World History I

Chapter 7: Interaction and Adaptation in Western Eurasia: Persia, Greece, and Rome
550 BCE-600 CE

34: Mon, Jan 12, 2026

Please post in the forum for the day a short essay in response to this question:

One of your textbook sources (Source 7.1) is an excerpt from the Cyrus Cylinder.

King Darius the I had his own account of his rule of the Persian empire inscribed in public monuments. Find a translation of one such inscription (the Behistun inscription) here and read at a minimum columns one, four, and five: Behistun Inscription at Wikisource.

Augustus Caesar also published an inscribed account of his "achievements" (Res Gestae) on a public monument. Find and read a translation of Augustus Caesar's inscription.

All of three of these rulers took power through conflict and established dynasties that would succeed them, and all three chose to tell their stories through public inscriptions.

• Compare and contrast the kinds of arguments they each use to legitimize their rule and characterize their achievements.
• What do these inscriptions tell us about power and resistance to power in Persia as compared to Rome?

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