Darius the Great: The Life and Times of the Great King of Persia in his Own Words (𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁)

In this program we'll take a look at the illustrious life of the great Persian King of Kings, Darius I, also known as Darius the Great. Regarded by many as the most powerful ruler of the Achaemenid Dynasty of ancient Iran, Darius I is also amongst its most controversial. We'll dive deeper into the life of great king, the contentious debate about his rise to power, and ultimately examine the words of Darius himself about his these and other aspects of his life and beliefs.

Contents:

00:00 Introduction and Historical Context
03:37 Early Life of Darius
05:14 Rise to Power as told in the Behistun Inscription
16:55 Lineage and Family of Darius
18:10 Rebellions and Troubles of 522 BC
20:43 Architect of an Empire: Satrapies, Reforms, Roads and Canals
25:19 Darius the Builder: Susa and Persepolis
33:50 Expansion of the Achaemenid Empire
35:25 The Ionian Revolt
37:17 Invasion of Greece and the Battle of Marathon
43:21 Thank You and Patrons

Special thanks to Farya Faraji for the music:

"Achaemenes"
"Shirin and Khosrow"
"The Riding Angaros"
"Memory of Cyrus"
"Spantodhata's Warning"
"The Apadana's Shadow"
"Battle of Cunaxa"
"Hyrcanian Lullaby"
"Immortals"
"Apranik's Charge"
"March of Achaemenes"

Check out more of his work that spans across many countries, cultures and time periods:

Additional Music:

Epidemic Sound

Special thanks to Malay Archer for creating the astounding machinimas that really brought this program to life using the Total War: Rome 2 Divide et Impera, Cyrus the Great campaign and Age of Bronze mod.

Check out more of his work here:

Related Videos:

The History of Persepolis and a Walking Tour of the Site

Exploring the Royal Necropolis of Naqsh-e Rustam (Achaemenid Tombs / Sasanian Reliefs)

Cambyses II and the Persian Conquest of Egypt (Achaemenid Persian Empire)

Cyrus the Great and the Birth of the Achaemenid Persian Empire

History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Part I (550-486 BC; Cyrus the Great - Darius the Great)

History of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Part II (486-330 BC; Xerxes I - Alexander the Great)

Sources and Suggested Reading:

From Cyrus the Alexander – Pierre Briant
Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE - Matt Waters
The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period - Amélie Kuhrt
A History of Ancient Persia - The Achaemenid Empire (Blackwell History of the Ancient World) - Maria Brosius
History of the Persian Empire - A.T. Olmstead
The Iranian Expanse – Matthew P. Canepa
Persepolis and Its Surroundings – Heidemarie Kokh
The Persians - Jim Hicks
The Authoritative Guide to Persepolis – A. Shapur Shahbazi

Follow History with Cy:

#ancienthistory #persian #achaemenid

[alkha]

“Haters will say its photoshopped”
—Darius

[amirhosein]

As always what a great video. As an Iranian, I have to admit that I have learned more about Iran's history from your videos than from history books in school. Keep the good work man.❤❤❤

[danielferreira]

As a member of the community, I am currently engaged

[liberatumtaiwanae]

Love from Japan. As a student of history I'm relatively ignorant when it comes to the oldest cradle of civilizations, as your gem in this series saved my day! Keep it up! I'll continue to share your detailed engagement of ancient Asian studies on instagram and with my Bible study friends!

[ethanmcconkey]

Your action of educating about human history that isn’t shared in most history classes honors the people of the past, present, and future, thank you for everything 🙏

[Taharqo.saved.the.Hebrew]

By the time Darius set foot in Egypt with his great Persian empire, the Pyramids of Giza where already 2000 year's old, so Ancient Egypt was also Ancient in the times of Darius,

[Numba]

Thank you for yet another exceptional video. I didn't know the Persians had their own version of the Suez Canal that far back in time! Persian / Iranian history is so fascinating; I look forward to your future videos on the topic!
God be with you out there, everybody. ✝️ :)

[orchidhealth]

Is it not amazing that this great administrator who gave us the idea of so many concepts, which are still prevalent in our daily modern life, is only known in the west as the guy who was defeated in Marathon?

[raulpetrascu]

"I did not lie, I did not lie, I'm legitimate, all I did was not a lie and you should punish anyone who says it's a lie because I did not lie"

Hmm... he doth protest too much

[fanzy]

Darius the great is considered as one of the top 5 Great kings of all Iranians empires to include Shapur II, Nader Shah, Reza Shah, Mithridates II, and of course Cyrus the great.

[waltonsmith]

Why would Cambysis kill his own heir? Ask Ivan the Terrible.

[artkoenig]

Thank you, Cy@ I really appreciate the many quotes of Darius' proclamations you have used Well done! I had to listen from beginning to end.

[BlackMasterRoshi]

jeez, why doesn't he just MARRY Ahura Mazda!?

[jacksonnn]

Love the quality of your videos, thanks for the upload!❤

[GLeibniz]

One of the most overlooked great rulers his non military accomplishments are as significant as his conquests thanks and be safe!

[tante]

It amazes me how quickly you make these videos. I am very impressed and very grateful for having a channel with such frequent and well made videos for my niche bronze age and ancient near eastern interest :)

[ala.r]

The historic legacy, and deeds of the Darius's the great as a liberator from the long tyrannical reigns of the tyrant and slavery system in Egypt to restore the Egyptian belief in the Sun god Ru, by the Egypt's great king, whom defaced false gods sculptural images, for the God of creation, life and goodness.

[Deveriell]

False Bardiya could be just like the usurper Dmitry in the 17th century Russia.

[gamerk]

Zoroastrianism is so underestimated . It's quite ridiculous.

[KetsaKunta]

Thanks for making these awesome videos. Your channel is a sweet relief and a great source to chill and learn about a time long long ago.