Akademik

(reigned 522–486 B.C.)

   Achaemenid king. Darius seems to have acceded to the throne in mysterious circumstances and had to repress internal dissent and quell rebellions in the Persian provinces. The rock inscription in a cliff face at Behistun recording his eventual triumph was written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian. It proved an invaluable source for the decipherment of cuneiform.

   Darius much enlarged the territories of the empire toward the east. In the west, he faced revolts by the Ionian cities in Asia Minor and was beaten by the Greeks at Marathon. He also built a new capital at Persepolis, as well as palaces at Susa.