WI No Achaemenid Empire

What if Cyrus is unable to conquer the Median Empire, thus starting the chain of events that will lead to Persia becoming the only superpower of the world and stretching from the Danube to the Indus. How will the continued existence of Lydia, Babylon, Egypt and Media affect the Greek city states (Athenian democracy?), Carthage, and the emergence (or not) of the Roman Republic? Discuss.
 
What if Cyrus is unable to conquer the Median Empire, thus starting the chain of events that will lead to Persia becoming the only superpower of the world and stretching from the Danube to the Indus. How will the continued existence of Lydia, Babylon, Egypt and Media affect the Greek city states (Athenian democracy?), Carthage, and the emergence (or not) of the Roman Republic? Discuss.

I am not really sure that the survival of the successor states of the Assyrian Empire (Babylonia, Lydia, Media, and Saite Egypt) is really possible by the end of the 6th century BC, without major changes to the civilization of the Empires involved. The Assyrian Empire had basically prepared the Middle East for the emergence of a new super-Empire to carry on it's legacy. The peoples of the Iranian plateau had reached a critical mass of population and military resources which pretty much dictated that one of them...whether it be the Medes, the Persians, or one of the others...was going to step into Assyria's shoes. By virtue of its geographic position and it's potential military power, the only power which had a chance to prevent that was Babylonia.

And, culturally, Babylonia was ill-equipped to prevent it. Warfare and conquest was a secondary occupation for Babylonian Kings during this late period of Babylonian history. The records they left behind, unlike those of the Kings of Assyria, speak almost entirely of building projects and gifts made to the gods, rather than the military exploits of the kings. This is indicative of a culture which may be militaristic for brief period of time, but prefers to devote resources to it's own enrichment and in pursuit of the peaceful pursuits of everyday life, rather than in maintaining a huge military. So Babylon, culturally, was not the sort of civilization to build and maintain a large and capable military force over an extended period of time, which would have been necessary to prevent the ultimate conquest of the Middle East by the Iranians.

So, at best, instead of the Achaemenid Empire, you might have a Median Empire which assumes the same role, or one controlled by some other Iranian people. I am not sure how much difference this would have made to history.
 
So, at best, instead of the Achaemenid Empire, you might have a Median Empire which assumes the same role, or one controlled by some other Iranian people. I am not sure how much difference this would have made to history.

I think for starters this should depend on how effective is the government and military of this other Iranian Empire? Economics? Would this alternate Iranian Empire last longer or shorter then OTL Persian Empire? At least it's a place to start thinking I suppose.
 
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