History of Iran
(part of Iranologie.com)
Part IV: Achaemenid Empire
Chapter II: Successors of Cyrus and The Reign of Darius
Cyrus' Successors
The sudden death of Cyrus presented the first major test for the newly founded empire. After such character as Cyrus, who should replace him as both the emperor and military commander? This call fell upon Cyrus’ eldest son, Cambyses II (Kambujia).
Again, the stories told mainly by Greek historians and the one we get through Darius’ Behistun inscription, tells us of Cambyses’ ambition to continue his father’s conquests. So, he decided to conquer Egypt, the only remaining empire to the west of Persia. Prior to his departure, Cambyses murdered his younger brother, Bardia or Smerdis, for the fear of usurping the throne in his absence.
Cambyses’ Egyptian campaign went successfully and he managed to conquer and enter Thebes. It is at this time that he heard of a Mogh (a Magi, see chapter III) who claimed he was Bardia and had usurped the throne. According to various legends, Cambyses either committed suicide due to depression or injured himself while trying to mount a horse and ride back to Persia.
In any case, the throne was now held by a mogh called Gaumata who also had the approval of Hutusa, the sister of Bardia and Cambyses. Apparently the rule of the Gaumata was not popular by the people since he had reversed the rules of the empire and restored the old regulations.
It was because of this unpopularity that seven young men from the highest noble families of Persia tried to topple the usurper. The group, initially led by Zupir and later by Darius the Achaemenid, succeeded in its attempt and braught the mogh down from the throne. Darius, the leader of the seven families and a grandson to the king of Persa that was deposed by Cyrus, and also a cousin of Cambyses, naturally became the new emperor.
Darius The Usurper
The above story is widely accepted in most historical texts written about the Persian Empire, and considered as the truth by all but a few of historians and archaeologists. The details of this story are mentioned in Darius’ famous Behistun inscription that in addition to the story of his succession to the throne, also tells us about his campaigns against rebellions around the country and his formation of the Persian Empire as we know it. These details, told by Persian courtiers to Greek historians, decades after the events, have entered the pages of our “original” sources like Herodotus, and have thus become the historical “truth”.
However, there are reasons to believe that this story is not quite the truth, as far as many details go. First matter to consider is the issue of Darius’ family relation with Cyrus and Cambyses, a matter he uses well in order to legitimise his claim to the throne of Cyrus. Darius repeatedly calls himself an Achaemenid, in all of his inscriptions. He explains to us that he is the son of Wishtaspa who later becomes the governor/satrap (Xshtarpat) of Parthia. Wishtaspa was son of Arsham, king of Parsa who was deposed by Cyrus. Arsham was the son of Aryaramna, king of Parsa, and he was the eldest son of Chishpesh, or Tespes, King of Anshan and Parsa, and great grandfather of Cyrus the Great. Tespes in turn was the son of Hakhamanesh/Achaemens, the leader of Persians after whom the dynasty is named. Thus, the kingdom held by Tespes, that of Anshan and Parsa, had been divided between his two sons, the elder son (Aryaramna) getting the heartland, and the younger one (Cyrus I) receiving the mountain city of Anshan.
A relief showing Darius The Great
We can argue the above by many parallels. First of all, other than the above genealogy, some archaeological evidence has convinced many historians to believe Darius’ story. On some statues of Cyrus found in Pasargadea, his palace, we see the words: “I, Cyrus, the Achaemenid”. Many interpret this as being the proof of Cyrus’ descent from Achaemens and thus his relation to Darius. However, all of these inscriptions are carved in Old Persian cuneiform. We have evidence (including Darius’ straight out admittance in column five of Behustun inscription) that the Old Persian cuneiform did not exist prior to the time of Darius and that it was created during or shortly before the carving of the said inscription. Unlike all other multilingual inscriptions from the Achaemenid times, in Behistun we see the presence of the Old Persian text at a position lower than the Neo-Babylonian and Elamite texts. We know that Old Persian version of the text was carved later than the other two, since a rewriting of the Elamite text, under the Neo-Babylonian one and to the left of the Old Persian text, mirrors the Old Persian version more closely and is obviously more detailed than the two older texts.
General Overview of the Behistun Inscription
So, if the Old Persian cuneiform was created during the time of Darius, Cyrus could obviously not have used it to carve his name on his statues. This is in addition to the fact that inscriptions were only carved after the completion of a palace, and we know that Pasargadea was left unfinished due to the death of Cyrus. Thus, we can conclude that the inscriptions that called Cyrus an Achaemenid were actually carved later by Darius and his successors.
Furthermore, in the two inscriptions we have from Cyrus the Great and his grandfather, Cyrus I, we see the family tree as: “Cyrus, son of Cambyses, son of Cyrus, son of Tespes” (in case of Cyrus the Great), and “Cyrus, son of Tespes” (in case of Cyrus I), both failing to name Achaemenes as their ancestor. Consequently, we can establish that Cyrus’ descent from Achaemens is a matter fabricated by Darius in order to legitimise his claim to the throne.
Having established that, we can embark upon the tale of Gaumata, the Mogh, and his usurpation of throne by claiming to be Bardia, the younger son of Cyrus, who in fact was murdered by his older brother Cambyses prior to the latter’s campaign against Egypt. Again, the story is told by Darius in Behistun and all consequent Greek versions have their source in this official version of the events.
We should start discussing this matter by considering Cambyses’ motives in murdering his brother. The act was unparalleled in the Persian and Median courts, in addition to being unreasonable, since Cambyses was the rightful heir to the throne and there was no evidence to suggest that Bardia was a threat. Assuming that the threat was real and Bardia was killed, we should wonder why Cambyses became depressed upon hearing the news of usurpation, if he knew the usurper is not his real brother. It is also worth noticing that Hutusa, the sister of Cambyses and Bardia, did recognise the usurper as her real brother. Even if the original murder took place in secret, Hutusa as a member of the family would have known about it and would not have been fooled by a pretender.
Further on, Darius, as a member of the seven noble families, was at Cambyses’ side in Egypt and was present at the side of his deathbed. He later arrives back in Persia, and starts conspiring to dethrone the pretender. The initial leader is Zupir, not Darius, a further proof that he was not related to the dead emperor and not considered the “obvious” choice for replacing him. Then, Darius pushes Zupir aside and gains the control of the band. He gathers a force and faces Gaumata/Bardia in open field were he kills the usurper. He is then elected as the emperor, moves to the palace, and marries Hutusa in order to have a descendant of Cyrus in his household and produce an offspring who is descended from Cyrus, as indeed happens with Xerxes.
The reason Darius mentions for the unpopularity of Gaumata is his restoration of the old laws, worshiping of old gods, and tax cuts. From a popular point of view, Bardia was the ideal king who eased the restraints caused by the new imperial regulations and gave tax cuts to a population that had been paying for military campaigns since the time of Cyrus. The matter of worshiping old gods might be a pure concern of Darius. We have no evidence to think that Cyrus or Cambyses were Zoroastrians and thus believed in Ahura-Mazdah and the “new” religion. In fact, Cyrus’ crowning in Babylon under the blessings of Marduk, the Babylonian god, shows us his belief in polytheism. On the other hand, Darius and his successors are firm believers in Ahura Mazdah and Zoroastrianism and they mention this belief in many of their inscriptions, including Behistun. Thus, Gaumata’s worship of old gods was probably the common practice of the time that only coincided with Darius’ Zoroastrian belief.
In short, we can rewrite the story of Darius’ ascension to the throne as follows. Gaumata was indeed Bardia and the true brother of Cambyses. Probably because of his personal beliefs, Bardia enjoyed a greater popularity than his older brother and was seen as a potential threat to the throne of Cambyses. When in Egypt, Cambyses hears of his brother’s usurpation of the throne, and since he knows that considering Bardia’s popularity, he does not have much chance of regaining the throne, he falls into depression and dies. Seeing the whole young Persian Empire in danger of falling apart by the popular but limited-in-scope policies of Bardia, seven noble families decide to restore the empire. Darius, as the most ambitious and resourceful of the seven, and probably a confidant of Cambyses in Egypt, succeeds in toppling Bardia, and pronounces himself emperor. He then goes on to fabricate his family ties to Cyrus in order to explain his own usurpation of the throne.
An example of Old Persian Cuneiform
Whatever the truth, we should consider that in the long run, Darius’ actions proved positive, and he managed to form the most organised empire of ancient times. His policies and regulation for running a vast territory that stretched from India to Egypt became the blueprint for many empires that followed, certainly that of Rome.
Darius the Great (Dayara-Vahusha) was the Greatest ruler of his time. He created a major road system for Iran, coined money (Darik), and finished Cyrus’ incomplete job of invasion. He conquered North India and some parts of Greece, as well as whole of Asia minor and southern Europe. He also re-captured Egypt, and ordered the first version of Suez Canal to be dug! In one case, he even ventured to Northern Black Sea region and fought the Scythians, who in turn retreated from his sight and made him realise that conquering steppe is not a good idea! Darius captured all of southern Europe and established his Eskodara Satrapi (province).
Overview of the Persepolis Platform from the south
The famous account of Darius' unbelievable defeat in the Marathon from the Athenian army is well known. This "defeat" has been immortalised by the myths about the runner who ran to Athens to give the news of the victory. Although widely accepted as fact, I doubt these accounts, which have been mainly retold by Herodotus. Generally what is known to the Greek and western world as "Great Persian Wars" is nothing more than a footnote in the Achaemenid governmental records. Marathon, although most likely happened the way it was told, has been greatly exaggerated. The army of Darius was certainly not as large as reported, since Darius used much smaller armies for invading countries like Egypt, and Greeks were not particularly repudiated for being invincible! The battle of Marathon was not a struggle for the Persian emperor to invade Athens, since it was financially and strategically insignificant. It was, as reported by other historians and witnesses, motivated by a deposed Athenian official and the desire of the Great King to support him in regaining his position. Anyway, this battle has become a major chapter in the history of the west, as the small but much exaggerated defeat of Roland became a legend for Charlemagne and French history.
Seal of Darius the Great
At this time, Darius was the master of the largest empire the world had ever
known to itself . Having one end by the banks of the River Indus to Nile on the
other end, and from the Nobian desert to Volga and Danube, administering such a
gigantic land was the job of a wise ruler, and Darius was just that. Maybe not a
great army general, but certainly the greatest of politicians, Darius recognised
the first need for the rule of his empire, and that was roads. Wide and long
roads connected all of the Persian empire together, and along with the first
postal system in the world (Barid), helped facilitate the communication. His
political plays with his neighbours like Greek chiefs and Scythian kings and
Indian Raja's show the extent of his political knowledge. He established the
institution of political marriage by marrying his son and his brother to minor
foreign sovereigns. He conquered Massagets through marriage to their Queen, and
he was more successful in that than Cyrus. He also was the first ruler to ask
for sons and heirs of the defeated kings as the hostages and guarantors of their
father's loyalty. By educating these sons in the Persian way, he created a
network of Perso-phile kings who were always faithful the the Great King. Darius
is known in Iranian history as the greatest of the politicians.
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Tomb of Darius in Naqsh-e Rostam
Part IV Index History Page Iranologie Main Page
General Bibliography and Reading Suggestions
Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, 2002
Curtis, John (ed.). Mesopotamia and Iran in the Persian Period, British Museum Press, London, 1997
Dandamaev, M.A. A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. Translated by W.J. Vogelsang. E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1989
Fry, Richard N. The Heritage of Persia. Mentor, New York, 1963
Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Aubrey de Salincourt. Revised by John Marincola. Penguin Classics, London, 1996
Humbach, Helmut and Pallan Ichaporia. The Heritage of Zarathushtra: A New Translation of His Gathas. Heidelberg, Universitaetverlag C. Winter, 1994.
Kent, R.G. Old Persian: Grammer, Text, Lexicon. American Oriental Society, 1953
Olmstead, Arthur T. History of the Persian Empire. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1970
Schwartz, Martin. "The Religion of Acheamenian Iran", in Ilia Gershevitch ed. Cambridge History of Iran. Vol. II. CUP, 1985
Stronach, David. “Anshan and Parsa: Early Achaemenid History, Art and Architecture on the Iranian Plateau”. In John Curtis ed. Mesopotamia and Iran in the Persian Period, British Museum Press, London, 1997
Stronach, David. “The Tomb at Arjan and the History of Southwestern Iran in the Early Sixth Century BCE.” in Naomi F. Miller and Kamyar Abdi eds. Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud. UCLA, Los Angeles, 2003
Online Resources
Old Persian Texts (http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm)
Achaemenid Inscriptions (http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/PROJ/ARI/ARI.html)
Persepolis Map and Architectural Details (http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/MUS/PA/IRAN/PAAI/PAAI_Persepolis.html)
Wikipedia History of Persia (http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Persia)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behistun_Inscription
http://www.ancientroute.com/cities/behistun.htm
http://www.herodotuswebsite.co.uk/darius.htm