How the king of kings tried to conquer Greece and other intriguing facts about Darius the Great

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

A powerful leader and administrative genius, Darius the Great ruled the Achaemenid empire at the height of its power. Stretching from the Balkans in the west to the Indus Valley in the East, Persia was the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. Darius was the architect of a powerful civilization, building huge palaces and the impressive Royal Road. He revolutionized the economy, a single currency and measurements throughout the empire, and also rebuilt the legal system, and this is only a small part of what is known about the king of kings.

1. Darius was proud of his ancestry

Darius the Great was the eldest son of Hystaspes and was born in 550 BC. A commander and a member of the royal court, Hystaspes was also a satrap of Bactria under Cyrus the Great and his son Cambyses. Darius was known to Cyrus, who, according to legend, had a dream shortly before his death in 530 BC. He saw a vision of Darius ruling the world and was afraid that the young aristocrat had ambitions to seize the throne. He sent Hystaspes to Persia to look after his son.

However, Darius served faithfully and even became Cambyses' personal spear-bearer. When Cambyses ascended the throne after the death of Cyrus, Darius accompanied him to Egypt. Darius later claims that his family could trace their ancestry back to the Achaemenids, the founder of the Achaemenid dynasty. Darius was a cousin of Cambyses, which, in his opinion, legitimized his claim to the throne.

2. Rise to power

Darius's account of how he ascended the throne has been a controversial topic of debate. According to the Behistun inscription, an uprising broke out when Cambyses and Darius were in Egypt. A usurper named Gaumata tricked the Persian people into declaring him their leader. Darius claimed that Gaumata was posing as Bardia, the youngest son of Cyrus and brother of Cambyses. Then Darius said that Cambyses secretly killed Bardia and hid it from the people.

Cambyses hurried back to Persia to resist the uprising, but on the way he was wounded by falling from his horse. As a result, he died of the infection. Darius and six other Persian nobles then formed an alliance to overthrow Bardia. They went to Media and killed the usurper. It is unclear if their victim was indeed an impostor or if it was actually the real youngest son of Cyrus the Great.

3. Struggle for the throne

After the overthrow of Bardia, the conspirators gathered to decide who would be king and how to continue to rule the empire. While some advocated an oligarchy or a republic, Darius insisted on monarchy and defeated his conspirators. To choose a new king, they all agreed to a contest. At dawn the next day, each man mounted his horse. The one whose horse is the first to laugh when the sun rises will take the throne.

The Greek historian Herodotus, in his writing, reports that Darius ordered his servant to rub his stallion's genitals with his hand. Then the groom let Darius' horse sniff his hand. Appropriately excited, Darius's horse neighed first. When his victory was accompanied by thunder and lightning, none of the rivals challenged his claims, and Darius the Great ascended the throne.

4. Victory

However, Darius's position was far from secure. Several satraps refused to recognize him as their king and revolted. Rival kings sprang up across the empire, taking advantage of Bardia's lingering support. In Babylon, a nobleman who claimed that ancient royal blood flows in it, declared himself Nebuchadnezzar III. A rebellious king named Assina rebelled in Elam. In Egypt, Petubastis III took the title of Pharaoh and seized power.

Darius and his troops roamed the entire empire, dealing with each uprising separately. With a small but loyal army, along with his ten thousand Immortals and the support of several nobles, Darius crushed the opposition. His inscription in Bishitune states that he fought nineteen battles against nine opponents and was victorious. After three years of turmoil, Darius's position as king of kings was secured.

5. He expanded the borders of the Achaemenid empire

One of the greatest kings of Persia, Darius expanded the empire through a series of military campaigns. Having suppressed the uprisings in Persia, he sent troops east to India. Darius took control of the Indus Valley and expanded Persian territory to the Punjab. In 513 BC, the king of kings turned his attention to the Scythians, who for a long time pursued the northern borders of Persia. After the troops of Darius crossed the Black Sea, the Scythians retreated, burning and destroying everything in their path.

Stretching out thinly and unable to lead the Scythians to the field, the Persians stopped at the Volga. Disease and the failure of supply lines soon took their toll, and Darius abandoned the campaign. Darius then subdued Thrace and sent ambassadors to Amyntas I, the Macedonian king, who agreed to become a vassal state in 512 BC. In the West, Darius consolidated his rule in the Ionian and Aegean Islands by establishing a number of local tyrants loyal to Persia. Stretching from India in the east to Egypt in the west, the Achaemenid Empire established itself as the dominant power in the region.

6. Darius was a brilliant administrator

While his conquests were impressive, Darius's true legacy lies in his incredible administrative feats. During its heyday, the Achaemenid empire occupied about six million square kilometers of territory. To keep these vast holdings organized, Darius divided the empire into twenty satrapies. To govern each province, he appointed a satrap, who actually acted as a junior king. He and his officials established fixed annual tributes unique to each satrapy, reforming the taxation system that existed under Cyrus.

Darius then set about improving the economy. He introduced a universal coin, the darik, which was minted in both gold and silver. The basic design depicting the king remained largely unchanged for the one hundred and eighty-five years during which the dariki circulated.

These coins were easy to exchange and had the same value, which in turn made it easier to collect tax revenues on things like livestock and land. Darius used the tribute to fund his ambitious building projects. He also standardized weights and measures throughout the empire.

The great king also revised the existing legal system, creating a new universal body of laws. He removed existing local officials and appointed his own trusted judges to enforce the new laws. Throughout the empire, agents known as the king's "eyes and ears" kept a close eye on his subjects, stamping out dissent.

7. Construction

To maintain the efficient functioning of the Achaemenid empire, Darius built on the existing infrastructure of Persia. Perhaps the most impressive of these projects was the Royal Road. This powerful route stretched nearly two thousand miles from Susa, the administrative capital of the empire, to Sardis in Asia Minor. A network of stations was established at intervals of one day of travel along the route. Each station constantly kept a new messenger and horse ready, allowing important messages to travel quickly throughout the empire.

In Susa, he built a new palace complex in the north of the city. In the inscriptions on the foundations of the palace, Darius boasts that the materials and artisans used came from all four corners of the empire. Bricks were brought from Babylon, cedar from Lebanon, and gold from Sardis and Bactria. Silver and ebony from Egypt and ivory from Nubia added splendor.

Darius also began building a powerful new royal center at Persepolis, a monument to the glory of his empire. The bas-reliefs covering the walls of the apadana (audience hall) depict delegations from all over the empire bringing gifts to the king.

8. He was respectful of someone else's religion and customs

One of the most enduring legacies of Cyrus the Great was the creation of a culture of religious tolerance throughout the empire. The conquered lands were allowed to maintain their ancestral religions as long as they remained obedient under the rule of the Persians. This amazing tolerance continued under Daria. In accordance with an earlier decree of Cyrus, in 519 BC, Darius gave permission to the Jews to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. In Egypt, Darius built and rebuilt several places of worship and consulted with priests when codifying Egyptian laws.

Although historians are not sure if Darius officially worshiped this sect, Zoroastrianism became the Persian state religion. Darius himself undoubtedly believed in Ahura Mazda, the main deity of the Zoroastrian pantheon. In many of his proclamations and inscriptions, including in Behistun, there are several references to Ahura Mazda. Darius seemed to believe that Ahura Mazda had bestowed upon him the divine right to rule the Achaemenid empire.

9. Attempts to conquer Greece

Since Persia had influence over several Ionian and Aegean cities, conflict with the emerging Greek city-states seemed inevitable. In 499 BC, Aristagoras, the tyrant of Miletus, rebelled against Persian rule after a disagreement with one of Darius the Great's appointed generals. Aristagoras sought allies in mainland Greece. The Spartans refused, but Athens and Eretria agreed to help by providing troops and ships, thanks to their help and support, Darius managed to burn the city of Sardis.

After six years of war, the Persians defeated the rebels and regained control of the region. Furious and eager for revenge, Darius attempted to invade Greece. In 490 BC, the Persians destroyed Eretria and enslaved the survivors. With a vengeful gaze on Athens, Darius's troops landed at Marathon. Despite being outnumbered, the daring strategy allowed the Athenians and their allies to defeat the Persians, ending the first invasion.

Darius vowed to try again and spent three years preparing his troops for a new assault. Now that he was in his sixties, the health of the king of kings was failing. Another uprising in Egypt delayed his plans and worsened his condition. In October 486 BC, Darius the Great died after thirty-six years of reign, leaving the Achaemenid empire in the hands of his son Xerxes.

Continuing the topic, read also about how Queen Zenobia became the ruler of the East, and then - a prisoner of Rome, which destroyed her.