The
Persian Empire was a series of historical
empires that ruled over the
Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in
Western Asia,
Central Asia and the
Caucasus.
The most widespread entity considered to have been a Persian Empire was the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BC) under Darius and Xerxes (or Xerkes) — famous in antiquity as the foe of the classical Greek states (See Greco-Persian Wars) — a united Persian kingdom that originated in the region now known as Pars province (Fars province) of Iran.
It was formed under Cyrus the Great, who took over the empire of the Medes, and conquered much of the middle east, including the territories of the Babylonians, Assyrians, the Phoenicians, and the Lydians.Cambyses, Son of Cyrus the Great, continued his conquests by conquering Egypt.
Most of the successive states in Greater Iran prior to March 1935 are collectively called the Persian Empire by Western historians.
