Explore what everyday life would be like in the Persian Empire by learning about how normal people in this ancient time experienced politics, education, courting and marriage, family, celebrations, sports, and more.

Offering a general overview of daily life, this book paints a picture of one of the largest and most powerful empires the world has ever seen. The book allows high school students and college undergraduates, as well as ordinary readers, to gain critical insight into the pluralistic social and cultural history of an empire that ruled a vast region of the world for over a millennium.

Steeped in primary source evidence, each chapter of the book presents an in-depth analysis of a particular aspect of daily life in this vast and complex empire. Millions of women and men from different walks of life and belief systems went to work, ate, drank, produced goods, raised families, celebrated life, and mourned the death of their loved ones, while at the same time sustaining an imperial regime with the fruits of their labor. This book tells their story.