Typical narratives of Achaemenid Persian history focus on the Greco-Persian Wars, making it seem as though Persia’s primary goal was always the conquest of Greece. In reality, Greece was on the peripheries of Persia’s attention between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. The Achaemenid Persian kings were focusing their resources on a western campaign which would be one of their most ambitious undertakings. Their greatest prize was Egypt, a far richer and more immediately threatening country than Greece. Continue reading The Persian Conquest of Egypt