Administration of the Persian achaemenid world-state empire: implications for modern public administration

Abstract

This essay discusses the Iranian (Persian) traditions of state, bureaucracy, and public administration from around 6000 B.C. to 330 B.C. As one of the earliest sites of human civilization, contemporary and rival to Summer and Babylon, Iran began political life first as the city state Susa, then as the capital of one of the major ancient empires, federal Elam, for 2,500 years. Iranian administrative traditions flourished during the powerful Aryan rule under the Median empire and, particularly, under the world-state Achaemenid Persian Empire founded by Cyrus the Great, which ended in 330 B.C. The study, therefore, covers a long period of almost 6,000 years of Iranian experience in theory and practice of governance and public administration. No discussion is made of the following Parthian decentralized administration or the more advanced and centralized administrative systems of governance and administration under the formidable Sasanian Empire. The study outlines the major administrative legacies of the Elamites, the Median state, and the Achaemenid world-state empire. Although earlier Iranian public administration is covered, the central focus here is on the united state of the Achaemenid stat and public administration. Key features of the Persian administration and governance are analyzed, followed by an outline of some implications/lessons for modern public administration and public management.