Page:Outlines of European History.djvu/134

 adopt cunei- form and Aramean writing 98 Outlines of European History The Persian The rude simplicity of the Persian kings now rapidly gave way (abour53o to ^^ ^^ more civilized life of the conquered states. The Persian 330 B.C.) scribes were soon writing their own language with Babylonian cuneiform (p. 62), from which they adopted thirty-six signs as Persians an alphabet. Darius recorded his triumph over all his foes at home and abroad in a vast inscription in cuneiform on the great cliff of Behistun looking down upon the ancient highway leading from Babylon to Ecbatana ; but the king's office documents were written on parchment with the Aramean alphabet (see p. 71). Organization The Organization of such a vast empire, stretching from the Emplre^by^^ Indus to the ^gcan Sea, had been too big a task to be com- Danus pleted by Cyrus. It was carried through by Darius the Great (521-485 B.C.). He did not desire further conquests, but he planned to maintain the Empire as he had inherited it. He caused himself to be made actual king in Egypt and in Baby- lonia, but the rest of the Empire he divided into twenty provinces, each called a " satrapy," each being under a governor called a " satrap," who was appointed by the Great King. The Persian rule was just, humane, and intelligent, but of course tribute was collected from all parts of the Empire. Coinage In the West, chiefly Lydia and the Greek settlements in western "Asia Minor (p. 127), where the coinage of metal was common by 600 B.C. (p. 152), this tribute was paid in coined money. The eastern countries — Egypt, Babylonia, and Persia herself — were not quick to adopt this new convenience. Here during most of the Persian period commerce was content to employ gold and silver in bars which could be cut up and weighed out at each payment (p. 67). Darius, however, began the coinage of gold and permitted his satraps to coin silver. The rate was about thirteen to one, that is to say, gold w^as worth about thirteen times as much as silver. Thus the great commercial convenience of coined money issued by the State began to come into the Orient during the Persian period. The Persian kings fostered business and commerce, main- tained excellent roads from end to end of the great Empire, and