18 Persian Gold

M ention the words gold and Persia together, and images of wealth and luxury spring quickly to mind. From Herodotus onward, the Greek authors never tired of describing the wealth of Persia. But the Persian Empire wasnt completely devoted to ostentation. Under the Persians, agriculture, trade, and manufacturing À ourished. The royal administration played a major role in the empires economic life, but there was also a thriving private sector. And, thanks to the survival of Persian documents, we can get an inside look at the workings of the empires economy. In this lecture, we start with an overview of the Persian economy, then zoom in on some of the people who became wealthy as entrepreneurs of empire.