Persia *was* the more "civilized" society, in some respects, however, like most societies originating in Asia, despotism was the norm. What the professors teach isn't the opposite of knowledge, but *selective* knowledge, and absent critical thinking, which is not only not taught, but discouraged and disparaged, you have the results we now have...
the infowarrior
No, the 5th century B.C. Persian empire was not a more advanced civilization in any important respect than the Greek city-states unless you believe that imperial unity and military domination in and of itself is a higher form of civilization, which I do not. Does the fortuity of benevolent despots like Cyrus and Darius make the despotism itself inherently better? No.
In terms of political development, commerce, industry, naval skill, literature, architecture, art, philosophy, sports, etc. in no case was the Persian empire clearly more advanced.
Where is the Persian Herodotus and Thucydides? The Persian Plato? The Persian Pythagoras? The Persian Hippocrates? The Persian Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripedes and Aristophanes? Oh, the records of these Persians have simply not yet been found by the archaeologists, you say? Yeah, right.
That is not to say that the individual 5th century Greek was a superior human being than the individual Persian, he was not. But it was Greek culture and civilization that should be credited for the accomplishments of these great thinkers who arose out of it, thus proving its superiority. Case closed.
Yes, the Persian empire did develop better roads and communication systems than the Greeks, the better to administer their empire, but so what. The Greeks after all were a sea-based society.