与其他文明的不可避免的接触是扩张主义帝国冲动产生的一个根本诱因。希罗多德笔下的古代波斯以其强劲的帝国冲动，通过一系列对外战争奔上了对外大规模扩张之路。居鲁士大帝唤起了波斯人征服异族的愿望，塑造了对外征服战争的基本样式。冈比西斯以其个人激情，急剧加大了帝国动能的扩张主义要素。到大流士和薛西斯时期，波斯帝国已完全形成并达到巅峰，在政治制度和战斗精神等方面显示出对邻近民族的显赫优势。波斯四代君主的对外战争都显示了帝国冲动的惯性，大流士和薛西斯的希腊战争的失败则展示了帝国扩张的根本困境和极限。从希罗多德史撰展示和透视的古波斯帝国历程，可以提取关于帝国和帝国战争的某些重要遗训。%Unavoidable contacts with other civilizations would give birth to the expanslomst aynamics of an empire. The Aehaemenid Persia in the Herodotean historiography, freighted in a strong imperialist impulse, has achieved their empire by a series of expansionist wars. Cyrus the Great has invoked the will to conquer other civilizations and has formed the basic institution of military invasions. Cambyses II＇s personal passion has enlarged the expansionist desire dramatically. During the reigns of Darius the Great and Xerxes I, the Persian Empire has culminated at a mature and full fledged empire, which ex- ceeded its peer civilizations both in political institutions and in belligerent spirits. These wars represent the inertial imperialist dynamics while the military failures represent the limits of the imperialist expansion. In the Herodotean account of the imperialist trail of Achaemenid Persia some teachings on wars and imperialist wars can be rightly extracted.
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