Darius I

known as Darius the Great

(born 550—died 486 BC) King of Persia (522–486 BC). He was the son of Hystaspes, satrap of Parthia. Much of what is known of him is through his own inscriptions. He took the throne by force, killing Bardiya, a son of Cyrus the Great, calling him an impostor who had usurped power. He continued the conquests of his predecessors, subduing Thrace, Macedonia, some Aegean islands, and land stretching to the Indus valley. He failed in his great expedition against the Scythians (513) but put down the Ionian revolt (499), which had been supported by Eretria and Athens. After that he twice tried to conquer Greece, but a storm destroyed his fleet in 492 and the Athenians defeated him at the Battle of Marathon in 490. He died before a third expedition could be launched. Among the greatest of the Achaemenian dynasty, he was noted for his administrative genius and his building projects, especially those at Persepolis.

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