Editing History of Bulgaria (section)

====Achaemenid Persian invasions====
{{Main|Achaemenid Empire}}

[[File:Achaemenid Empire 500 BCE.jpg|thumb|The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial extent, under the rule of [[Darius the Great|Darius I]] (522 BC–486 BC)<ref>2002 Oxford Atlas of World History [https://books.google.com/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA42 p.42 (West portion of the Achaemenid Empire)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129133020/https://books.google.com/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA42 |date=29 November 2022 }} and [https://books.google.com/books?id=ffZy5tDjaUkC&pg=PA43 p.43 (East portion of the Achaemenid Empire)].</ref>]]

Ever since the [[Macedon]]ian king [[Amyntas I]] surrendered his country to the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persians]] in about 512-511 BC, Macedonians and Persians were strangers no more.<ref name="Ref-1"/> Subjugation of [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]] was part of Persian military operations initiated by [[Darius the Great]] (521–486 BC). In 513 BC - after immense preparations - a huge Achaemenid army invaded the [[Balkans]] and [[European Scythian campaign of Darius I|tried to defeat]] the European [[Scythians]] roaming to the north of the [[Danube]] river.<ref name="Ref-1"/> Darius' army subjugated several [[Thracians|Thracian peoples]], and virtually all other regions that touch the European part of the [[Black Sea]], such as parts of nowadays [[Bulgaria]], [[Romania]], [[Ukraine]], and [[Russia]], before it returned to [[Asia Minor]].<ref name="Ref-1"/><ref>The Oxford Classical Dictionary by Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth,{{ISBN|0-19-860641-9}},"page 1515,"The Thracians were subdued by the Persians by 516"</ref> Darius left in Europe one of his commanders named [[Megabazus]] whose task was to accomplish conquests in the Balkans.<ref name="Ref-1"/> The Persian troops subjugated gold-rich [[Thrace]], the coastal Greek cities, as well as defeating and conquering the powerful [[Paeonians]].<ref name="Ref-1"/><ref>Timothy Howe, Jeanne Reames. [https://books.google.com/books?id=uuwTAQAAMAAJ&q=persians+conquered+paeonia ''Macedonian Legacies: Studies in Ancient Macedonian History and Culture in Honor of Eugene N. Borza''] (original from the [[Indiana University]]) Regina Books, 2008 {{ISBN|978-1-930053-56-4}} p 239</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livius.org/ia-in/influence/influence02.html|title=Persian influence on Greece (2)|access-date=17 December 2014|archive-date=24 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200724223725/https://www.livius.org/ia-in/influence/influence02.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Finally, Megabazus sent envoys to Amyntas, demanding acceptation of Persian domination, which the Macedonians accepted.<ref name="Ref-1"/> Following the [[Ionian Revolt]], the Persian hold over the Balkans loosened, but was firmly restored in 492 BC through the campaigns of [[Mardonius (general)|Mardonius]].<ref name="Ref-1"/> The Balkans, including what is nowadays Bulgaria, provided many soldiers for the multi-ethnic Achaemenid army. Several Thracian treasures dating from the Persian rule in Bulgaria have been found.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kcvpAAAAMAAJ&q=persian+rule+bulgaria|title=Thracian Treasures from Bulgaria|year=1981|access-date=24 December 2014}}</ref> Most of what is today eastern Bulgaria remained firmly under the Persian sway [[Second Persian invasion of Greece|until 479 BC]].<ref name="Ref-1"/><ref>Dimitri Romanoff. [https://books.google.com/books?id=fPEqAQAAIAAJ&q=persians+conquer+bulgaria ''The orders, medals, and history of the Kingdom of Bulgaria''] Balkan Heritage, 1982 {{ISBN|978-87-981267-0-6}} p 9</ref> The Persian garrison at [[Doriscus]] in Thrace held out for many years even after the Persian defeat, and reportedly never surrendered. It remained as the last Persian stronghold in Europe.<ref>E.O. Blunsom. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9OmzcuGNJUgC&pg=PA101 ''The Past And Future Of Law''] Xlibris Corporation, 10 apr. 2013 {{ISBN|978-1-4628-7516-0}} p 101{{self-published source|date=January 2018}}</ref>{{Self-published inline|certain=yes|date=January 2018}}