Dascylium, a Satrapial center in the perspective of the Persian administrative system

The Persians, during the Classical Period, established one of the most prominent civilizations of antiquity and formed the biggest ever empire of the period. From the reign of Cyrus, the ktistes of the Persian Kingdom onward to the rules of his successors Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes and Artaxerxes, their expansionist policies and financial reforms immensely increased the imperial power of the kingdom. The Persians ruled over a wide geography stretching from the Mediterranean Region, including Central Asia, towards North India for nearly 220 years. The innumerable ethnic groups from India to Thrace came under their rule. Thus, in the Classical Period, they transformed the Achaemenid Kingdom into a world empire. What is particularly striking about the Persians is the success of their administrative organizations in the areas they occupied thanks to their military might during the foundation and development stages of the empire. The most significant administrative structure which brought many different regions under the imperial roof is the satrapial/provincial system the Persians constructed by settling in the militarily, administratively and strategically most convenient centers of the regions they had invaded. The satrapial administration was so successfully rooted that even centuries after the fall of the empire it remained strong. Dascylium and Sardis of Anatolia are among the first satrapies regions established in the Persian kingdom. In this sense, Dascylium is one of the most essential provincial centers, serving the empire almost incessantly from ca.539 B.C. until 334 B.C. This paper focuses on the historical role and the importance of the satrapial region of Dascylium for the Persian empire in the shaping of the Classical Period Anatolia; its administrative and political structures; the satrapial borders; the political, economic and cultural relations formed by the cities of the province with the administrative center and Dascylium's differences from and similarities to the other provincial regions. During this research, the related ancient sources, epigraphical documents and archaeological remains are studied; the recently discovered evidence is, in the light of the modern literature, carefully re-examined and analysed through a multi dimensional synthesis. Keywords: Persian/Achaemenid Kingdom; Dascylium; Sardis; satrapy; phoros; Artabazus; Pharnabazus; Arsites.