How did certain factors encourage or inhibit the development of Essay

How did certain factors encourage or inhibit the development of certain types of the state systems in at least two geographical - Essay Example The rulers of the Persian Empire used autocracy, which was a practical tool to handle the vast and extremely social-culturally diverse empire. This is contrasted with the Greeks whose fierce sense of independence is meant that only through democratic systems could their state systems be maintained. Among these factors is that when the Persian Empire was founded by Cyrus the Great, it consisted of a large number of peoples from different ethnic groups within it stretching from the borders of Greece in the west to India in the east. It was for this reason that this far-flung empire had to have four main administrative centers which were headquartered in the cities of Pasargadae, Babylon, Ektabana, and Susa. Because of the diversity of the of the peoples within the empire, the rulers of Persia allowed the various regions which they ruled some autonomy in the form of the satrapy system and this consisted of administrative units that were organized according to a geographical basis. The g eography of Persia proper was harsh, being mostly arid or semi-arid, and this was influential in creating a hardy race of people who had to look outside their own homeland to acquire the items which were necessary for their survival (Mojtahed-Zadeh 275). As a result of the geographical as well as the population diversity of the empire, the rulers of the empire tended to appoint regional governors known as satraps, whose duties included being a vassal king to the Persian emperor. This administrative system was developed in such a way that these satraps administered the region on his behalf and oversaw the recruitment of the military whenever the emperor had a need for it. For such a large empire to function well, it was necessary to keep accurate records so that all the administrative activities within it could be carefully scrutinized and organized. In order to fulfill these purposes, under the authority of the various satraps, there were often officials whose work was to ensure tha t all the records of the government of these units were well kept and maintained. The administrative system of the Persian Empire was highly autocratic and this was necessary because the Persians had acquired their empire through conquest (Mojtahed-Zadeh 273). This meant that they had to govern their acquired territories with an iron fist to ensure that any forms of rebellion within their empire were suppressed. Therefore, the Persian administration gave immense power to the emperor who had the power of life or death over all his subjects meaning that he was an absolute monarch whose authority could not be questioned. The forms of democracy which were prevalent in the Greek cities were absent in Persia, and this may have been a factor in keeping the empire unified since all the authority within it was vested in the emperor, who could either delegate it to individuals or take it away as he pleased. It can therefore be said that the Persian Empire developed its autocratic system of go vernment as a response to the diversity in the population within it and it is this, more than anything else which ensured that the empire remained stable for several centuries. Ancient Greece on the other hand consisted of several hundred city states which were completely independent of each other and the