The reign of Darius the Great 522-486
Darius' pacification of the empire:
• Made Behistun Inscription, along trading route, propaganda for Darius' reign
• States that Ahura Mazda granted him the kingdom, that he was descended from Cyrus
• Darius rebuilt temples destroyed by Gaumata
• Says Gaumata was a bad ruler
• Rebellions against him:
o Gaumata - overthrown and captured
o Vahazdata - pretended to be Smerdis - captured and crucified; followers slain
o Assina - claimed to be king of Elam; overthrown and captured
o Martiya - Pretended to be Ummanis; overthrown and captured
o Nidintu-Bel - claimed to be Nebuchadnezzar; captured and slain
o Arakha - same as above; overthrown and captured
o Phraortes - Pretended to be Kshathrita; defeated and captured. Nose, ears and
tongue cut off and one eye removed ; kept in fetters then crucified at Ecbatana;
followers flayed and stuffed with straw
o Tritanaechmes - claimed to be king of Sargatia; defeated and captured, nose, ears
and tongue cut off + 1 eye removed; kept in fetters and crucified at Arbela
o Frada - pretended to be king of Margiana; overthrown and captured
• Babylon:
o Babylonians prepared for a siege by killing all women except bread makers
o They shouted that the Persians should only take Babylon when a mule gives birth;
Zopyrus' (son of Megabyzus) mule gave birth some time later
o Zopyrus mutilated himself to pretend to Babylonians that he had deserted the
Persians. They took him in and eventually gave him command
o Zopyrus told Darius to attack different gates with weaker soldiers, and sends out
Babylonians to kill them
o This earns the Babylonians' trust, so they give him the gate key and he lets the
Persians in
o Afterwards, Darius destroyed the walls and gates, impaled 3000 Babylonians and
gave them women from neighbouring cities to replace the ones they had killed
• There was lots of rebellions and revolts mostly due to the fact Darius had come to power via
a coup and Darius hadn't yet fully established power; it was easier to take over
Construction of Susa, Persepolis and the Egyptian canal:
• Susa:
o Apadana = great reception hall
o Foundation charter = tablet about Darius' construction of Susa
o Cedar timber from Lebanon
o Gold from Lydia and Bactria
o Sun-dried brick from Babylon
o Silver and ebony from Egypt and India
• Persepolis:
o Gate of all lands - Hall in centre with large columns. Very tall; accessed by stairs
o Stairs of all Nations - created by Xerxes; built to accommodate horsemen; accessed
from south, leads to small court. Carvings of lion hunt and Persian soldiers on one
side
o Palace of Darius - ceremonial palace. Inscriptions and carvings describing Darius' and
Xerxes' reign
Darius' pacification of the empire:
• Made Behistun Inscription, along trading route, propaganda for Darius' reign
• States that Ahura Mazda granted him the kingdom, that he was descended from Cyrus
• Darius rebuilt temples destroyed by Gaumata
• Says Gaumata was a bad ruler
• Rebellions against him:
o Gaumata - overthrown and captured
o Vahazdata - pretended to be Smerdis - captured and crucified; followers slain
o Assina - claimed to be king of Elam; overthrown and captured
o Martiya - Pretended to be Ummanis; overthrown and captured
o Nidintu-Bel - claimed to be Nebuchadnezzar; captured and slain
o Arakha - same as above; overthrown and captured
o Phraortes - Pretended to be Kshathrita; defeated and captured. Nose, ears and
tongue cut off and one eye removed ; kept in fetters then crucified at Ecbatana;
followers flayed and stuffed with straw
o Tritanaechmes - claimed to be king of Sargatia; defeated and captured, nose, ears
and tongue cut off + 1 eye removed; kept in fetters and crucified at Arbela
o Frada - pretended to be king of Margiana; overthrown and captured
• Babylon:
o Babylonians prepared for a siege by killing all women except bread makers
o They shouted that the Persians should only take Babylon when a mule gives birth;
Zopyrus' (son of Megabyzus) mule gave birth some time later
o Zopyrus mutilated himself to pretend to Babylonians that he had deserted the
Persians. They took him in and eventually gave him command
o Zopyrus told Darius to attack different gates with weaker soldiers, and sends out
Babylonians to kill them
o This earns the Babylonians' trust, so they give him the gate key and he lets the
Persians in
o Afterwards, Darius destroyed the walls and gates, impaled 3000 Babylonians and
gave them women from neighbouring cities to replace the ones they had killed
• There was lots of rebellions and revolts mostly due to the fact Darius had come to power via
a coup and Darius hadn't yet fully established power; it was easier to take over
Construction of Susa, Persepolis and the Egyptian canal:
• Susa:
o Apadana = great reception hall
o Foundation charter = tablet about Darius' construction of Susa
o Cedar timber from Lebanon
o Gold from Lydia and Bactria
o Sun-dried brick from Babylon
o Silver and ebony from Egypt and India
• Persepolis:
o Gate of all lands - Hall in centre with large columns. Very tall; accessed by stairs
o Stairs of all Nations - created by Xerxes; built to accommodate horsemen; accessed
from south, leads to small court. Carvings of lion hunt and Persian soldiers on one
side
o Palace of Darius - ceremonial palace. Inscriptions and carvings describing Darius' and
Xerxes' reign
