their subjects. Long lines of tribute bearers from foreign lands were carved into the stone walls of passageways and galleries. As representatives of distant peoples arrived to visit the king, they would pass through the “gate of all countries” and enter into a magnificent audience chamber whose size and ornamentation proclaimed the power of the Persian king and his god. As you watch a short video on Persepolis produced by the United Nations' World Heritage Centre, consider the Persians' intent in creating the capital. Why did three kings commit vast amounts of treasure and resources over sixty years to its construction? How might the capital have strengthened their empire?

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QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER