Darius the Mede

Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)

son of Astyages, King of the Medes, and brother of Mandane, mother of Cyrus, and of Amyit the mother of Evilmerodach and grandmother of Belshazzar; thus, he was uncle, by the mother's side, to Evil-merodach and to Cyrus. The Hebrew generally calls him Darius; the Septuagint, Artaxerxes; and Xenophon, Cyaxares. Darius dethroned Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, and occupied the throne till his death, two years after, when it reverted to the illustrious Cyrus. DARIUS I., King of Persia, was the of Hystaspes. son He entered into a conspiracy, with six others, against the usurper Smerdis, and having slain him, they agreed that he should have the crown whose horse would neigh first in the morning. By a well-concerted plan of his groom, the horse of Darius neighed immediately after he came to the spot where they were to meet, in consequence of which he was saluted king. He took Babylon after a siege of 20 months, gave permission for the rebuilding of the temple of Jerusalem, and sent the captive Jews to their own country. The revolt of the Greek cities in Ionia was the occasion of the famous Persian war. The army of Darius, under the command of Mardonius, invaded Greece, but accomplished nothing. A second invasion was undertaken, and the Persians were defeated by the Greeks at Marathon; on which he resolved to carry on the war in person, but died in the midst of his preparation, 485 b. c. DARIUS II., surnamed Ochus, or Nothus (bastard), was an illegitimate son of Artaxerxes. He ascended the throne of Persia after the assassination of Xerxes, and married Parysatis, his sister, a licentious and cruel woman, by whom he had Artaxerxes, Mnemon, Amistris, and Cyrus the Younger. He died in 405 b. c. DARIUS III., surnamed Codomanus, the last King of Persia. His kingdom being invaded by Alexander the Great, he met him in person at the head of an army of 600,000 men. At the battle of Granicus the Persians were defeated, but met the Greeks again near Issus, where they were totally routed. Upward of 100,000 Persians were killed, and Alexander took, among the prisoners of war, the mother, wife, and children of Darius. Darius himself escaped in disguise and under cover of the night. Not discouraged by his reverses, he ventured another battle at Arbela, but was again defeated, and fled toward Media. Bessus, the govthe neck of land between the Gulf of ernor of Bactriana, coveting his throne, attempted his life, and Darius was found by the Macedonians, in his chariot, covered with wounds and expiring. He died in 330 b. c.