Darius the Great
Darius I (Old Persian: 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavaʰuš; Greek: Δαρεῖος Dareios; c. 550 – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of Western Asia, parts of the Balkans (Thrace–Macedonia and Paeonia) and the Caucasus, most of the Black Sea's coastal regions, Central Asia, the Indus Valley in the far east, and portions of North Africa and Northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya, and coastal Sudan.[2][3]
Darius the Great
𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁
29 September 522 BCE – October 486 BCE
September 522 BCE – October 486 BCE
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c. 550 BCE
October 486 BCE
(aged approximately 64)
- Artobazanes
- Xerxes I
- Ariabignes
- Arsamenes
- Masistes
- Achaemenes
- Arsames
- Gobryas
- Ariomardus
- Abrocomes
- Hyperanthes
- Artazostre
Rhodogune or Irdabama
Indo-Iranian religion
(possibly Zoroastrianism)
Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the Achaemenid monarch Bardiya (or Smerdis), who he claimed was in fact an imposter named Gaumata. The new king met with rebellions throughout the empire but quelled each of them; a major event in Darius's life was his expedition to subjugate Greece and punish Athens and Eretria for their participation in the Ionian Revolt. Although his campaign ultimately resulted in failure at the Battle of Marathon, he succeeded in the re-subjugation of Thrace and expanded the Achaemenid Empire through his conquests of Macedonia, the Cyclades, and the island of Naxos.
Darius organized the empire by dividing it into administrative provinces, each governed by a satrap. He organized Achaemenid coinage as a new uniform monetary system, and he made Aramaic a co-official language of the empire alongside Persian. He also put the empire in better standing by building roads and introducing standard weights and measures. Through these changes, the Achaemenid Empire became centralized and unified.[4] Darius undertook other construction projects throughout his realm, primarily focusing on Susa, Pasargadae, Persepolis, Babylon, and Egypt. He had an inscription carved upon a cliff-face of Mount Behistun to record his conquests, which would later become important evidence of the Old Persian language.
Darius is mentioned in the books of Haggai, Zechariah, Daniel, and Ezra–Nehemiah of the Hebrew Bible (the Christian Old Testament).
Family[edit]
Darius was the son of Hystaspes and the grandson of Arsames.[54] Darius married Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had four sons: Xerxes, Achaemenes, Masistes and Hystaspes. He also married Artystone, another daughter of Cyrus, with whom he had two sons, Arsames and Gobryas. Darius married Parmys, the daughter of Bardiya, with whom he had a son, Ariomardus. Furthermore, Darius married his niece Phratagune, with whom he had two sons, Abrokomas and Hyperantes. He also married another woman of the nobility, Phaidyme, the daughter of Otanes. It is unknown if he had any children with her. Before these royal marriages, Darius had married an unknown daughter of his good friend and lance carrier Gobryas from an early marriage, with whom he had three sons, Artobazanes, Ariabignes and Arsamenes.[55] Any daughters he had with her are not known. Although Artobazanes was Darius's first-born, Xerxes became heir and the next king through the influence of Atossa; she had great authority in the kingdom as Darius loved her the most of all his wives.
Egyptian statue of Darius I, as Pharaoh of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt;[75] 522–486 BCE; greywacke; height: 2.46 m;[56] National Museum of Iran (Teheran)
![Egyptian statue of Darius I, as Pharaoh of the Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Egypt;[75] 522–486 BCE; greywacke; height: 2.46 m;[56] National Museum of Iran (Teheran)](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6f/National_Meusem_Darafsh_6_%2842%29.JPG/132px-National_Meusem_Darafsh_6_%2842%29.JPG)
