Dairus I ruled Persia from 521 to 486 BC. He was a very able administator. He organized the empire into provinces, each governed by a satrap. A satrap was like a king, but not as powerful as the emperor himself whose word was final. He encouraged trade through the use of coins and new canals. Dairus and his son, Xerxes, tries to bring Greece within their empire, but failed. However Persia stayed rich and powerful until 331 BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great.
Fact file
The Persian Empire stretched from North Africa as far as the Caucasus Mountains in the north, and the borders of india in the east.
resources: Tell me why (Chancellor Press)
image 1: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg/450px-Map_of_the_Achaemenid_Empire.jpg
image 2: https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Q2__arykbKM/VfbJ4d5JX8I/AAAAAAAAMx8/2XLMNfVxpMc/s640/persian_empire.png
