Darius I

(reigned 522-486 b.c.)

   One of the greatest monarchs of the Achaemenid Persian Empire and the first Persian king to attack mainland Greece. Dariusbelongedtoadifferentbranchof the Achaemenid line than Cyrus II and Cambyses, the first two rulers of the Persian Empire. An imposter usurped the throne while Cambyses was away campaigning in Egypt. Not long after Camby-ses died while on his way home, a group of nobles, Darius among them, slew the usurper and Darius became king. The new ruler's first order of business was to keep the empire, now wracked by rebellions, from falling apart. In an impressive display of military skill and sheer determination, Darius crushed all of the insurrections in less than a year. He then divided the realm into twenty satrapies (provinces) and beganworkonsomelongroadstobetter facilitate the movements of his couriers and armies as well as trade goods.

   Partly to keep his large standing army busy, and also to further expand the empire, Darius launched a series of military campaigns. In the east he seized large tracts of northwestern India, and in the west he initiated the conquest of Europe by crossing into Scythia, the region lying east of the Black Sea. The Scythian campaign was more difficult than expected, however, because the locals adopted a scorched-earth policy and kept always ahead and out of reach of Darius's forces. Seeing these tactics as cowardly, he sent a messenger to Idanthyrsus, the chief of the Scythians, saying in part:

   Why on earth, my good sir, do you keep running away? ... If you think yourself strong enough to oppose me, stand up and fight, instead of wandering all over the world. ... Or if you admit that you are too weak . . . you should send earth and water [signifying submission] to your master. (Quoted in Herodotus, Histories 4.126)

   Idanthyrsus answered:

   Persian, I have never yet run from any man in fear; and I am not doing so now from you. . . . As for your being my master, I acknowledge no masters but God from whom I sprang I will send you no gifts of earth and water . . . and your claim to be my master is easily answered - be damned to you! (Quoted in Herodotus, Histories 4.127-130)

   Darius was eventually forced to abandon Scythia, but he did take control of Thrace, the area located directly north of the Aegean Sea.

   Also, between 499 and 494 b.c. Darius put down a rebellion of the Greek cities on Anatolia's western coast, which Cyrus II had acquired by conquering Lydia. This brought Darius into a confrontation with the mainland Greeks because the city of Athens had sent ships, supplies, and troops to aid the revolt of the Anatolian Greeks. Herodotus records how Darius was enraged over this interference in his affairs and asked who the Athenians were, and then, on being told, called for his bow. He took it, set an arrow on the string, shot it up into the air and cried: "Grant, O God, that I may punish the Athenians." Then he commanded one of his servants to repeat to him the words, "Master, remember the Athenians," three times, whenever he sat down to dinner. (Histories 5.106)

   Darius sent an army to punish the Athenians in 490 b.c. But his troops were decisively defeated at Marathon, northeast of Athens, and he died four years later before he could achieve his revenge for this embarrassment.

   At the time of Darius's passing, the Persian Empire had reached its greatest extent, stretching from Thrace in the west to India in the east and incorporating all of Mesopotamia and many dozens of peoples speaking numerous different languages. He bragged about the number and diversity of his subjects in a building inscription carved at one of his capitals, Persepolis:

   King Darius [says]: This country Persia which [the god] Ahura-Mazda gave to me is a good country, full of good horses, full of good men. By the favor of Ahura-Mazda and of me, King Darius, this country fears no other country. . . . By the favor of Ahura-Mazda, these are the countries which I got into my possession . . . which felt fear of me and bore me tribute: Elam, Media, Babylonia, Arabia, Assyria, Egypt, Armenia, cappa-docia (in Anatolia), Lydia, the Greeks who are . . . by the sea [i.e., in western Anatolia], and countries [in the east], Sagartia, Parthia ... Aria, Bactria, Sog-dia, chorasmia . . . [and in India] Hindus, Gandara, Sakae, [and] Maka.

   See also: Ahura-Mazda; Cambyses; Greeks; Persepolis