Founded by King Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, the first Persian empire stretched from the Aegean Sea to the borders of India. It was conquered by Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC and later by the war-like Parthians from central Asia. A new Persian empire was established by the Sassanians, another Persian people, in the 3rd century AD, which flourished for 400 years before the spread of Islam overwhelmed it.
