Suppose you lived in a city in Mesopotamia.?

Question

Would you rather have lived there in the period of the independent Sumerian city-states or in the time of the Persian empire? Why?

Answer 1

Either one would be fine, but if I had to choose I would choose being under the Persians. Under the Persian Empire, I could still believe in what I wanted to believe. The Persians allowed the locals to still have their customs and beliefs as long as they payed tribute to the Persian government. They also kept their own local governments, but a Persian governor was still in charge on a higher level. Of course, if a city crossed them, then retribution was terrible, but most cities payed their tribute. It would have been an easier life under the Persians as there were no wars going on under them, except when they expanded their borders. During the time of the city-states, there would have been constant warfare and would cause uncertainty.

Answer 2

I would think that the constant warring of the city-states would dissuade me from choosing that period. Although the poor had to fight in both periods, during the Persian Empire the families of the soldiers were relatively safe, whereas with city-state violence no one was ever really safe.
Also, if I had been rich at the time Egypt was conquered by the Persians, I would have had really sweet access to Egyptian brothels.

Answer 3

I'd rather not live in ancient times. First of all, the life expectancy was very low - something like 35-40 years or less. There was no soap, no deodorants (everyone stinked), there were no medications, there were no anesthetics, etc. I don't even mention TV and computers. The lives of ancient peoples was boring, unhappy (because cruelty was the norm due to a lack of moral principles). Why would anyone choose to live in ancient times?

Answer 4

i would rather not.