Ambassador and embassy in the Achaemenid period

Diplomacy has a long history in political world, particularly in Iran. Tendency to achieve power and maintenance of the interests and achievements on the one side, fear of the war and its dire consequences on the other side were effective in the creation and development of diplomatic relations in the Achaemenid period. In Achaemenid period life depended more on the war and diplomatic relationship than on the economy, so there was a wide diplomatic relationship between the Achaemenid and other countries. Ambassador and embassy had a significant and sensitive role. The Achaemenid ambassadors had to arrive to their destination after passing difficult roads and endangering their lives; beside this the ambassadors had to be familiar with the destination country language. They should have obtained information of different roads and inform the kings of Achaemenid after returning. Although manifold research papers have been conducted about the Achaemenid history and its political, economic relationship with other countries, no comprehensive paper has been done on the role of embassies, ambassadors and its powers in Achaemenid period. This paper attempts to investigate the embassies and ambassadors and their position in Achaemenid period.