【帝国时代一】波斯文明在官方文件中的描述
注：英语原文取自最古老版本的帝国时代一的帮助文件中，关于历史的文本量相当巨大，但在win7系统更新后，以win95为基础的hlp文件被淘汰，如今已经很难找到打开hlp文件的方法。如有大佬能提供支援就好了。
注：因为原hlp文件并未随着罗马复兴资料片的更新而更新，所以这个系列不包含新增的罗马、迦太基、马其顿和巴尔米拉文明。
注：因为年代久远（1996年左右），很多记述可能已经与最新的考古发现有着显著的差异。
注：蹩脚英语，翻译腔，懒得润色的语句。
注：英语原文放在前面，汉语翻译放在后面。
更多资料：
世界地理历史小常识24——伊朗（CV5003909）
Persian culture (700 to 332 BC)
Location
The Persians were originally one of several Aryan tribes that migrated into modern Iran from the plains of southern Russia around 1400 BC (the word Iran is derived from Aryan). They settled the southwest corner of the Iranian plateau, on the north shore of the Persian Gulf, on lands vacated by the Elamites who had been conquered and enslaved by the Assyrians. The Persians were separated from the great civilizations of Mesopotamia by the Zagros Mountains.At its peak, the Persian Empire stretched from the Indus River across the Near East to the eastern Mediterranean coast, south into Egypt along the Nile to Sudan, across Anatolia, and into Thrace and Macedonia.
Capital
During the history of the Persian Empire, five cities served as the royal capital. The first was Pasargadae, built by Cyrus to commemorate his victory over the Medes. It was remote and impractical as an administrative capital. Babylon was rebuilt by Cyrus as a royal capital for his use when affairs brought him to Mesopotamia. Darius moved the empire's administration to Susa, the old Elamite capital, perhaps for efficiency. It was well-located at the hub of a road and water transport network.The extreme summer heat of Susa drove the Persian court first to the higher altitudes of Ecbatana, the old Median capital in the Zagros Mountains. In 520 BC Darius began building the greatest of the Persian capitals at Persepolis. Construction of Persepolis was interrupted for long periods and was not completed nearly 200 years later when the city was sacked and burned to the ground by Alexander.
Rise to power
The Persians settled on relatively poor and remote lands where they were little troubled by first the Elamites to their west, then the Assyrians who destroyed the Elamites around 640 BC, and then the Medes (to their north) and resurgent Babylonians who conquered Assyria in 609 BC. Throughout this period, the various petty Persian kings were vassals of the richer and more advanced Medes.Cyrus II became king of the small Persian kingdom of Anshan in 559 BC. Within ten years he had subjugated the eastern part of Persia and established a reputation among even his rivals as a natural leader to whom men gravitated. When the Median king attempted to reassert control over Persia around 550 BC, the Median army revolted on the battlefield, handing over their king to Cyrus and surrendering their own capital at Ecbatana. The Median Empire, stretching across northern Mesopotamia into Anatolia, underwent a nearly bloodless change of management. Cyrus II was now Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Empire.Cyrus then conquered in quick succession the Lydians of Asia Minor (led by the King Croesus of legendary wealth who had invented coins), Greek colonies on the Aegean coast, the Parthians, and the Hyrcanians to the north. In 541 BC he marched into the steppes of Central Asia, establishing a fortified border along the Jaxartes River. In 540 BC, his 19th year as king, Cyrus turned on his onetime ally, Babylon. After one battle, the army and people of Babylon surrendered their king, city, and empire that stretched from southern Mesopotamia to Phoenicia. Before Cyrus could expand into Egypt or toward Greece, however, he was killed fighting nomadic tribesmen who were threatening his eastern provinces.The first successors to Cyrus conquered Egypt, gathered new provinces in North Africa, and extended the empire into India to the Indus River. They turned next against the Greeks who were commercial rivals of Persian Phoenicia. In 513 BC a huge floating bridge was built across the Bosphorus Strait, linking Asia and Europe. The Persian army took Thrace and Macedonia to cut off grain to the Greeks, but could not subjugate the elusive Scythians. This was the peak of the Persian Empire. The stage was set for the mighty struggle with the city-states of Greece that lasted 50 years.
Economy
The early Persian economy was based on herding because the land was so poor for agriculture. The Persians attributed their toughness to the meager lifestyle to which they had been acclimated for generations.The sudden acquisition of the Median Empire, Lydia, Babylon, Egypt, and gold-rich areas in India made Persia an economic powerhouse. It controlled the rich agricultural areas of Mesopotomia, the grasslands of Anatolia, the trade routes in every direction, and rich deposits of metals and other resources. Great King Darius instituted many economic innovations and reforms: systematized taxation; standardized weights, measures, and monetary units (the first successful widespread use of coins); improved transportation routes, including the 1600-mile Royal Road from Susa to Sardis and an early Suez Canal; royal trading ships; promotion of agriculture; a banking system; and promotion of international trade.
Religion and culture
The Persian kings and nobility were Zoroastrians, a religion named after its founder, Zarathustra, called Zoroaster in Greek. Zarathustra conceived his religion around 600 BC, and it had great influence later on Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Zoroastrianism was monotheistic, centering on one supreme god who created everything material and spiritual. The powers of good and evil worked on humans who had to choose constantly between the two. An eternal afterlife of pleasure or torment were the possible results of god's judgment after death. These concepts of monotheism, good versus evil, free will, and posthumous reward or punishment were a departure from the polytheistic religions prominent in the area previously. These concepts greatly influenced religions that followed.
Government
The head of the Persian government was the king whose word was law. His authority was extended by a bureaucracy led by Persian nobles, scribes who kept the records, a treasury that collected taxes and funded building projects and armies, and a system of roads, couriers, and signal stations that facilitated mail and trade. In the early years when the army was predominately Persian, it capably preserved the internal and external peace.Much of the empire was divided into provinces called satrapies, ruled by a satrap. All of Egypt was usually a single satrapy, for example. The satraps were normally Persians or Medes to help ensure their loyalty. They ruled and lived like minor kings in their own palaces. Some satraps became strong enough to threaten the king. Strong kings kept their satraps in check by holding close the reins of the armies and the treasury.
Military
All Persian men to the age of 50 years were obligated to serve in the armies of the Persian Empire. Greek historians report that boys were trained in riding, archery, hand-to-hand combat, and mounted combat. At the age of 20 they were eligible for military service.The army consisted mainly of four types of units: spearmen for infantry shock combat, foot archers to act as skirmishers, light cavalry armed mainly with bows, and heavy cavalry that wore some armor and carried spears. In the early years of the empire, the predominantly Persian army was highly motivated and responsive on the battlefield, making it a dangerous foe.The elite of the Persian army were the Ten Thousand Immortals, so called because the unit was always kept at a full strength of 10,000 men. The loss of any man to death or incapacitation was immediately made good by promotion from another unit. One thousand of the Immortals were the king's personal bodyguards.In its later years, the ratio of Persians to provincial levies declined. The hardened army of disciplined and well-trained Persians was replaced by a mixture of formations, weapons, and methods. These troops lacked the discipline of the Persians and proved difficult to maneuver and employ on the battlefield.
Decline and fall
The Persian Empire peaked around 500 BC, although the seeds of its decline were planted earlier. A recurring problem was court intrigue and ill-defined rules for succession. The death of a king often triggered a scramble for the throne that exhausted the treasury, eroded morale, and loosened the governmental hold on the provinces. Wasteful spending led to inflation and unpopular tax increases. Disputes in the provinces, usually over taxes, were often settled brutally, further increasing dissatisfaction. Five of the six kings that followed Xerxes' death in 464 BC were weak leaders that held the empire together only by increasingly harsh measures.The Greeks and Persians had been on a collision course for many years when conflict began between the two cultures in 499 BC. Despite what appeared to be overwhelming strength and economic resources, the Persians failed to defeat the Greeks in 50 years of war on land and sea. The Greeks, though victorious, were not capable immediately of carrying the war into Persia.Following the Greco-Persian Wars, the weak Persian kings concentrated on maintaining their ever more tenuous hold on the empire. Recurring revolts in outlying provinces, especially Parthia, Lydia, and Egypt, weakened the economy and military. Before the empire could dissolve from within, it was dispatched by Alexander the Great in an amazingly short period of time. Alexander invaded in 334 BC, captured Lydia by 333, took Egypt in 332, and became king of Persia in 331.
Legacy
The Persians are best remembered in the West as the antagonists in the dramatic Greco-Persian Wars, from which so much history has been preserved. The most famous events from this period are the bridging of the Hellespont, land battles at Marathon, Thermopylae, and Platea, the great sea battle at Salamis, and the sacking of Athens. Most of this history is biased, however, because we have mainly the Greek accounts to study.The Persians are also remembered in several Biblical accounts for the tolerance of their wise early kings and the decadence of their later courts. Cyrus the Great is remembered especially for freeing the Hebrews held prisoner in Babylon when he took that city and allowing them to return to Israel.The greatest legacy of the Persians was the aggregation and mixture of Asia and African cultures. Most of the advances of civilization to that point had come from these areas. This cultural gift was preserved by the Persians and passed on first to the Greeks and then to Europe and the West.
波斯文明（公元前700至332年）
位置
波斯最初是几个雅利安部落中的一个，大约公元前1400年从俄罗斯南部平原迁移至现在伊朗（伊朗一词由雅利安一词演化而来）。他们在伊朗高原的西南角、波斯湾的北岸、由被亚述人征服和奴役的埃兰人腾出的土地上安顿下来。扎格罗斯山脉将波斯和美索不达米亚文明分开。在鼎盛时期，波斯帝国从远东的印度河延伸到近东的地中海东海岸，向南延伸到埃及，沿着尼罗河到达苏丹，向北则穿过安纳托利亚半岛、色雷斯，进入马其顿。
首都
在波斯帝国的历史上，有五座城市作为首都。首先，是帕萨加达，居鲁士为了纪念他战胜美帝斯所建，作为一个行政首都，它又远又不实际。当他进入美索不达米亚时，居鲁士重建了巴比伦作为首都。也许是为了提高效率，大流士把帝国首都放在了古埃兰人的首都苏萨，它位于陆路和水路运输网络的中心。夏季的酷热则让波斯的宫廷迁到了扎格罗斯山脉古老的中部首府艾克巴塔纳，那里海拔更高。公元前520年，大流士开始在波斯波利斯建造最大的波斯首都。波斯波利斯的建造在很长一段时间内频繁被打断，直到两百多年后亚历山大大帝洗劫并烧毁它时，都未完成。
发展壮大
波斯人定居在相对贫穷偏远的土地上，那里，他们很少受到打扰，直到西部的埃兰人，以及公元前640年征服埃兰人的亚述人，然后是公元前609年征服亚述的米底和新巴比伦。在这一时期，各种各样的波斯小王，都是更富有更先进的米底人的附庸，居鲁士二世在公元前559年成为波斯小安山王国的国王，十年之内他统一了波斯东部，并且从他的对手那里赢得了声誉，他是个天生的领袖，人们都喜欢他。当米底国王试图在公元前550年左右重新控制波斯时，米底军队倒戈了，把国王交给了居鲁士，并在艾克巴塔纳交出了自己的首都。米底王国横跨美索不达米亚北部，延伸至安纳托利亚，在经历了一次近乎血腥的宫廷变革后，居鲁士二世成为了波斯帝国的创立者居鲁士大帝。随后，居鲁士迅速的连续征服了小亚细亚的吕底亚（由发明了硬币的克罗萨斯国王领导）、爱琴海沿岸的希腊殖民地、帕提亚人和北方的赫卡尼亚人。公元前541年，他进军中亚大草原，沿着贾萨尔特河建立了一个牢固的国界线。公元前540年，即他在位的第19年，居鲁士背叛了盟友巴比伦。一场战争之后，巴比伦的军队和人民投降了。波斯获得了从美索不达米亚延伸到腓尼基的领土。然而，在居鲁士扩张到埃及或希腊之前，他在与威胁他东部省份的游牧部落的战斗中被杀。居鲁士的第一个继承人征服了埃及，在北非夺取了新的省份，并将帝国延伸到了印度河。接下来，他们转而进攻希腊人，希腊是波斯和腓尼基的商业对手。公元前513年，一座巨大的浮桥横跨博斯普鲁斯海峡，连接了亚洲和欧洲。波斯军队占领了色雷斯和马其顿，切断了希腊的粮食供应，但无法征服难以捉摸的斯基泰人。这是波斯帝国的巅峰，接下来的舞台就留给了波斯与希腊城邦长达50年的激烈斗争了。
经济
早期的波斯经济以放牧为基础，因为土地实在太贫瘠了。波斯人把他们的坚韧不拔归因于他们世世代代的游牧生活。米底、吕底亚、巴比伦、埃及、印度等地区的突然征服，使得波斯成为经济强国，它控制着盛产粮食的农业区、安纳托利亚的草原、各个方向的贸易路线以及丰富的金属和其他资源。大流士国王进行了许多经济创新和改革：系统化税收、标准化重量、度量衡和货币单位（第一次广泛使用了硬币）、改良的运输路线包括从苏萨到萨迪斯的1600英里的皇家公路和早期的苏伊士运河、皇家贸易船、促进农业、银行体系以及国际贸易。
宗教文化
波斯国王和贵族都是佐罗亚斯德教教徒，这是一个以其创始人扎拉图斯特拉命名的宗教，被希腊人称为佐罗亚斯德。扎拉图斯特拉在公元前600年左右创立了他的宗教，后来对犹太教、基督教和伊斯兰教产生了巨大影响。佐罗亚斯德教是一神论的，以一位创造一切物质和精神的最高神为中心。人们必须在善与恶之间做出抉择，并在死后的永恒来生被审判，得到快乐或痛苦的结果。这些关于一神论、善恶、自由意志和死后奖惩的概念，与之前在该地区突出的多神论背道而驰，对后来的宗教影响巨大。
政府
波斯政府的领导是代表法律的国王，他的权力延伸至波斯贵族领导的官僚机构、记录在案的文士、税收、投资建设项目、军队财政以及邮寄和贸易项目、联络站的系统建设等。在早期，当军队主要是波斯人时，它能很好地维护国内外和平。帝国的大部分被划分为若干的总督省，由总督统治。例如，整个埃及通常由一个单一的总督统治。总督一般是波斯人或米底人，可以确保忠诚。他们在自己的宫殿里像小国王一样统治和生活。一些总督能变的足够强大而威胁国王。强大的国王通过军队和国库来控制他们的总督。
军事
所有低于50岁的波斯人都有义务在波斯军队中服役。希腊历史学家说，波斯孩子们接受过骑马、射箭、近身战斗和骑马战斗的训练。在20岁时可以服兵役。军队主要包括用于突击的长矛兵、用于偷袭的步弓手、以弓为主要武器的轻骑兵和用矛的重骑兵。在帝国初期，以波斯人为主的军队在战场上积极主动、反应迅速，成为了危险的敌人。波斯军队的精英为万人队，这么叫是因为这支部队始终保持着一万人的完全力量。任何一个人死亡或丧失战斗力，就立即由另一个部队单位提拔弥补。千人队则是国王的私人保镖。在后来，波斯人的比例在军队中下降了，训练有素的波斯人被混合着各种形式、武器和战法的士兵替代。这些部队缺乏波斯人的纪律，很难在战场上机动并使用。
衰落灭亡
波斯帝国在公元前500年左右达到顶峰，但其衰落的种子早就埋下了。比如反复出现的：宫廷阴谋和继承权不明。一个国王的死亡常常引发王位争夺，耗费了国库，侵蚀了士气，也导致了政府对总督的控制松动。铺张浪费导致了通货膨胀和讨厌的增税，各省之间的争端往往就关乎税收，最后草莽的解决方案进一步加深了不满。公元前464年，薛西斯死后的六个国王中，有五个是软弱的领袖，只通过越来越严厉的措施将帝国团结在一起。希腊人和波斯人在公元前499年最终冲突时，已经经历了很多年的冲突。尽管波斯人似乎拥有压倒性的力量和经济资源，但在50年的陆战和海战中，波斯人未能击败希腊人。希腊人虽然取得了胜利，但并不能立即反攻。在希波战争后，虚弱的波斯国王集中精力维持对帝国越来越脆弱的控制。在边远省份，特别是帕提亚、吕底亚和埃及。不断的叛乱削弱了经济和军事力量。在帝国从内部瓦解之前，亚历山大大帝在极短的时间内搞定了它。亚历山大于公元前334年进攻波斯，333年占领吕底亚，332年占领埃及，331年就成为了波斯国王。
遗产
在西方，波斯人最为人所铭记的就是戏剧性的希波战争中作为希腊人的对手，比如博斯普鲁斯海峡的浮桥、马拉松、温泉关和普拉塔的陆战、萨拉米海战以及对雅典的洗劫。然而，这段历史大多是带有偏见的，因为西方人主要研究西方人的史书。波斯人也在一些圣经历史中被铭记，例如他们早期国王的智慧和晚期宫廷的颓废，居鲁士大帝在巴比伦释放被囚禁的犹太人，尤其是他是攻占了该城的情况下，允许犹太人回到故乡，被人们所铭记。波斯人最大的遗产就是亚洲非洲文明和欧洲文明的融合，到那时为止，大多数文明的进步都来自于美索不达米亚和埃及。这些文化被波斯人保留下来，传给了希腊人，进而传给了欧洲和西方。
这是帝国时代一相关文明说明文件翻译的第（9/12）部：
1.埃及：CV13647116
2.希腊：CV13828033
3.巴比伦：CV13907052
4.亚述：CV13984562
5.米诺斯：CV14070144
6.赫梯：CV14097823
7.腓尼基：CV14186644
8.苏美尔：CV14251992
9.波斯：本篇
10.商：
11.朝鲜：
12.大和：
