The tireless efforts of a handful of modern scholars is slowly contributing to the emergence of a new view of the imperial Achaemenids, which in due time would impact the novelists and romancers.
However, current research into the Achaemenids is not only hampered by the destruction of the contemporary royal records, it is also complicated and mostly distorted by the manner in which ancient Hellene records have survived to modern day, ever after making allowances for the biased and sometimes hostile views inherent in Hellenic documents, and imperfect understanding of ancient Eastern languages:
Translation: the practice of interpreting the meaning of a text and producing an equivalent text in another language.
Transliteration: the practice of mapping, word by word, from one system of writing into another.
Transcription: the practice of converting spoken words into writing.
Latinization: the practice of writing a name in the Latin style, by: 1) transforming a non-Latin name into Latin sounds; 2) by translating a name with a specific meaning into Latin; or, 3) choosing a new name based on some attribute of the person.
