In the highlands of the Iranian Plateau, a collection of enormous pillars reach up to the sky... In this episode, we tell the story of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Find out how this remarkable ancient power sprung up from the rubble of a ruined world to become the most powerful human society on earth. Hear how they raised their grand palaces and monuments, and brought an unprecedented number of people together within their borders, as well as coming into conflict and cooperation with other ancient peoples. And finally find out what happened to bring the palaces of the Persian kings crashing down in fire and flame. CREDITS Voice actors: Henry Stenhouse Michael Hajiantonis Lachlan Lucas Alexandra Boulton Simon Jackson Tom Marshall-Lee Chris Harvey Jack Jacobs Nick Denton Amrit Sandhu Paul Casselle Tim Stephenson Ameen Taher Readings in Old Persian were performed by Mateen Arghandepour In Spanish by Scott Fins And readings in Greek were performed by Dimitris Chavres Singing of the Zoroastrian gathas was performed by Ardalan The Theme music is Home at Last by John Bartmann Sound design was by Alexey Sibikin Historical advisor was Dr. Mateen.M. Arghandehpour at the University of Oxford Full list of sources available here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/145588047