XERXES - The Nature of Persia

The Very Nature of Persia

An interlude if we may to discuss the very nature of Persia herself. Much has been garnered and delivered on the nature of war. Little has been fostered and gifted on the nature of peace. Persia at her very heart is the nature of peace.

It may come as a surprise to those readers in far distances of time and space who read these words now. But nonetheless it is an absolute truth. The very heart of Persia is peace.

Consider the moment of inception. That droplet of a dream in the heart of the son of a nomadic tribal leader. To ponder not only once but often at great lengths the possibility of uniting great numbers of nomadic tribes and creating a homeland. Uniting in peace. To provide a place to create and nurture. A place of cultures sharing and living and breathing as one.

It is true and absolute that this dream was not realized solely on the beautiful curved shoulders of peace. It is true and absolute that disagreements became arguments. Arguments became divisions. Divisions led to bloodshed. Bloodshed led to battles. And eventually battles led to all out war.

But for this moment now. Consider the graceful and merciful humble beginnings. The mere thought of uniting diverse peoples of nomadic histories. Uniting nations to share in the creation and development of art and music, of horticulture and cuisine, of theatre and song.

For centuries thought to be hidden in the dusty corners of bombed out ruins. Buried in once fertile but now sandy deserts. Entombed in the foundations of the modern cities. Persia slowly rises. Persia is grace and mercy. Persia is freedom. Persia is unadorned and quiet beauty. Persia is a thought. Persia is an idea. Persia is a dream. In heart. In essence. Persia is peace. 

Xerxes  

Xerxes - The Nature of Persia

The Nature of Persia

To give detail to the total circumference and the totality of the vastness of Persia would take two lifetimes. Persia was more than a Country. More than a Nation. More than a Kingdom. Persia began as a thought. An idea. A dream. Just as most civilizations or regions or countries have been created. When Atossa’s father Cyrus was still a young man and not yet married he was the son of a tribal leader. Hunters. Merchants. Ironsmiths. Moving from West to East along the centuries old trading routes.

Young Cyrus had a thought. Why not unite with other tribes. Why not create a place. Why not join together to settle a small part of the land in a fertile valley. This thought grew. He spoke of it. Shared it with his father who denied the possibility. To settle and stay in one place was not in their nature. Tribal nomads for centuries do not build block homes by a forest. Tribal nomads are by their very blood and lineage – wanderers.

But the idea persisted within Cyrus and he began to build this dream into a reality. He made a union with a strong woman who gave him strong sons. And another union gave him more sons and Atossa. Cyrus and other tribal leaders decided to take a place. And the wars began. Battle for the lands. Battles for the resources. A homeland. Finally.

As the years and decades grew so did Persia. The great idea born in the heart of Cyrus. A group of Nations. A group of Peoples. Artisans. Craftsmen. Goldsmiths. Ironsmiths. Traders. Merchants. Musicians. Philosophers. The union of all of the great kingdoms and governments of a vast region. All united in one love. Persia.

Darius continued with the dream. Building Persia block by block. Stone by stone. Region by region. Governor by governor. Commander by commander. Adding roads. Cities. Great architecture. When the borders were weakened Darius struck. When nomads appealed for protection. Darius allowed. When the great kingdoms from the far east and the far west recognized Persia. Darius was pleased.

The nature of Persia herself – for she is a feminine energy was a nature of nurture. Nurture the arts. Nurture the creative thoughts. Nurture the children and the families. Nurture the land and the animals and all living therein.

For more than two centuries the great Kings of Kings were given the honour to lead Beautiful Persia. For within the walls of those centuries Persia was glorious and revered and recognized as a vast and expanding Empire.

The end of this Persia as it was known in those moments came swiftly and harshly. It was generations after my own dreams of her. After the dreams of my own sons. And the dreams of their sons. Persia remained a beautiful Empire until the fall of Persepolis at the hands of Alexander.

But Persia did not end in those moments. For the very wives of Alexander were Persian. Their sons and daughters – Persian. And thus each one descended from the great tribal leader who once had a dream to unite a region. And the dream of Persia lives on.