Darius I of Persia
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{{Infobox Emperor
| name = Darius I of Persia, the Great
| title = Great King ([[Shah]]) of Persia, [[Pharaoh]] of Egypt
| image =[[Image:Darius.jpg|150px]]
| caption =Darius I of Persia
| reign = [[522 BC]] to [[480s BC|486 BC]]
| coronation =
| predecessor = [[Smerdis of Persia|Smerdis (Bardiya)]]
| successor = [[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes I]]
| heir =
| consort =
| issue =
| royal house = Achaemenid Dynasty
| royal anthem =
| father =
| mother =
| date of birth = c. [[549 BC]]
| place of birth =
| date of death = [[486 BC]]
| place of death =
| place of burial=
}}
'''Darius I the Great''' (c. [[549 BC]] [[480s BC|486 BC]]; {{lang-peo|𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Ghias Abadi|first=R. M.|title=Achaemenid Inscriptions (کتیبههای هخامنشی)‎|edition=2nd edition|publisher=Shiraz Navid Publications|year=2004|location=Tehran|isbn=964-358-015-6|pages=page 25|language=Persian}}</ref> ''Dārayavahuš''<ref name="Avesta names">[http://www.avesta.org/znames.htm Avesta names; Old Persian names; Parsi names; Irani Zoroastrian names<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>: "Upholder of good" <ref name="Avesta names" />) was the son of [[Hystaspes]], and [[Persian Empire|king of Persia]] from [[522 BC]] to [[480s BC|486 BC]]. His name in [[Persian language|modern Persian]] is داریوش ({{IPA2|dɒrjuʃ}}), in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] דַּרְיָוֶשׁ (''Daryavesh''), the [[ancient Greek]] sources call him {{polytonic|Δαρεῖος}} (''Dareios''), and [[History of India|Indians]] called him दरायु (''Darāyu'') in [[Sanskrit]]. ''Darius'' was the [[Latin language|Latin]] spelling used by ancient Roman historians. The English pronunciation is sometimes {{IPA|/'dæriəs/}} or {{IPA|/də'raɪəs/}}.<ref>[http://www.bartleby.com/61/89/D0028900.html Darius I. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000<!-- Bot generated title -->]. This is the pronunciation found in the 2004 movie ''[[Alexander (film)|Alexander]]'' in reference to [[Darius III of Persia|Darius III]].</ref>
Having ascended to power amidst controversy and bloodshed that claimed two sons of [[Cyrus the Great]],<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-1713/Darius-I Darius I - Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Darius I's reign was marked by revolt; twice [[Babylonia]] revolted, three times [[Susiana]], and [[Ionia]]n revolt precipitated several ill-fated Persian expeditions against Greece, including a defeat [[Battle of Marathon|at Marathon]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-1714/Darius-I Darius I :: Fortification of the empire. - Britannica Online Encyclopedia<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Darius subjugated the nations of the [[Pontus|Pontic]] and [[Armenia]]n mountains, and extended Persian dominion to the [[Caucasus]]; for the same reasons he fought against the [[Saka]] and other Iranian [[steppe]] tribes, as well as the [[Turan]]ians from beyond the [[Oxus]]. In the process of these campaigns he made military reforms such as introducing [[conscription]], pay for soldiers, military training and he also made changes in the army and navy.
==Empire==
[[Image:PersepolisRelief.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Part of entrance hall from the imperial city of Persepolis founded by Darius the Great]]
Darius in his empire appears as a fervent worshiper of [[Ahura Mazda]]. A great reformer and organizer, Darius thoroughly revised the Persian system of administration and also the legal code. His revisions of the legal code revolved around laws of [[evidence]], [[deposit account|deposit]]s, [[bribery]], and [[assault]].
It was through the organization of the empire he became the true restorer of the heritage of [[Cyrus the Great]]. His organizing of provinces and fixing of tributes is described by [[Herodotus]] (iii. 90 if.), evidently from good official sources. He divided the [[Persian Empire]] into twenty provinces, each under the supervision of a governor or ''[[satrap]]''. The satrap position was usually hereditary and largely autonomous, allowing each province its own distinct laws, traditions, and elite class. Every province, however, was responsible for paying a [[gold]] or [[silver]] tribute to the emperor; many areas, such as [[Babylonia]], underwent severe economic decline resulting from these quotas.
Each province also had an independent financial controller and an independent military coordinator as well as the satrap, who controlled administration and the law. All three probably reported directly to the king. This distributed power within the province more evenly and lowered the chance of revolt. Darius also increased the bureaucracy of the empire, with many scribes employed to provide records of the administration.
Soldiers of many nationalities served in the armies of Darius, including the [[Assyrians]], [[Phoenicia]]ns, [[Babylonians]], [[India]]ns, [[Egyptians]], [[Jews]] and [[Arabs]].<ref>Farrokh 2007: 60</ref>
==Building projects==
[[Image:Rukh.jpg|right|thumb|200px|A symbolic Imperial sculpture constructed during the reign of [[Darius I]], palace of [[Persepolis]], [[Iran]].]]
Many building projects were started during the reign of Darius, the largest being the building of the new capital of [[Persepolis]]. [[Pasargadae]] was too well associated with the previous dynasty of [[Cyrus]] and [[Cambyses]] and so Darius sought a new capital. The city would have walls sixty feet high and thirty-three feet thick and would be an enormous engineering undertaking. Darius' tomb was cut into a rock face not far from the city. He dug a canal from the [[Nile]] to [[Suez]], and, as the fragments of a [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphic]] inscription found there show, his ships sailed from the Nile through the [[Red Sea]] by [[Sheba|Saba]] to Persia. Darius also commissioned the extensive road network that was built all over the country. The ''Persepolis Tablets'' mention a ‘royal road’ from [[Susa]] to Persepolis and from [[Sardis]] to Susa built by Darius. It was highly organised with rest stations, guarded [[garrison]]s, [[inn]]s and apparently no [[bandit]]s. Darius is also remembered for his [[Behistun Inscription]] which was chiseled into the rock face near the town of [[Behistun]]. It showed Darius' successful ascension to the throne and described Darius' legitimacy to be king.
==Economy, diplomacy and trade==
[[Image:Achaemenid_coin_daric_420BC_front.jpg|thumb|[[Achaemenid]] Daric, circa 490BC.]]
<!--(c) image deleted [[Image:Persian-daric.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Left:The [[Lydian]] [[Stater]]. Depicting the fight of a bull and a [[lion]]. The same scene is repeated many times in the bas-reliefs of [[Persepolis]].
Right: The [[Archaemenid]] [[Daric]]. <ref>[http://Irancollection.alborzi.com Iran collection], Coins of [[Iran]] / [[Persian Empire]].</ref>
]] -->
Darius is often renowned above all as being a great financier. He fixed the [[coinage]] and introduced the golden [[Daric]]. He developed [[commerce]] within the empire and trade without. For example, he sent an expedition down the [[Kabul River|Kabul]] and [[Indus river|Indus]] Rivers, led by the [[Caria]]n captain [[Scylax of Caryanda]], who explored the [[Indian Ocean]] from the mouth of the Indus to [[Suez]]. During his reign, the population increased and industries flourished in towns.
Persia under Darius probably had connections with [[Carthage]] (cf. the ''Karka'' of the [[Nakshi Rustam]] inscription) of [[Sicily]] and [[Italy]]. At the same time he attempted to gain the good-will of the subject nations, and for this purpose promoted the aims of their priests. He allowed the [[Jew]]s to rebuild the [[Temple of Jerusalem]] and it was finished in 516 BC, his sixth year. In [[Egypt]] his name appears on the temples which he built in [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]], [[Edfu]] and the Great Oasis. He called the high-priest of [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]], [[Tzahor]], to [[Susa]] (as we learn from his inscription in the [[Vatican Museum]]), and gave him full powers to reorganize the "house of life," the great medical school of the temple of Sais. In the Egyptian traditions he is considered one of the great benefactors and lawgivers of the country. In similar relations he stood to the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] sanctuaries (cf. his rescript to "his slave" Godatas, the inspector of a royal park near [[Magnesia on the Maeander]], in which he grants freedom of taxes and forced labor to the sacred territory of [[Apollo]]); all the Greek [[oracle]]s in [[Asia Minor]] and [[Europe]] therefore stood on the side of Persia in the [[Persian Wars]] and admonished the Greeks against attempting resistance.
Weights and measures were standardized (as in a "royal [[cubit]]" or a "king’s measure") but often they still operated side by side with their Egyptian or Babylonian counterparts. This would have been a boon for merchants and traders as trade would now have been far simpler. The upgraded communication and administration networks also helped to turn the Empire ruled by the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid dynasty]] into a seemingly commercial entity based on generating wealth.
Darius also continued the process of [[religious tolerance]] to his subjects, which had been important parts of the reigns of [[Cyrus]] and [[Cambyses]]. Darius himself was likely monotheistic - in royal inscriptions [[Ahuramazda]] is the only god mentioned by name. However, there is considerable evidence that Darius worshiped, funded, and honored various [[pantheon (gods)|pantheon]]s of gods. This was important as the majority of the empire's inhabitants were [[polytheist]]s. Also, like many other Persian Kings, he was strictly against slavery: for example, all the workers at Persepolis and other construction projects he commissioned were paid, which was revolutionary at the time. His human rights policies were also common to his ancestors and future Persian kings, continuing the legacy of the [[Cyrus Cylinder]].
==European campaigns==
[[Image:Smuglewicz-Posłowie scytyjscy przed Dariuszem.jpg|thumb|''Scythians meeting with Darius'', imaginative painting by [[Franciszek Smuglewicz]], 1785]]
[[Image:Darius-Vase.jpg|thumb|left|Darius on an ancient Greek vase]]
About 512 BC Darius undertook a war against the [[Scythia]]ns. A great army crossed the [[Bosporus]], subjugated eastern [[Thrace]], [[Macedonia (region)|Macedonia]] submitted voluntarily, and crossed the [[Danube]]. The purpose of this war can only have been to attack the [[nomadic]] tribes in the rear and thus to secure peace on the northern frontier of the empire. Yet the whole plan was based upon an incorrect geographical assumption; a common one in that era, and repeated by [[Alexander the Great]] and his [[Macedon]]ians, who believed that on the [[Hindu Kush]] (which they called the [[Caucasus Indicus]]) and on the shores of the Jaxartes (which they called [[Tanais]], i.e., the [[Don River, Russia|River Don]]) they were quite near to the [[Black Sea]]. Of course the expedition undertaken on these grounds could only prove a failure; having advanced for some weeks into the steppes of [[Ukraine]], Darius was forced to return. The details given by [[Herodotus]] (according to him, Darius had reached the [[Volga]]) are quite fantastic; and the account which Darius himself had given on a tablet, which was added to his great inscription in [[Behistun]], is destroyed with the exception of a few words.
At the time, European Greece was intimately connected with the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor and as a result [[Athens]] and [[Eretria]] gave support to the [[Ionian Revolt]] against the Persians. Once the rebellion was put down, the Persians attempted to punish Athens and European Greece for meddling in the rebellion. But the first expedition, that of [[Mardonius]], failed on the cliffs of [[Mount Athos]] (492 BC), and the army which was led into [[Attica, Greece|Attica]] by [[Datis]] in 490 BC was beaten at the [[Battle of Marathon]]. Before Darius had finished his preparations for a third expedition an [[insurrection]] broke out in Egypt (487 BC). In the next year Darius died, probably in October [[486 BC]], after a reign of thirty-six years.
==Offspring==
[[Image:Achaemenid Empire.jpg|thumb|right|350px|The [[Achaemenid Empire]] under Darius I]]
'''By the daughter of [[Gobryas]]'''
*[[Artabazanes]]
*[[Ariabignes]]
*An unnamed son.
'''By [[Atoosa]]'''
*[[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes]]
*[[Achaemenes (satrap)|Achaemenes]]
*[[Hystaspes (son of Darius I)|Hystaspes]]
*[[Masistes]]
*[[Mandane]] (sometimes identified with Sandauce)
'''By [[Artystone]]'''
*[[Arsames (son of Darius I)|Arsames]]
*[[Gobryas]]
*[[Artazostre]], wife of [[Mardonius]]
'''By [[Parmys]], daughter of [[Smerdis]]'''
*[[Ariomardus]]
'''By [[Phratagune]]'''
*[[Abrocomes]]
*[[Hyperanthes]]
'''By [[Phaedymia]], daughter of [[Otanes]]'''
Unknown
'''By unknown wives'''
*[[Ariamenes]] (sometimes identified with one of the three sons of Gobyias' daughter)
*[[Arsamenes]]
*The unnamed wife of [[Artoces]]
*The unnamed wife of [[Daurises]]
*The unnamed wife of [[Himeas]]
*[[Sandauce]]
*Ištin
*Pandušašša
{{s-start}}
{{s-hou|[[Achaemenid dynasty]]||c. 549 BC||486 BC}}
{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Smerdis]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of kings of Persia|Great King (Shah) of Persia]]|years=[[522 BC]]–[[486 BC]]}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Xerxes I of Persia|Xerxes I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Pharaoh|Pharaoh of Egypt]]|years=[[522 BC]]–[[485 BC]]}}
{{end}}
{{List of Kings were named the Great of the World}}
==See also==
{{commons|Darius I of Persia}}
*[[List of people known as the Great]]
*[[Ardumanish]]
*Darius and his life are discussed by [[Gore Vidal]] in his novel [[Creation (novel)|''Creation'']]. The veracity of this book's account of how Darius came to the throne has been widely disputed.
==Notes==
<div class="references-small">
<references/>
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==References==
* [http://www.livius.org/da-dd/darius/darius_i_0.html Darius I the Great]
* Brosius, M: ''Women in Ancient Persia, 559-331 BC'', Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1998.
* Farrokh, Kaveh (2007). ''Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War''. Osprey Publishing. ISBN 1846031087.
[[Category:549 BC births]]
[[Category:480s BC deaths]]
[[Category:Monarchs of the Hebrew Bible]]
[[Category:Monarchs of Persia]]
[[Category:Pharaohs of the Achaemenid dynasty of Egypt]]
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