Cyrus the great was one of the most influential emperors of the Persian Empire. Persia was formed under Cyrus the Great when he took over the Medes kingdom. Cyrus embarked on a conquering mission and he conquered such kingdoms as the Phoenicians, the Barbarians. He formed Persia under the Arcahemenid Dynasty and under his rule the Persian territory generated a lot of wealth and expanded to touch such regions as Egypt and South West Asia. He formed the biggest empire the world has ever seen in its history. Dairus was known to be one of the greatest financiers of the ancient times and this can be rooted to the fact he came up with coinage through the golden Daric. He also developed trade within the empire which resulted with the empire conducting trade with other kingdoms and empires. During Dairus’ reign the population increased and also trade and commerce flourished in the empire. History tells how Dairus used diplomacy, commerce and trade to further the strength of Persia. He is also recognized as a great leader in Egypt and this is because he granted tax freedom to the Egyptian subjects. He also did the same to the Greek Oracles in Europe and Asia Minor and this helped him because the subjects supported him during the Persian Wars and this helped him in admonishing the Greeks against resisting. It was also during his reign that weights and measures were standardized although they were also influenced by their counterparts from Egypt and Babylon. This furthered the easing of trade for the traders and merchants. The communication was also upgraded during his reign and this played a very important part in ensuring that the Achaemenid Dynasty turned into an ancient business hub which generated a lot of wealth.
The Spirit of Inquiry in Ancient Greece
The Spirit of Inquiry was the quest by the ancient people to look for knowledge which was practical. The Greeks were very influential at this time because they started to look into how the Universe works through the establishment of a calendar which was reliable and also their investigations of curing various ailments without relying on traditional methods. It was important because at that time the population was growing and there was need for the people to be catered for in terms of health and food. During this time there was also the establishment of different social status which included the lords, nobles, middle class and the peasants. This setting was very discriminative and the peasants were the source of labor. It is important to note that during this time the Greek philosophy was also established and the most important people to note in this perspective was Socrates who insisted on the benefits of the people being generally good. Other important people to note were Aristotle and Plato who were very influential on the Greek philosophy. The importance of this period is felt even in the modern times because the people took the stand of not relying on the traditional means of doing things but the modern ways of doing things. It is also important to note that the modern western philosophy is based on the philosophy of these times.