Darius
Darius names 4 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below.
Darius the title of several Persian monarchs
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the title of several Persian monarchs. It is not a personal name, but is akin in meaning to emperor, pharaoh, czar, and caesar. Darius I was one of the greatest Persian kings. He ruled 521-486 B. C. He organized the great Persian empire by dividing it into twenty provinces. Each province was ruled by a satrap. In order that the satrap might not have the means to set up an independent kingdom, the military force of the province was placed in charge of a commander, who reported to Darius independently. In each province a royal secretary, called the king's ear, sent letter after letter by special messenger, reporting on the state of affairs; and finally a royal commissioner, a sort of inspector, called the king's eye, appeared now and then with a military escort to see that all was going well. A complete system of taxgathering was established. Excellent post roads were built, along which couriers, peasants and their donkeys, endless caravans, and armies might pass. The longest-the east and west road from Sardis to Susa-was 1,500 miles in length. Babylon attempted to revolt, but in vain. The empire was reduced to order in every direction. The first great work of Darius may be summarized as the most perfectly organized Asiastic government the world has ever seen. It was essentially the form of government of the Turkish Empire today. His second service was the repulse of the barbarian tribes of the north. Just what these were, whether Hun, Turk, or Tartar, no one knows. Under the name of Scythians, they had pushed their way repeatedly into the heart of western Asia-some authorities say even as far as Egypt. Darius led immense armies against them and set up stone pillars to mark the boundaries within which they were forbidden to enter. Following the subjugation of Babylon this great king led an immense host across the Bosporus on a bridge of boats, to attack the Scythians in the southern steppes of what is now Russia. Thrace was added to the empire, thus bringing Persia within Europe to the very foot of the mountain barries of Greece. Nevertheless the barbarians were effectually checked and repulsed from the frontier of civilization. The third great enterprise of Darius ended in disaster. Persian arms had annexed India as far as the Indus. The Mediterranean coast was now Persian from the Nile to the mountains of Thessaly. The Aegean Sea, the center of Greek activity, was practically "a Persian lake." Whether or not Darius had a previous intention of attacking Greece is not known, but the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor revolted. Darius reduced them with fire and sword, and in 492 B.C. sent an army and a fleet under Mardonius to subjugate the Greeks. The barbarians of Thrace mishandled his army and a storm off Mount Athos wrecked his ships. In rage he sent messengers to the Greek cities to demand earth and water, the symbols of submission. Many of the weaker cities complied. Athens and Sparta threw the envoys into pits and wells and told them to help themselves to all the earth and water they cared for. The story of the great king's discomfiture may be read under MARATHON. See also XERXES.
Darius The third king of Persia of that name
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
The third king of Persia of that name. He soon had to take the field against Alexander , who invaded Persia. Darius met him with an enormous army, which, however, was more remarkable for the luxuries indulged in by its leaders than for military courage. A battle was fought near the Granicus , in which the Persians were easily defeated, and another conflict followed near Issus, equally fatal to the Persians. Darius escaped and assembled another powerful army. The last and decisive battle was fought at Arbela, Alexander being again victorious. When the fight was over Darius was found in his chariot covered with wounds and expiring, в. c. 331.
Darius A noble satrap of Persia
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A noble satrap of Persia, son of Hystaspes, who usurped the crown of Persia after the death of Cambyses . Darius was twentynine years old when he ascended the throne, and he soon distinguished himself by his military prowess. He besieged Babylon, which he took after a siege of twenty months. He died B. C. 485.
Darius The second king of Persia of that name
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
The second king of Persia of that name, ascended the throne of Persia soon after the murder of Xerxes . He carried on many wars with success, aided by his generals and his son Cyrus the younger. He died B. C. 404, after a reign of nineteen years.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's opening claim in 1910 that Darius "is not a personal name, but is akin in meaning to emperor, pharaoh, czar" is now known to be wrong: it is the Old Persian personal name Dārayavauš, meaning roughly "holding firm the good," borne by three Achaemenid kings and used by others. The biggest change is evidence rather than opinion. American excavations at Persepolis in the 1930s recovered tens of thousands of clay administrative tablets in Elamite, so the tax system, ration payments and royal-road travel permits Aiton described from Greek sources can now be read in the empire's own bureaucratic hand, and since the 1980s Achaemenid history has largely been rewritten from Persian, Babylonian and Egyptian documents instead of from Herodotus. The 1900 volume's Darius III, "found in his chariot covered with wounds and expiring" after Arbela, is also corrected: he escaped Gaugamela in 331 BC and was murdered the following year by his own kinsman Bessus.
Written for this edition, 2026.