Height of the empire
At the height of the empire, during the reign of Darius I the Great, the empire controlled more than 2.9 million square miles (7.5 million square kilometers) of land and spanned three continents, plenty of land to build a home on. It is estimated that in 480 B.C. the empire had 50 million people living until its control- 44% of the worlds population at the time- making Persia the largest empire in population percentage. This means there's a crazy extent of neighbors! With some good old middle eastern hospitality, there is nothing to lose.