Persepolis served as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
Darius I began building Persepolis around 518 BCE in southern Iran, and later kings, including Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I, expanded the complex. The city was known in Old Persian as Parsa. Its terraces, palaces, audience halls, and carved reliefs displayed the empire’s peoples bringing tribute to the Persian king.
Persepolis was not the empire’s only administrative center. Susa, Babylon, and Ecbatana also served important political or seasonal functions, while Pasargadae retained special dynastic significance. Persepolis is therefore best understood as a royal ceremonial and symbolic center rather than a single permanent capital for every imperial activity.
Alexander the Great captured and burned Persepolis in 330 BCE. Ancient sources disagree about the circumstances and extent of the destruction, and archaeologists have found evidence of both fire damage and continued occupation afterward.