What Darius did 1. Conquest of the islands of the Aegean Sea

Depiction of Darius I on an ancient Greek vase

Darius I (522-485 BC) - king of Persia.

Darius was proclaimed king by the conspirators after the assassination of Gaumata. Upon accession to the throne, he was 28 years old. To finally consolidate his rights to royal power, Darius married the daughter of Cyrus II Atossa.

Rebellion of the Elamites and Babylonians

Darius began his reign by restoring all the privileges of the Persian nobility, abolished by Gaumata. This caused sharp opposition among the peoples subject to the Persians. The Elamites and Babylonians were the first to rise. In Elam, a certain Assina proclaimed himself the king of Elam, but was defeated by the troops sent by Darius, captured and delivered to the Persian king, who executed him.

The Babylonians rebelled under the leadership of Nidintu-Bel, who declared himself Nebuchadnezzar, the son of Nabonidus. Already by October 3, 522 BC. e. Nidintu-Bel was recognized as king in Sippar, Borsippa and other cities of Babylonia. The revolt of the Babylonians gained such a wide scope that Darius found it necessary to personally lead the campaign against them. The Babylonian army took up defense near the Tigris, covering the crossings across the river, but Darius, putting his soldiers on camels, horses and inflated furs, crossed the Tigris by swimming and scattered the army of the Babylonians with a sudden blow (24th day of the month of Assiadia - December 13, 522 BC). BC.). After 5 days (the 2nd day of the month of anamaka - December 18), near the city of Zazana on the Euphrates, the second battle of Darius with the rebels took place. The Babylonians were again defeated, most of their army was pressed against the river and thrown into the water. Nidintu-Bel fled and took refuge in Babylon. Darius took the rebellious city. Nidintu-Bel and the other 48 leaders of the uprising were put to death. It is possible that Nidintu-Bel was indeed the son of Nabonidus, after whose captivity only 17 years passed. On the Behistun relief, Nidintu-Bel is depicted as an elderly man. It is also interesting that after the capture of Nidintu-Bel, Darius did not show it to the people, as he usually did with impostors posing as representatives of ancient dynasties.

Herodotus also speaks of the revolt of the Babylonians, but he relates it to a later time and tells such details that are hardly compatible with the narration of the inscription. The Babylonians are extremely hardened. They kill most women like extra mouths; Darius besieges Babylon fruitlessly for twenty months, experiencing only the bullying of the besieged. The example of Cyrus (diversion of the river) does not help either, and Babylon falls only thanks to the self-sacrifice of Zopyrus, who mutilated himself and defected to the enemies, allegedly out of revenge, Darius, who had maimed him, and then, having become the commander of the Babylonians, handed over the city to Darius. The latter breaks down the fortifications of Babylon, executes three thousand Babylonians and forces the rest to marry non-resident women, since they exterminated their own. Zopyrus, for his devotion, is appointed satrap of Babylonia. It can be seen that the family tradition recorded by Herodotus was reflected here from the words of Zopyrus, the grandson of that hero Zopyrus, the satrap of Babylonia, who defected to the Greeks. However, for the time of the long siege indicated by Herodotus, we do not have the appropriate chronological framework. Although the inscriptions left by the impostor have not been preserved, traces of the uprising can be seen in several contracts of the banking office of Egibi and sons. They are marked with the name of "Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon" and the names of witnesses - the sons of Egibi, identical to those who signed contracts from the time of Cambyses, False Bardia and Darius, therefore they cannot refer to the time of the great Nebuchadnezzar II. The year of the "beginning of the reign" of Nebuchadnezzar III is dated by the signature of Itti-Marduk-balatu son of Egibi from the 10th day of the 7th month to the 21st day of the 9th month, therefore, the reign of the impostor Nidintu-Bela lasted no more than 3 months. In addition, a tablet was found dated the 6th day of the 10th month of "the beginning of the reign of Darius"; therefore, already four days after the battle of Zazan, Babylon was in the power of Darius, and there can be no question of a long siege.

Uprising in Margiana

While Darius was busy with punitive actions in Babylonia, Persia, Media, Margiana, Parthia, Armenia, Sattagidia, Sagartia, the Saka tribes of Central Asia, Egypt and, for the second time, Elam rebelled against him. In Margiana, a certain Frada declared himself king and led the fight against Darius. The satrap of Bactria, Dadarshish, who remained loyal to Darius, opposed the rebels. October 10, 522 BC e. Margians were defeated. This was followed by a massacre, during which the punishers killed more than 55,200 people and almost 7,000 Margians were taken prisoner and then sold into slavery. These figures alone show that the uprising in Margiana was a nationwide movement. In Elam, the uprising was led by the Persian Marty, who declared himself the king of Elam, under the name of Humpanikasha. Darius sent troops to suppress this rebellion, but the Elamites, frightened of the impending massacre, killed Martya themselves.

Revolt in Persia and Arachosia

In Persia itself, under the name of Cyrus II's son Bardia, Darius' rival was the Persian Vahyazdata, who found great support among the people. In the second half of December 522 BC. e. the uprising in Persia assumed such a wide scope that Vahyazdata fought in Arachosia, hundreds of kilometers away from Persia. December 29, 522 BC e. in Arachosia, near the fortress of Kapishakanish, a battle took place between the army sent there by Vakhyazdata, on the one hand, and the army of the satrap Vivana of Arachosia, who remained loyal to Darius, on the other, but this battle, in which 303 supporters of Vakhyazdata died, did not bring a decisive victory to either side. February 21, 521 BC e. in the region of Gandutava Vivana won a decisive victory over the rebellious army. The rebels lost 4579 people killed in this battle and retreated to the fortress of Arshad. In March, the fortress of Arshad - this last stronghold of the rebels in Arachosia, was captured by Vivana's troops, the leaders of the rebellious army were executed. May 25, 521 BC e. the commander of Darius Artavardia in Persia near the city of Rakha defeated the main army of Vahayazdat. The rebels lost 4404 people killed. Vahyazdata fled; gathered a new army, but on July 16, 521 BC. e. was again defeated, losing 6246 killed and 4464 captured. Vahyazdata was captured and, together with his 52 closest assistants, was impaled.

Revolt in Media, Parthia and Hyrcania

Behistun relief depicting the triumph of Darius over the magician Gaumata (False Bardia) and the rebellious "kings". End of the 6th century BC e.
The Persian king tramples the defeated Gaumata with his foot, nine defeated rebel leaders ask for mercy in front of him, behind the king's back is a bodyguard and a warrior from the detachment of "immortals".

In Media, the Mede Fravartish (Greek Phraortes II), who claimed that he came from the clan of the Median king Cyaxares, declared himself king and in a short time captured the entire territory of Media. Soon Parthia and Hyrcania joined the rebellion of Fravartish. Against the rebellious Medes, Darius sent his commander Vidarna. January 12, 521 BC e. near the city of Marush Vidarna fought with the rebels. The latter lost in this battle 3827 people killed and 4329 were captured by the Persians. Although, according to Darius, his army utterly defeated the rebellious army, in reality the battle ended in vain, since Vidarna after that for several months refrained from further hostilities. March 8, 521 BC e. the father of Darius, the satrap of Parthia Hystaspes (Persian Vishtaspa), in a battle near the city of Vishpauzatish, defeated the army of the Parthians and Hyrcanians who joined the rebellion of Fravartish; 6346 rebels were killed and 4336 captured.

In the spring of 521 BC. e. the situation in Media became so dangerous that Darius, at the head of a large army, personally opposed Fravartis. On May 7, in the battle near the city of Kundurush, Darius inflicted a crushing defeat on the rebel army. The Medes in this battle lost almost 34,500 people killed and 18,000 rebels were captured. Fravartish with a small number of close associates fled to the city of Ragi. The army sent in pursuit of him seized Fravartish and delivered him to Darius, who personally brutally dealt with him. He cut off his nose, ears and tongue, and then gouged out his eyes. After which Fravartish was impaled in Ecbatana, and his closest assistants were crucified (June 521 BC).

Then Darius sent an army that crushed the rebellion of the Medes to help his father Hystaspes in Parthia. Strengthened by the approaching reinforcements, Hystaspes on July 12, 521 BC. e. in a battle near the city of Patigrabana, he utterly defeated the rebellious army of the Parthians and Hyrcanians. 6570 rebels were killed and 4192 were captured. 80 people led by the leader of the rebels (his name is not given in the inscription on the Behistun rock) were executed.

Military operations in Armenia and Sagartia

To suppress the rebellion in Armenia, Darius sent an army under the command of the commander Viumisu. In December 522 BC. e. the rebellious army of Armenians began to move south and invaded the province of Assyria. Viumisu came out to meet her and on December 31 in the area of ​​Izara entered into battle with the rebels. Although the Behistun inscription claims that the rebels were utterly defeated, but, apparently, on the contrary, the royal army was defeated, since after that Viumisu evaded active hostilities for 5 months. And to help him, Darius was forced to send another army under the command of Dadarshish, an Armenian loyal to him. May 21, 521 BC e. Dadarshish defeated the Armenians in the battle near the village of Zuza. After 6 days on May 27, he again won the battle at the Tigris fortress. On June 21, he won a third victory at the fortress of Viama. At the end of June, Viumisu won a final victory over the rebellious Armenians. Thus, after 7 months of struggle and during 5 battles, the uprising in Armenia was eliminated. The total number of Armenians killed in these battles was 5097 people and 2203 were taken prisoner.

In Sagartia, a certain Chissatahma declared himself king, claiming that he came from the family of Cyaxares. To suppress this rebellion, Darius sent Tahmaspada, a Mede loyal to him. Chissatahma was defeated, captured and taken to Darius. The latter cut off his nose, ears and gouged out his eyes. Then Chissatahma was impaled in Arbela.

New Babylonian Revolt

While Darius was busy suppressing all these rebellions, the Babylonians again rebelled against him. The restoration was led by the Armenian Arakha, who pretended to be the son of Nabonidus Nebuchadnezzar. Thus, the Babylonians were ready to go even after a stranger, and even after an exemplary defeat perpetrated by Darius a little more than six months ago. By August 16, 521 BC. e. he managed to capture the whole country, as evidenced by documents dated to his reign from Babylon, Borsippa, Sippar, Uruk. Darius instructed the commander Vindafarn to suppress this rebellion. November 27, 521 BC e. the rebels were defeated, losing 2,500 people killed, and the leaders of the rebellion were captured and impaled in Babylon.

Two contract tablets survive, marked with the first year of Nebuchadnezzar; and they no doubt refer to Arakh-Nevuchadnezzar IV, since they were already signed by another owner of the firm, namely Marduk-Nasirpal, the son of the previously mentioned Itti-Marduk-balatu, the son of Egibi. Obviously, his father died in the first year of Darius, perhaps even was killed during the second rebellion. These contracts are dated the 6th and 7th months, which in itself indicates the short duration of the rebellion. Despite the two-fold rebellion, Darius still spared Babylon and left behind him the significance of the capital. As before, the documents were dated with the name of Darius, "King of Babylon, King of the Countries." Official inscriptions, copies of Behistunskaya and others were placed here in the Babylonian language. But coronations and royal appearances on New Year's Day seem to have been cancelled. Herodotus even says that Darius intended to take away his palladium from Babylon - the golden statue of Marduk, but "did not dare"; in other words, it was only for some reason unknown to us that he did not fulfill his intention to do away with Babylon as a kingdom. In any case, the king did not consider Marduk: in copies from the Behistun inscription, exhibited in Babylon, he names one Ahuramazda.

Another uprising of the Elamites and a campaign against the Saks

In 520 BC. e. for the third time, the Elamites rebelled, who proclaimed a certain Atamait (Elam. Attahamiti-Inshushinak) as their king. The Persian commander Gaubaruvu moved against them. The Elamites were defeated, and Atamaita was captured, was taken to Darius and executed.

In 519 BC. e. Darius undertook a large campaign against the Saks living in the steppes of Central Asia. It can be assumed that during this campaign, Darius reached the lower interfluve of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, as well as the area inhabited by the Apasiak tribe. The story placed at the end of the Behistun inscription in one ancient Persian language, apparently, refers to this campaign. Unfortunately, this is where the inscription suffered; you can only read the following: “... I moved to the land of Saka ... crossed ... killed; another was taken prisoner and brought to me bound; I killed him .. by the name of Skunkha, whom I took prisoner ... I put another in charge, as was my will. The country has become mine." Among the peoples subject to him, Darius mentions in his gravestone inscription in Nakshe-Rustam "Saka Khumavarka", and in the Suez hieroglyphic text - "Saks with sharp caps" and "Saks of the ends of the earth". But, despite these successes, the Persians did not manage to completely subjugate the tribes of the Central Asian Saks.

Military action in Africa

From Herodotus it is known that there were troubles in the Greek Cyrene, which expelled Arcesilaus III, who obeyed Cambyses, for cruelty. When he was killed in Barka, his mother Feretima turned to the Persian governor of Egypt, Ariand, for help. The latter, seizing on this pretext, and himself dreaming of subjugating the Libyan tribes and the Greeks of Cyrenaica, sent a Persian army and fleet to help her. Passing through Libya, where only a few tribes submitted to the Persian king, the Persians laid siege to Barka. After nine months of siege, the inhabitants of Barka surrendered on the condition that the Persians would not cause destruction in the city, however, they were enslaved and taken to Iran, where they settled in Parthia. The main culprits of the death of Arcesilaus III were handed over to Feretima, who ordered them to be put on stakes around the city, and their wives' breasts to be cut off and hung on the city wall. After that, the Persian army moved back, passing by Cyrene, the Persians tried to capture this city as well, but did not succeed. On the way back, many Persians who had fallen behind died due to attacks by the Libyans. Probably, the conquest of Kush (Nubia) by the Persians can also be attributed to the same time. Even distant Carthaginians recognized the authority of Darius. Justin reports that Persian ambassadors arrived in Carthage and announced the demand of the great king not to sacrifice people, not to eat dogs and not to bury the dead in the ground. The Carthaginians agreed, but rejected the offer of an alliance against the Greeks. Although rather the opposite was expected; probably, the story is a transfer to an older time of the religious exclusivity of Zoroastrianism of a later period. It is difficult to say to what extent Carthage recognized the power of the Persians. In any case, in the Nakshi-Rustam list of subject peoples, next to the African Kush, Punt and Maxii (Libyans), there is “Karka”, which means Carthage.

Subsequently, Darius, according to Herodotus, executed Ariand, who began to behave independently and even began to mint his own coin, which was the prerogative of the king alone. The Persian Ferendat was appointed in his place. Polien, on the contrary, says that the Egyptians themselves rebelled, indignant at the cruelty of Ariand (he has Oriander). Darius traveled across the Arabian Desert to Memphis and found Apis mourning in Egypt. He announced a 100 talent reward for finding a new Apis and thereby attracted the Egyptians, who left the rebels. It is believed that this happened in the 4th year of Darius, that is, in 518 BC. BC, from which we have a stele from the Serapeum with an inscription about the death of Apis. But the same inscription is from the 31st year of Darius, and indeed this story is somewhat similar to fiction. Diodorus says that the Egyptians greatly appreciated Darius because he tried to make amends for the misdeeds of Cambyses, and considered him one of their legislators. He also says that the priests did not allow him to put his statue next to the statue of Sesostris, because the latter conquered the Scythians, but he did not. The absurdity of this story is obvious already from the fact that the Scythians are mentioned in the list of subject peoples, but it is characteristic of Egyptian legends of a later time. In any case, during the entire subsequent time of the reign of Darius, Egypt remained calm; demotic documents dated back to the 35th year of his reign have been preserved.

In Egypt, Darius appears as a pharaoh and with the name Setut-Ra ("Descendant of Ra"). It is known that he was personally in Egypt, it is also known that temple buildings were undertaken on his behalf both in the Nile Valley and in the Great Oasis. The Hammamat mines were actively exploited for temple buildings in the reign of Darius; they were partly in charge of the natives (for example, Khnumabra, who traced his genealogy to the deified Imhotep), partly by Persian architects, who were so influenced by Egyptian culture that they prayed to the Egyptian gods, and their inscriptions were made in Egyptian hieroglyphs. On the Isthmus of Suez, Darius left inscriptions, the cuneiform version of which reads as follows: “I ordered to dig a canal from the river Pirav (Nile), flowing through Egypt, to the sea coming from Persia. It was dug out, as I commanded, and the ships sailed along it from Egypt to Persia, as was my will ... ”The inscription of Darius, which tells about the great deed of building a canal through Wadi Tumilat, was set in five copies, and three ordinary Asian texts were inscribed on one side and Egyptian on the other. Here Darius acts as a real pharaoh: his image is placed under the winged solar disk; the deities of the two halves of the Nile link both Egypt under his name; here, somewhat adapting to the ancient Egyptian style, a list of peoples subject to the Persian kingdom is symbolically depicted. Here are hieroglyphic images of such countries that never, neither earlier nor later, are found in Egyptian texts. Unfortunately, half of the names have not been preserved, and we do not know if Punt and Kush, mentioned in the Nakshirustam inscription, were among them. It is possible that the claim to possession of Punt follows from the resumption of navigation on the Red Sea. The cuneiform versions are edited in a completely different way, far from reflecting the translation. First of all, they are much shorter, starting with the usual confession of Ahuramazda by the king; then Darius proudly says: "I am a Persian, and from Persia I subjugated Egypt." These words are probably not a formal phrase, but an allusion to the pacification of the excitement excited by Ariand that took place.

King Darius I began erecting a huge palace complex in Persepolis.

Reasons for Darius' victory over the rebels

Thus, during 20 battles, in which about 150 thousand rebels died, the power of the Persian king was restored throughout the territory of the Achaemenid state. The victories of Darius over the rebellious peoples are largely due to the lack of unity between them. Darius was supported by regiments of the royal guard (the so-called 10 thousand "immortals"), the army of satraps who remained loyal to him and garrison troops, which, as a rule, consisted of foreigners in each region. Darius used these troops very skillfully, accurately determining which rebellion was most dangerous at the moment. Not being able to conduct punitive operations simultaneously in all directions, Darius suppressed one uprising, and then threw the same army, with which he suppressed the first uprising, against other rebels.

Conquest of part of India

In 517 BC. e. the Persians conquered the northwestern part of India, where at that time there were many small state associations. The conquest of this territory was preceded, by order of Darius, by the expedition of the Carian navigator Skilacus to India, and from there across the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea, which provided the necessary information about the tribes of these regions. The new satrapy, called India (Hindu), embraced the valley along the middle and lower reaches of the Indus River.

Conquests in the Aegean Sea

At the same time, conquests continued in the Aegean Sea basin, where the island of Samos was the last large, independent state, with a strong navy. The tyrant of Samos Polycrates was in 522 BC. e. treacherously killed by the Persian satrap of Lydia Oret, and the secretary of Polycrates Meander began to rule the island. Around 517 BC. e. The Persian army, led by Otana, one of the 7 conspirators involved in the assassination of Gaumata, captured Samos after a surprise attack. The island was devastated and included in the Persian state, and Siloson, the brother of Polycrates, was appointed its vassal ruler, who even before the rise of Darius was familiar with him and managed to render him once a small service. One of Siloson's brothers, Lithocrates also went to the service of the Persians and was soon appointed ruler of the newly conquered island of Lemnos. In the same 517 BC. e. recognized Persian rule and the island of Chios.

Reforms of Darius
Administrative division

After that, Darius carried out a number of reforms. He divided the state into administrative-taxable districts, which were called satrapies. Basically, the borders of the satrapies coincided with the old state and ethnographic borders of the countries that were part of the Achaemenid state. At the head of the districts were the satraps, as before, only now they were appointed not from local officials, but from among the Persians, in whose hands all the leading positions of the country were concentrated. Under Cyrus II and Cambyses II, civil and military functions were combined in the hands of the satraps. Now the satraps have become exclusively civil governors. In peacetime, only a small bodyguard was at the disposal of the satraps. As for the army, it was led by military leaders who were independent of the satraps and reported directly to the king. However, after the death of Darius, the separation of military and civilian functions was not strictly observed. The satraps and military leaders were closely connected with the central administration and were under the constant control of the king and his officials, especially the secret police. The supreme control over the state and supervision of all officials was entrusted to the Khazarapat, who was also the head of the king's guard.

Taxation

The reforms of Darius led to significant changes in the system of agrarian relations. Part of the land was taken away from the conquered peoples. The Achaemenids distributed this land in large estates in sovereign and hereditary possession to members of the royal family, representatives of the Persian nobility, high-ranking officials, etc. Such land holdings were exempted from paying state taxes. At the same time, such a system of land use was widely used, when the king planted his soldiers on the land, who cultivated the allocated plots collectively in whole groups, served military service and paid a certain monetary and in-kind tax. About 518 BC. e. Darius established a new nationwide tax system. All satrapies were obliged to pay strictly fixed monetary taxes for each region, established taking into account the amount of cultivated land and the degree of its fertility. For the first time, temples in conquered areas were also taxed. The Persians themselves, as the ruling people, did not pay monetary taxes, but, apparently, were not exempt from natural supplies. The rest of the peoples, including the inhabitants of autonomous states (for example, the Phoenicians, Cilicians, etc.), paid a total of about 7740 Babylonian talents of silver (more than 230 tons) per year. At the same time, most of this amount fell on the peoples of the most economically developed countries of Asia Minor, Babylonia, Phenicia, Syria and Egypt. Countries deprived of their own silver mines had to acquire silver by selling agricultural products and handicrafts in order to pay taxes, which contributed to the development of commodity-money relations.

monetary system

After 517 BC. e. Darius introduced a monetary unit in the Achaemenid state, which forms the basis of a single monetary system for the entire empire, namely a gold darik weighing 8.4 g. Minting a gold coin was the prerogative of only the Persian king. Due to the fact that the darik contained only 3% impurities, for several centuries it occupied the position of the main gold coin in the trading world. Silver and smaller copper coins were minted by Persian satraps, as well as autonomous cities and dependent kings.

To facilitate communication between various parts of a huge power, wide roads paved with stone were laid. The main one led from Susa to Ephesus. Equestrian pickets were set up at a short distance from each other along these roads, the best riders rushing from one point to another to deliver royal letters and parcels (relay system). In 518 BC. e. an ancient canal from the Nile to Suez, 84 km long, was restored and, as can be seen from a poorly preserved inscription, a flotilla of 24 or 32 ships was sent through it, which was supposed to reach Persia by sea through the Red Sea.

Development of international trade and construction

The reforms of Darius, the exemplary maintenance of old trade routes and the construction of new ones, the restoration of the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, the minting of coins - all this contributed to the development of international trade on an unprecedented scale until then. Under Darius, significant construction began (temples in Memphis, palaces in Susa, etc.). Darius I built a new capital, Parsa, known to the Greeks as Persepolis ("City of the Persians"), which became the fourth residence along with Pasargadae, Ecbatana and Susa. The reign of Darius was the period of the greatest expansion of the power of the Achaemenids, but already under him the weakness of the state began to be revealed.

Campaign against the Black Sea Scythians
Advance to the Danube

Darius, having restored calm and order in his state, felt the need for a great and, of course, victorious war, which was supposed to bring together the heterogeneous tribes of his kingdom and at the same time serve as a test of the firmness of this union. On one of the inscriptions, the words are directly put into his mouth: “The spear of the Persian warrior must, under my authority, penetrate beyond the limits of the kingdom.”
OK. 514 BC e. Darius decided to make a campaign against the Black Sea Scythians. Even before that, the satrap of Cappadocia, Ariaramnes, with a small fleet, crossed the Black Sea and captured captives in order to obtain from them the necessary information for the upcoming campaign. Darius gathered a large fleet from the ships of the Greek cities of Asia Minor and a huge army and headed for the shores of the Black Sea. The skillful Greek engineer Mandrocles built a bridge of ships at the narrowest point of the Bosporus. A huge Persian army crossed over it to the European coast. Darius ordered the Ionians to sail to the Black Sea to the mouth of the Danube River (the ancient Greek name for Istres), and then, upon arrival at the Danube, build a bridge across the river and wait for him there. Darius himself with his army moved along the western coast of the sea. The local Thracian peoples who lived there submitted to the Persians without putting up any resistance. Only the warriors of the Getae tribe tried to resist, but were defeated and forced to join the army of Darius.

Entry into Scythia

A pontoon bridge of ships was built across the Danube and, having crossed it, the army of Darius began to move north. A Greek contingent of Ionians was left to guard the bridge, with orders to wait 60 days before destroying the bridge. Apparently, Darius planned to go around the Black Sea and return to Persia through the Caucasus, but just in case he decided to save the crossing if he had to retreat.
The Scythians did not dare to enter into a decisive battle with a huge enemy army and resorted to their favorite tactic of "scorched earth". They began to retreat, stealing cattle with them, destroying grass and filling up springs. At the same time, the Scythian cavalry constantly attacked individual detachments of the Persian infantry and exterminated them. The Scythians, realizing that they alone were unable to repel the hordes of Darius in open battle, sent envoys to neighboring tribes with a call for help. The last intertribal meeting was attended by the kings of the Taurians, Agathyrsians, Neurs, Androphages, Melanchlens, Gelons, Budins and Savromats. The kings of the Gelons, Budins and Savromats came to an agreement and promised to help the Scythians. The kings of the Agathyrsians, Neuros, Androphagi, as well as Melanchlens and Tauris, refused. The military plans of the Scythians were drawn up very cunningly. The army of King Skopas was supposed to lure the Persians along Meotida. Two other kingdoms - the great kingdom under the rule of Idanfirs and the kingdom where Taksakis was king, united in one army along with the gelons and boudins - had to slowly retreat, luring the enemy into desert areas.
The Persians stubbornly pursued the cunning and penetrated into the land of the Boudins. Here they found a large city surrounded by a wooden wall. Its inhabitants offered no resistance to the Persians, but fled in advance, so that the city was empty. The Persians set him on fire.

After that, the Persians continued to follow the retreating enemy further and further, until, having passed through this country, they reached the desert. This desert is completely uninhabited, it is located to the north of the country of Budins and stretches in length for seven days of travel. To the north of this desert lived the fissagetes. Having reached the desert, Darius and his army camped on the river Oare. Then the king ordered the construction of eight large fortifications at an equal distance - about 60 stadia from each other. While Darius was engaged in this construction, the Scythians pursued by him bypassed it from the north and returned to Scythia. With the sudden disappearance of the Scythians, Darius ordered the half-completed buildings to be left and, since the Scythians no longer appeared, he turned west. Retreating further, the Scythians decided to lure the Persians into the lands of those tribes that refused to ally with the Scythians, and since Darius did not stop persecution, the Scythians, according to their military plan, decided to retreat into the possessions of those tribes that refused to help them in order to involve and them to war with the Persians. First of all - to the country of melanchlens. The invasion of the Persians and Scythians frightened the melanchlens and they fled in fear to the north. Then the Scythians began to lure the enemy into the region of the Androphagi. Having frightened even these, they began to retreat into the land of the neurons. After that, having instilled fear in the neurons, the Scythians retreated to the Agathyrs. Agathyrsi heard how their neighbors fled in fear of the Scythians and sent a herald, before they penetrated into their land, with a ban on entering their borders. The Agathyrsians told the Scythians that if they nevertheless dared to invade their country, they would first have to endure a mortal battle with them - the Agathyrsians. After that, the Agathyrsians marched with an army to their borders to repel the attack. The Scythians, however, did not go to the country of the Agathyrs, since they did not want to let them through, but began to lure the Persians from the country of the Nevri to their land.
See City of Gelon.

The retreat of the army of Darius

The long pursuit of the Scythians deep into their territory exhausted the army of Darius. Then the Persian king sent ambassadors to the Scythians, who turned to the Scythian leader, the mighty old man Idanfirs:
- Why are you running away from us, Scythians? If you consider yourself stronger, join us in battle. And if you are weaker, send "earth and water" to our lord and submit.
- "We do not run away from you, Persians. We just wander around our steppes, as we have been used to for a long time," Idanfirs smiled mockingly.
Without sufficient food supplies and the opportunity to engage in open battle with the Scythians, Darius decided to retreat. Shamefully leaving the sick and wounded soldiers and part of the convoy, and leaving their camp with lit bonfires in order to hide a sudden retreat from the Scythians, the Persians secretly moved back at night. The retreat took place along the same road as the invasion, and this partly saved the rest of the army. When the Scythians realized that they had been tricked and rushed to pursue Darius, they could not even think that the Persians would go through the already scorched earth and began to look for them in other places. Meanwhile, the Scythians sent their representatives to the bridge on the Danube with the task of persuading the Ionians and other Greeks left there for protection, to change Darius and destroy the bridge. Many Greek military leaders were already ready to follow the advice of the Scythians, but the tyrant of Miletus Histiaeus reminded them that they ruled their cities only thanks to the support of Darius and that without him they would hardly retain their power. This had an effect and the bridge was saved. After some time, the tired and significantly thinned Persian army successfully crossed the Danube to Thrace. Although the Scythian campaign of Darius ended in vain, Darius penetrated deep into the Scythian territory, which gave him reason to include the Black Sea Scythians in the list of peoples subject to him, under the name "Overseas Saks".

Subjugation of Thrace

Noble Persian horseman.
He is wearing a hryvnia around his neck, bracelets on his hands (a sign of nobility), the helmet is similar to the helmet found in the treasury at Delphi (a trophy of the Battle of Marathon), the Persians usually wore armor under their shirt.

Campaigns of Warlord Megabase

From Thrace, Darius returned to Iran, leaving his commander Megabaz (other Persian Bagabukhsh) to complete the conquest of the regions of the Hellespont and Thrace. The first city captured by Megabazus was Perinth. After that, the tribes of peonies were defeated and evicted to Asia.

When the Persian army approached the borders of Macedonia, Megabazus sent ambassadors to the Macedonian king Aminta demanding "land and water" (that is, humility), as well as hostages to ensure peace for the future. Aminta promised them both, and invited ambassadors to a feast. At this feast, they were suddenly killed along with their retinue, but Herodotus puts the responsibility for this deed on the young prince Alexander, the son of Amyntas. Shortly thereafter, the Persians, of course, began a thorough search for their missing people. However, Alexander managed to deftly hush up this matter. Namely, he bribed the Persian Bubar, the head of the Persian officials sent to search for the missing ambassadors, by giving him a huge amount of money and his sister Hygeia. The episode about the assassination of the Persian ambassadors is perhaps a patriotic legend invented later. Whatever it was, it is historically reliable that Alexander I had to submit to the Persians and, as a sign of humility, give his sister to the harem of a noble Persian nobleman. For the Persians, the conquest of Paeonia and Macedonia was necessary, since these areas were to serve as a springboard for a campaign against Greece. Persian garrisons were left in Macedonia and Thrace, and both of these countries formed a satrapy called Skudra.

Warlord Otana's Campaigns

Around the same time, Darius appointed his half-brother Artaphren (Old Persian Artafarn, lit. “Possessing Righteous Grace”) as satrap of Lydia. The command of the military forces in the northern part of Asia Minor was transferred to the hands of the Persian Otana, the conqueror of the island of Samos, who replaced Megabase in this post. Otana conquered Byzantium and Chalcedon, captured Antander in Troad and Lamponium. Then, on Lesbos ships, he conquered Lemnos and Imbros (both of these islands were still inhabited by the Pelasgians). The Lemnos, however, fought courageously, but after a long resistance they were defeated. Thus, Persian power was established on both sides of the Hellespont, depriving the Greeks and, above all, the Athenians of the opportunity to receive bread from the shores of the Black Sea and ship timber from Thrace. The inhabitants of the conquered Greek cities on the northern coast of the Aegean are mentioned in Persian inscriptions among the conquered peoples under the name "shield-bearing Ionians".

Beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars Ionian Revolt

Under Darius, the Greco-Persian Wars began. Aristagoras, who temporarily ruled Miletus, a relative of the tyrant Histiaeus, trying to serve the Persians by conquering the island of Naxos in the Aegean Sea, aroused their discontent with his unsuccessful actions, and decided to lead the action against Darius himself. It began in the autumn of 499 BC. e. from the overthrow of the tyrants who ruled in the Greek policies. Some of them, following Aristagoras, renounced power themselves, others were expelled or executed. Everywhere in the rebellious cities a republican form of government was established. Other Greek cities of Asia Minor and some of the islands adjacent to the coast also joined Miletus. Realizing the difficulty of the upcoming struggle, Miletus turned to Balkan Greece for help, to which only Athens and Eretria (the latter is located on the island of Euboea) responded, sending 20 and 5 ships, respectively. Upon the arrival of reinforcements, the rebels launched an active offensive operation, reached Sardis, the residence of the Persian satrap Artafren, and took the city, except for the citadel. The fire that happened, either due to the negligence of the soldiers, or malicious intent, led to the almost complete destruction of the city and the death of the temple of Cybele, highly revered by the locals, which caused them strong indignation. After that, the Greeks left Sardis and returned to the coast. In the summer of 498 BC. e. The Greeks were defeated in a battle near the city of Ephesus, after which the Athenians withdrew from the rebels and returned to Athens.

Expanding the territory of the uprising

After the departure of the Athenians, the Ionians sent their fleet to the Hellespont and captured Byzantium there. Most of Caria and Lycia went over to the side of the rebels. Soon the uprising spread to the island of Cyprus. The population of the island was mixed, it consisted of Greeks and Phoenicians, between whom there had been a struggle for a long time. The Greeks joined the rebels, while the Phoenicians remained loyal to the Persian king. Thus, the uprising swept the areas from the Hellespont to Cyprus. The unrest in Cyprus was especially dangerous for the Persians, since now the significant navy and rich copper mines of the island were in the hands of the rebels. In addition, by owning Cyprus, the Greeks could block the entry of Phoenician ships into the Aegean Sea.

Military operations in Cyprus

The rebellious Cypriots laid siege to the city of Amaphunt, loyal to the Persians. The Persian army, led by the commander Artibius, approached Cyprus on ships. The Phoenician fleet was also drawn there. Then the Ionians arrived to help the rebellious Cypriots. The kings of the Cypriot cities chose Onesil, the younger brother of the king of the Greek city of Salamis Gorg, who had fled during the uprising against the Persians, as the commander of the combined forces. In the naval battle that took place, the Ionians defeated the Phoenician fleet. But in the battle on land, due to the fact that part of the Cypriots betrayed the common cause and left the battlefield, the rebels were defeated. In this stubborn battle, the commanders of both armies, the Persian Artibius and the Cypriot Onesil, also perished. The Persians restored the power of Gorg in Salamis and during 497-496. BC e. took possession of all of Cyprus, spending a whole year on pacifying this island.

The defeat of the rebels

Having been defeated in a land battle, the Ionians retreated from Cyprus, and the Persians began to conquer the cities of Asia Minor one by one. In 496 BC. e. the Eretrians, following the example of the Athenians, also left the rebels. At the end of 496 BC. e. in a stubborn battle near the Marsia River, the Persians defeated the Carians, who joined the uprising. In this battle, 2,000 Persians and many more Carians died. Retreating, the Carians continued to resist, and even managed to destroy many Persian commanders, luring them into an ambush.

The Lydian satrap Artafren and the commander Otan joined forces and began to systematically pacify the rebels. Then, discouraged, Aristagoras transferred power in Miletus to one of the citizens of the city, and he himself went to the Mirkin region in Thrace, where he soon died. There was no unity among the Greeks from the very beginning. Not all cities and regions joined the uprising, and its participants did not act at the same time, which allowed the Persians to beat them in parts. As a result, when in the spring of 494 BC. e. a decisive naval battle took place near the island of Lada (now it forms part of the mainland), which defended the entrance to the harbor of Miletus, the Samos and Lesbos ships went home. The battle ended with the complete victory of the Persian fleet. The fate of Miletus was sealed. In the autumn of 494 BC. e. was taken and plundered, most of the population of Miletus was killed, and the survivors were taken to Susa, and then settled at the confluence of the Tigris into the Persian Gulf. In the spring of 493 BC. e. the Phoenician fleet captured the islands of Chios, Lesbos, causing much destruction there and cities on the Hellespont. After the suppression of the uprising in Asia Minor and punitive expeditions against the islands that took part in it, Persia began to prepare for a campaign in Balkan Greece. At the head of a large expedition, which included both land and sea forces, was put the nephew and son-in-law of Darius Mardonius, who was married to his daughter Artazostra. His army also included Greeks from areas subordinate to the Persians, whom the Persians tried to appease with various concessions.

Invasion of Greece by Mardonius

Warriors of the Persian army.
From left to right: the Hadley infantry formed the first rank of the Persian phalanx of archers; Babylonian archer; Assyrian infantry. The warriors are wearing quilted jackets stuffed with horsehair - a typical type of oriental armor of that time.

In 492 BC. e. the army of Mardonius crossed the Hellespont and moved west. A fleet sailed along the coast. Strongholds with food and fodder stocks were created along the way. Persian garrisons were left in a number of cities. Only some Thracian tribes resisted the army of Mardonius. The Macedonian king Alexander I took a friendly position to the Persians and allowed them to pass. However, when the fleet was rounding the southern coast of Halkidiki (Cape Athos), a strong storm arose that sank 300 Persian ships and claimed the lives of 20,000 people. In addition, at night the Thracian tribe of Brigs attacked the Persian camp, who killed many Persians and wounded Mardonius himself. Having received such a huge loss, Mardonius decided to return to Asia.

After that, the ambassadors of Darius appeared in various regions of Greece demanding "to give land and water", that is, to recognize the supreme power of the Persians. Many islands, including Aegina, who was at enmity with Athens, obeyed this requirement. Some states of mainland Greece did the same. But in Sparta and Athens, the ambassadors of Darius were executed. This testified to the readiness to fight for their independence. The victory of the anti-Persian forces in Athens is also evidenced by the fact that Miltiades, the ruler of Thracian Chersonese, a participant in the uprising of 499-493. BC e., after his defeat, fled to Athens, the homeland of his ancestors, was put on trial there for tyrannical rule, but acquitted.

Campaign of Datis and Artaphernes

Conquest of the islands of the Aegean

In 490 BC. e. Darius organizes a new campaign against Greece, namely against Athens and Eretria on the island of Euboea, whom Darius wanted to punish for helping the Ionians. But this time the entire army (about 15 thousand people) was loaded onto 600 ships. They built special ships for the transport of cavalry. The Mede Datis was appointed commander of the fleet, and Artaphernes, the son of the satrap of Lydia with the same name, was to lead military operations on land. In the summer of 490 BC. e. the flotilla headed from the coast of Asia Minor through the islands of the Aegeida to Euboea. Initially, the Persians decided to conquer the city of Naxos, on the island of the same name, which they could not take in 499 BC. e. The inhabitants of Naxos, remembering the previous siege, did not wait for the attack and fled to the mountains. The Persians enslaved the inhabitants who fell into their hands and burned the sanctuary and the city. On the island of Delos, where the especially revered temple of Apollo was located, the inhabitants were given a guarantee of inviolability, the Persians emphasized in every possible way that they honor Greek shrines. Having sailed from Delos, the Persians landed on the islands, recruited an army there and took the children of the islanders hostage. So, sailing from island to island, they arrived at Karist, a city in the south of the island of Euboea. The Caristians did not give hostages to the Persians and refused to fight against neighboring cities, namely against Eretria and Athens. Therefore, the Persians began to besiege their city and devastate their land until the Caristians submitted. When the inhabitants of Eretria learned that the Persian fleet was sailing against them, they turned to the Athenians for help. The Athenians did not refuse support and sent 4,000 of their cleruchs to help, but those, seeing the futility of protecting the city, returned back. The Eretrians locked themselves in the city and prepared for a long siege. After a six-day siege, the Persians took the city as a result of the betrayal of two noble Eretrian citizens. The Persians completely plundered the city, burned the sanctuaries, and enslaved the population.

The landing of the Persian army in Attica

From Euboea, the Persian fleet headed for Attica, but not to the Saronic Gulf, but to the north, to Marathon. The Marathon plain was convenient for the actions of the Persian cavalry. It is possible that the former Athenian tyrant, the elderly Hippias, who accompanied the Persians, advised to land here. The Athenians immediately came forward and at the same time sent a messenger to Sparta asking for help. Under the pretext that, according to custom, they could not speak before the full moon, the Spartans postponed their speech and appeared in Athens after the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians had to endure the first clash with the Persian army alone, they were joined only by a small detachment (1 thousand soldiers) of the Boeotian city of Plataea, which bordered Attica.

Marathon battle

The contingents of 10 Athenian phyla (10 thousand soldiers) were led by strategists. The supreme commander was the archon-polemarch Killimachus. But the decisive role in organizing and conducting the Battle of Marathon was played by Miltiades, who held the post of strategist. He lived for a long time under the rule of the Persians, participated in their campaigns and knew their military organization and tactics well.

The battle formation of the Persians.
The first row was made up of warriors in protective weapons with large wicker shields and spears, they were supposed to cover the rest of the rows of archers. The formation was closed by commanders and overseers, who kept the soldiers from fleeing. Such a formation was good in defense until contact with the enemy, but could not attack.


Greek hoplite

For several days the armies stood against each other without starting a battle. The Persians may have been waiting for a signal from their supporters in Athens, the Athenians were waiting for the promised Spartan reinforcements. The battle took place on the day the Spartans set out. The Persian command, hoping to take Athens by surprise and deliver a decisive blow before reinforcements arrived, loaded a significant part of its cavalry onto ships at night and sent them to Athens. The Greek command became aware of this (through scouts and Ionian Greeks who had deserted from the Persian army) and on September 13, 490 BC. e. the battle began at an unfavorable moment for the Persians. As a result, the Persian cavalry, especially dangerous for the Greeks, did not take part in the battle. Given the numerical superiority of the Persians, Miltiades built the Greek army in such a way that it significantly strengthened the flanks at the expense of the center. The Greek phalanx began its attack by running in order to quickly overcome the space fired upon by the Persian archers and gain strength for a strike. The blow of the phalanx was terrible, the first ranks of the Persian army were crushed. However, the Persians themselves survived, in turn began to push the Greeks in the center, where they had the weakest defense. Having easily broken through the Greek center, the Persians, imagining that they had won, rushed inland to the Greek camp. But the Greeks who closed behind them, standing on the flanks, began to beat them, cutting off the path to retreat. Some Persians who fled to the coast managed to board their ships, others died along the way in the swamp. The Athenians captured 7 Persian ships and destroyed them. The rest of the ships were taken out to sea by the Persians. According to Herodotus, 192 Athenians and 6,400 Persians died in this battle. The names of the fallen Athenians were listed on a memorial stele, but the Plataeans and slaves who died at Marathon were not included in the list. As for the number of fallen Persians, it obviously really was counted, since the Athenians vowed to sacrifice a goat to the goddess Artemis for each killed. Since they were not able to immediately fulfill this promise, they decided to sacrifice 500 goats annually.

The Persian fleet goes back

The surviving part of the Persians on ships moved south, around Cape Sunius, counting on the help of their supporters in Athens and on the absence of the Athenian army. However, the Athenians, having buried the fallen, hastily moved to Athens. The Persian fleet, having entered the harbor of Falera and making sure that Athens could not be taken by surprise, went back.

Darius and the conquered peoples

As a wise, just ruler, and the best of the eastern despots, Darius was respected even by his enemies. Aeschylus, who participated in the battle of Marathon, is recalled in his Persians; very warmly about this king, the culprit of so many disasters for the Greeks. The Jews also kept a grateful memory of him: in the 2nd year of his reign, he allowed the resumption of work on the construction of the 2nd Temple in Jerusalem (according to the book of Ezra), and in the 6th year the temple was consecrated. According to Diodorus, the Egyptians respected this king on a par with their pharaohs-legislators; even distant Carthaginians recognized his authority.

Towards the end of his life, Darius began to experience certain difficulties; so, in 486 BC. e. Egypt rose. The uprising was caused by heavy tax oppression and the deportation of thousands of artisans to Iran to build royal palaces in Susa and Persepolis.

According to Herodotus, Darius intended to personally lead the campaign against Egypt and Athens, but during these gatherings, a great strife began among his sons over the kingship, since, according to Persian custom, Darius had to appoint his successor before the campaign. Even before accession to the throne, Darius had three sons from his first wife, the daughter of Gobrius, and after accession, four more from Atossa, the daughter of Cyrus. Of the former sons, Artobazanus was the eldest, and of those born after, Xerxes. As sons of different mothers, both of them claimed power. So, Artobazan claimed that he was the eldest in the family and that among all peoples, power, according to custom, belongs to the eldest. Xerxes based his claims on the fact that he is the son of Atossa, daughter of Cyrus, and Cyrus is the liberator of the Persians. In addition, Artobazan was born before Darius became king, and Xerxes - after the accession of Darius, when he was already the ruler of the Persians.

Darius died in October 486 BC. e. at the age of 64, without having had time to restore his power in Egypt.

Tomb of Darius I in the rocks of Nakshe-Rustam

Decorated with numerous reliefs, the tomb of Darius is located in the rocks of Nakshe-Rustam near Persepolis.

The reign of Darius lasted 36 years. After the death of Darius, the throne passed to Xerxes, in which Atossa played the leading role, about which Herodotus says that under Darius she was omnipotent.

After Darius, his son Xerxes (485-464 BC) reigns in Persia.

Literature:
Behistun inscription of Darius I
Herodotus. Story. Book III, Chapters 70-160, Book IV, Chapters 83-145, 166-205, Book V, Book VI, Book VII, chapters 1-4
Turaev B.A. History of the Ancient East / Edited by Struve V.V. and Snegirev I.L. - 2nd stereo. ed. - L .: Sotsekgiz, 1935. - T. 2. - 15,250 copies.
Dandamaev M. A. Media and Achaemenid Persia // History of the Ancient World / Edited by I. M. Dyakonov, V. D. Neronova, I. S. Sventsitskaya. - Ed. 3rd, rev. and additional - M .: The main edition of the eastern literature of the publishing house "Nauka", 1989. - T. 2. The heyday of ancient societies. - 572 p. - 50,000 copies. - ISBN 5-02-016781-9
Dandamaev M.A. Political history of the Achaemenid state. - M.: Nauka, 1985. - 319 p. - 10000 copies. copy.
Gluskina L. M. Greco-Persian Wars // History of the Ancient World: in 3 volumes / Ed. I. M. Dyakonova, V. D. Neronova, I. S. Sventsitskaya. - Third edition. - M.: Nauka, 1989. - V. 2. The heyday of ancient societies.

Darius I