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===The Achaemenid Empire===

The Achaemenid Empire originated with the Indo-European ethnic group known as the Persians, who came from a tribal society in the region of Fars in southern Persia (modern Iran). <ref> Briant, Pierre. <i>From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire.</i> Translated by Peter T. Daniels. (Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2002), pgs. 17-18</ref> For most of their early history, the Persians played little role in the machinations of geo-politics in the ancient Near East, living an existence as semi-nomadic pastoral people, but the region eventually became dominated by the sedentary and more civilized Medes. The Medes were actually closely related ethnically to the Persians as both were Indo-Europeans and probably spoke a similar language, although they saw themselves as distinct groups. <ref> Briant, p. 25</ref>