Darius the Great

Darius the Great 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁
The relief stone of Darius the Great in the Behistun Inscription
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
Reign	29 September 522 BCE – October 486 BCE
Coronation	Pasargadae
Predecessor	Bardiya
Successor	Xerxes I
Born	c. 550 BCE
Died	October 486 BCE
Burial	Naqsh-e Rostam
Spouse	Atossa Artystone Parmys Phratagune Phaedymia a daughter of Gobryas
Issue	Artobazanes Xerxes I Ariabignes Arsamenes Masistes Achaemenes Arsames Gobryas Ariomardus Abrocomes Hyperanthes Artazostre
Names Dārayava(h)uš
Dynasty	Achaemenid
Father	Hystaspes
Mother	Rhodogune or Irdabama
Religion	Indo-Iranian religion

Darius I (Old Persian: 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 Dārayavaʰuš; c. 550 – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was 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.^[1][2]

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.^[3] 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.