What did the government pay artists to do

Artists were employed with specific goals in mind: to help the government communicate with the rest of the country, to inspire pride in a nation that had been brought to its heels, and to document the country’s recovery effort. In exchange, each artist received $24 per week (approximately $400 per week in today’s dollars).

i think its the outcome of people's preferences.

in 550 b.c.e. cyrus the great, the leader of the persians, conquered the medes and united the iranian people under one ruler for the first time. cyrus became the first king of the persian empire and went on to establish one of the largest empires in world.