Abstract:

The scale of the Persian Empire's territory was unprecedented in world history and posed a severe test for governance. In order to govern its vast territory, the Persian Empire built a systematic network of imperial roads based on the roads of the Near East, and formed a sophisticated postal system, thus building an infrastructure for road transport. The imperial road and the postal system played their proper roles in ensuring the Persian Empire's control over key resources such as information, military and taxes, thus maintaining the long-term stability of the empire. Compared to the Qin and Han dynasties, the Persian Empire's ability to govern locally using the imperial road and postal system remained weak due to the lack of a systematic bureaucratic backbone.

Key Words: Persian Empire, Royal Roads, Postal System, Vast territory

Published on History Teaching, Issue 7, 2024.