Warmatrix

Sargon of Akkad, the "Šarru-kīnu" (true king) in Akkadian, was the ruler of Akkad approximately from 2324 BCE to 2279 BCE. He began his career as a 'cupbearer' (a high honorary title) of Ur-Zababa, king of the city of Kish. When Lugal-Zage-Si of Umma, who had already conquered most of Sumer, moved to attack Kish, Ur-Zababa sent Sargon to him, apparently with a request to kill Sargon. The latter turned the tables, joined Lugal-Zage-Si and together they took Kish. But soon the two men fell out and Sargon executed Lugal-Zage-Si. He embarked on a campaign of conquest, taking the city of Uruk, fought two pitched battles against the Sumerians and razed the city of Kazalla so thoroughly that "the birds could not find a place to perch away from the ground". He then went on to conquer the rest of Akkad, Sumer in the south, Elam in the east and more parts of Mesopotamia to the north. He claims to have expanded his empire into Cilicia and Iran, though that is not certain. Sargon was a formidable general and also an able administrator who appointed Akkadian governors to manage the conquered provinces. The wealth was used to build a new capital called Akkad, probably located not far from Kish. He seems to have reigned for about 55 years and his successors maintained the Akkadian dynasty for another century.
Details of Sargon's life are mostly based on the ancient Sumerian King List, which is more propaganda than history. There is dispute about the date of his birth, death and reign and also if he was really the first great king; Lugal-Zage-Si could also lay claim to that title. Nonetheless, his name made it into history, acquiring a legendary status, making him the best candidate. Before Sargon, rulers of the Mesopotamian city-states had limited themselves to waging war against their immediate neighbors, by raiding and putting on pressure with short sieges. But the new king did not fight to establish supremacy of one city over another. He dreamed of something greater: a true, multi-ethnic empire, with its base in his own city of Akkad. He succeeded because of his strong army and mostly because he developed siegecraft to a high level, using sappers, earthen ramps and siege towers. Once defeated, cities were stripped of their walls and all symbols that attributed to the power of the previous rulers. Some were even razed to the ground. All this was done to make sure that when the army marched on to new targets, the cities could not effectively rebel and re-assert their former power. Sargon also introduced a postal system that used clay tablets, standardized weights and measures. He maintained a semi-standing army that is rumored to have numbered 5,400 men.
Despite all these measures the Akkadian elite still left much of the actual government to the traditional rulers. Akkadian taxes were resented and the lack of ethnic, cultural, spiritual or political unity made the power base feeble. When Sargon died, his son immediately faced a empire-wide rebellion that had to be put down. Other successors too frequently had to fight to remain in power.