Episode 5 Darius I: Persian Empire’s Second Father

The Persian Empire (2012)

Dr John W I Lee

Film Review

Cambyses II was succeeded by either his younger brother Bardya (or someone named Gaumata who assassinated Bardya and impersonated him),* who seized the throne while Cambyses was still in Egypt. Cambyses, died of wound infection while traveling through Syria, never returned to Persia.

The fourth Persian king Darius I (522-446 BC), a distant relative of Cyrus I, killed Bardya/Gaumata and the magi who supported him, asserting he was guided by the god Ahuramazda to restore the Achaemenid legacy.

It would be Darius’s role of consolidating the territories conquered by Cyrus and Cambyses. In addition he

• fixed the boundaries of the empire’s provinces, appointing both military and civilian satraps to govern them.
• fixed quotas for the tribute paid by each satrapy (issuing the first coins in the Middle East for this purpose).
• regularized military garrisons and ordered yearly troop musters for each satrapy
• recruited architects and artisans from across the empire to oversee ambitious building projects (mainly palace and tombs).
• improved communication through ambitious road building and an extensive messenger service
• built a strong navy and conquered new lands, included areas of India and Pakistan, Thrace, Samos and other Greek islands.
• helped finance rebuilding of Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem in 515 BC

*Plato asserts Cambyses killed Bardya himself at the start of the former’s reign. Herodutus asserts Bardya accompanied Cambyses to Egypt and was assassinated later after returning to Persia.

https://www.kanopy.com/en/pukeariki/watch/video/15372393/15372434