Darius I: Darius the Great
Darius I played an important role in organizing the empire and in building projects at Susa and Persepolis. The Behistun inscription presents his official account of taking power and should be read alongside other evidence.
Reign: 522–486 BCE
These cultural and symbolic images do not depict Dorehami members or events.
Image and licence
File:Darius In Parse.JPG — Derfash Kaviani (درفش کاویانی) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / crop
File:Tachar Persepolis Iran.JPG — درفش کاویانی — CC BY-SA 3.0 · WebP / crop
Object images show the period’s heritage and are not necessarily authenticated portraits of this person.
Context and a reading path
Darius can be studied through his accession, imperial administration and royal building projects. Each requires different evidence. A relief does not answer the same questions as an administrative record.
How to read the evidence
Bisotun is an official multilingual account of power. Distinguish the king’s words from translation and scholarly commentary, and ask how legitimacy and rebellion are presented. Recognizing a text’s purpose does not dismiss it; that is part of source criticism.
A question to discuss
Which parts of Bisotun report events, and which argue for the king’s right to rule?
The answer need not be settled beforehand. First note what the source actually tells us, then separate questions from guesses. Children can draw an object or building from the period; an imagined picture should not be presented as historical evidence.
Sources and further reading
Content reviewed: 19 October 2026
Back to the Achaemenids
Cyrus II: Cyrus the Great
About 559–530 BCE
Cambyses II
530–522 BCE
Bardiya and the Gaumata question
522 BCE
Xerxes I
486–465 BCE
Artaxerxes I
465/464–424/423 BCE
Xerxes II
424/423 BCE
Sogdianus
424/423 BCE
Darius II
about 423–404 BCE
Artaxerxes II
about 404–359/358 BCE
Artaxerxes III
359/358–338/337 BCE
Arses: Artaxerxes IV
338–336 BCE
Darius III
336–330 BCE
Bessus: a claimant after Darius III
330–329 BCE