Darius I (
Persian:
داريوش بزرگ,
Old Persian:
Dārayava(h)uš; 550–486 BCE) was the third king of the
Achaemenid Empire. Also called
Darius the Great, he ruled the empire at its peak, when it included much of
West Asia, the
Caucasus,
Central Asia, parts of the
Balkans (
Bulgaria-
Romania-
Panonia), portions of north and northeast Africa including
Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern
Libya, coastal
Sudan,
Eritrea, as well as most of
Pakistan, the
Aegean Islands and northern
Greece/
Thrace-
Macedonia. Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing the alleged
magus usurper of
Bardiya with the assistance of six other Persian noble families; Darius was
crowned the following morning. The new king met with rebellions throughout his kingdom and quelled them each time. A major event in Darius's life was his expedition to punish
Athens and
Eretria for their aid in the
Ionian Revolt and subjugate
Greece. Darius expanded his empire by conquering
Thrace and
Macedon and invading
Scythia, home of the Scythians, nomadic tribes who invaded
Media and had previously killed
Cyrus the Great. Darius organized the empire by dividing it into provinces and placing
satraps to govern it. He organized a new uniform monetary system, along with making
Aramaic the official language of the empire. Darius also worked on construction projects throughout the empire, focusing on
Susa,
Pasargadae,
Persepolis,
Babylon and
Egypt. Darius devised a codification of laws for
Egypt. He also had the cliff-face
Behistun Inscription carved, an autobiography of great modern
linguistic significance. Darius also started many massive
architectural projects, including magnificent palaces in
Persepolis and
Susa.
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