Sargon the Great   King of Akkad (2316-2261 B.C.) The founder of the world’s first empire, Sar

Sargon the Great   King of Akkad (2316-2261 B.C.) The founder of the world’s first empire, Sargon began his career very humbly: his father was a gardener, his mother a priestess, and while still a boy, Sargon found work as the cupbearer of King Ur-Zababa of Kish. Sargon’s opportunity came when a local warlord conquered Kish. In the chaos that followed, Sargon, by now an ambitious young man, moved to a backwater town named Akkad. This became his power base; from there, assisted by adventurous men who knew how to profit from the collapse of a civilization, he carved out his own kingdom that stretched from the Persian Gulf to northern Syria.  Sargon’s success came from his original approach to warfare. At the time, most armies marched onto the field weighted down with heavy arms and armor and arrayed in tight formation. Sargon’s warriors wore light clothing and carried only a sword and a dagger. The could attack the clumsy battalions of the enemy in a kind of blitzkrieg charge, then break ranks to reform and attack again before their enemies had time to recover. While his new method of attack was impressive, Sargon’s major innovation was introducing archers to the battlefield. Hand-to-hand fighting was unpredictable and cost the lives of too many troops, but archers could bring down scores of the enemy without suffering many casualties themselves. At his court, Sargon assembled representatives of the ruling elites from all the lands he conquered. They were treated as his advisors, but everyone understood they were also hostages–one uprising back in their homelands and these lords would be executed. In the peace that followed Sargon’s conquests, he expanded commerce, standardized weights and measures throughout the empire, and posted guards along the roads so travelers could move about in safety. Although he was a man of the people, who came to the throne from the bottom of society, Sargon was no democrat. Once his power was secure, he ruled as an absolute monarch who shared power with no one. -- source link

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