Districts of the Achaemenid Empire
Herodotus divided the Achaemenid Empire into 20 districts. The following is a description of the ethnic makeup of the districts and the amount they paid in taxes, translated from Herodotus' Histories.
The Districts
| District | Satrapies | Tribute |
|---|---|---|
| I | Ionians, Asian Magnesians, Aeolians, Carians, Lycians, Milyans, Pamphylians | 400 talents of silver |
| II | Mysians, Lydians, Lasonians, Cabalians, Hytennians | 500 talents |
| III | Hellespontine Phrygians, Phrygians, Asian Thracians, Paphlagonians, Mariandynians, Syrians | 360 talents |
| IV | Cilicians | 500 talents of silver along with 360 white horses (one for each day of the year); of the talents, 140 were used to maintain the cavalry force that guarded Cilicia |
| V | the area from the town of Posidium as far as Egypt, omitting Arabian territory (which did not pay taxes). All Phoenicia, Palestine Syria, and Cyprus, were herein contained. In the biblical Book of Ezra, this district is called Abar Nahara ("beyond the Euphrates river") | 350 talents |
| VI | Egyptians and the Libyans in the border towns of Cyrene and Barca | 700 talents, in addition to the money from the fish in Lake Moeris, and 120,000 bushels of grain for the Persian troops and their auxiliaries stationed in the White Castle at Memphis |
| VII | Sattagydians, Gandharans, Dadicae, Aparytae | 170 talents |
| VIII | Susa and the surrounding area, Cissia | 300 talents |
| IX | Mesopotamia (Babylonia and Assyria) | 1000 talents of silver and 500 eunuch boys |
| X | Ecbatana and the rest of Media along with the Paricanians and Orthocorybantians | 450 talents |
| XI | Caspians, Pausicae, Pantimathi, and Daritae | a joint sum of 200 talents |
| XII | Bactrians and all neighboring peoples as far as the Aegli | 360 talents |
| XIII | Pactyica, Armenians, and all the peoples as far as the Black Sea | 400 talents |
| XIV | Sagartians, Sarangians, Thamanaeans, Utians, Myci, and the inhabitants of the Persian Gulf islands (where prisoners or displaced people were sent) | together they paid 400 talents |
| XV | the Sacae and the Caspians | 250 talents |
| XVI | Parthians, Chorasmians, Sogdians, and Arians | 300 talents |
| XVII | Paricanians and Asiatic Ethiopians | 400 talents |
| XVIII | Matienians, Saspires, Alarodians | 200 talents |
| XIX | the Mushki, Tibareni, Macrones, Mossynoeci, Marres | 300 talents |
| XX | Indians | 360 talents of gold dust |
See also
- Provinces of the Achaemenid Empire
- Iran
- Achaemenid Empire
References
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