|
Cyrus Cyrus and the establishment of the Persian Empire The Rise of Persia Under Cyrus Darius Xerxes
Cylinder seal and inscription of Cyrus the Great from Babylon I am Cyrus, king of the world,
great king, mighty king, king of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and
Akkad, king of the four quarters, son of Cambyses, great king, king of
Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, great king, king of Anshan, descendant of
Teispes, great king, king of Anshan, progeny of an unending royal line,
whose rule Bel and Nabu cherish, whose kingship they desire for their
hearts' pleasures.
|
Persia Darius I Author: Grote, George Darius I, called the Great, tells the story of the
overthrow of Bardiya and of the first year of his own rule in detail in
his famous royal inscription cut on a rock face at the base of Bisitun
mountain, a few miles east of modern Kermanshah. Six leading Achaemenid
nobles assisted in slaying the false Bardiya and together proclaimed
Darius the rightful heir of Cambyses. Darius was a member of the
Achaemenid royal house. His great-grandfather had been Ariaramnes, son of
Teispes, who had shared power in Persia with his brother Cyrus I.
Ariaramnes' son, Arsames, and his grandson, Hystaspes (Darius' father),
had not been kings in Persia, as unified royal power had been placed in
the hands of Cambyses I by Cyaxares. Neither is named a king in Darius'
own inscriptions. Hystaspes was, however, an important prince of the
blood, who at the time of revolt of the false Bardiya had apparently been
the governor of Parthia. Darius himself was in the mold of Cyrus the
Great--a powerful personality and a dynamic ruler. It took more than a year (522-521 BC) of hard fighting to put down revolts associated with Bardiya's claim to the throne and Darius' succession to power. Almost every province of the empire was involved in the conflict, including Persia and, most particularly, Media. A balanced policy of clemency backed by the swift and thorough punishment of any captured rebel leader, in combination with a well-coordinated and carefully timed distribution of loyal forces, eventually brought peace to the empire and undisputed power to Darius. He then turned his attention to the organization and consolidation of his inheritance, and it was for this role--that of lawgiver and organizer--that he himself, to judge from his inscriptions, most wished to be remembered. Such activities, however, did not prevent Darius from
following an active expansionist policy. Campaigns to the east confirmed
gains probably made by Cyrus the Great and added large sections of the
northern Indian subcontinent to the list of Persian-controlled provinces.
Expansion in the west began about 516 BC when Darius moved against the
Hellespont as a first step toward an attack on the Scythians along the
western and northern shores of the Black Sea. The real strategic purpose
behind this move probably was to disrupt and if possible to interrupt
Greek trade with the Black Sea area, which supplied much grain to Greece.
Crossing into Europe for the first time, Darius campaigned with
comparatively little success to the north of the Danube. He retreated in
good order, however, with only limited losses, and a bridgehead across the
Hellespont was established. Perhaps in part in response to these developments,
perhaps for more purely internal reasons, the Ionian Greek cities on the
west coast of Asia Minor revolted against Persian rule in 500 BC. The
Persians were apparently taken by surprise, and at first the rebellion
prospered. The Ionians received some limited assistance from the Athenians
and in 498 BC felt strong enough to take the offensive. With one hand
Darius negotiated; with the other he assembled a counterattack. The first
Persian military efforts proved only partially successful, however, and
the Ionians enjoyed another respite in the years 496-495 BC. A renewed
Persian offensive in 494 BC was successful. The Greek fleet was badly
beaten off Miletus, and the Persian land army began a systematic reduction
of the rebel cities. About 492 BC Mardonius, a son-in-law of Darius, was
made special commissioner to Ionia. He suppressed local tyrants and
returned democratic government to many cities. In time the wounds caused
by the revolt and its suppression healed, and by 481 BC Xerxes was able to
levy troops in this region with little trouble. By 492 BC Mardonius had also recovered Persian Thrace and Macedonia, first gained in the campaign against the Scythians and lost during the Ionian Revolt. There followed the Persian invasion of Greece that led to Darius' defeat at the Battle of Marathon late in the summer of 490 BC. The "Great King" was forced to retreat and to face the fact that the Greek problem, which had probably seemed to the Persians a minor issue on the western extremity of the empire, would require a more concerted and massive effort. Thus began preparations for an invasion of Greece on a grand, coordinated scale. These plans were interrupted in 486 BC by two events: a serious revolt in Egypt, and the death of Darius. Main Page
|
