Founding an Empire cover art

Founding an Empire

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Founding an Empire

By: Santiago Machain
Narrated by: Santiago Machain
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $15.99

Buy Now for $15.99

About this listen

From the wind-swept plains of Anshan to the terraced palaces of Persepolis, Founding an Empire follows how a cluster of royal ambitions became the ancient world’s most sophisticated superstate.

Opening with Cyrus the Great’s audacious conquests and his radical politics of legitimacy—liberation, local autonomy, and measured mercy—the narrative moves through Cambyses II’s Egyptian campaign at the edge of the known world and into the turbulence of succession that nearly cracked the young empire. It culminates with Darius I’s disciplined counterrevolution: a reforming king who turned roads, taxes, languages, and law into a scalable system.

©2025 Santiago Machain (P)2025 Santiago Machain
Ancient
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.