As well as successfully bringing together information on the Achaemenids, this book is also an excellent contribution to empire studies. 2. Textual sources and the effects of empire 3. The urban ...

The Achaemenid Persian Empire, at its greatest territorial extent under Darius I (r.522–486 BCE), held sway over territory stretching from the Indus River Valley to southeastern Europe and from the ...

And then there's the language of the book. On the one hand, the fact that no Greek influence made it into Esther is strong evidence that the book was written before the Achaemenid Dynasty was ...