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 688 DARIUS of the monarch himself (see BEHISTUN), accord- ing to which Babylon twice revolted from him. To chastise the Scythians around the northern shores of the Black sea for ancient incursions into Asia, he started with 700,000 men from Susa, his capital, passed the Bosporus on a bridge built by a Samian Greek, traversed Thrace, and crossed the Danube, following the nomads, who had only to retreat, driving their herds before them and filling up the wells in their route, in order to conquer the invaders, without a battle, by famine and the hardships of the march. The greater part of his army was lost when he returned, leaving the sick and aged behind, and a body of troops under Megabazus in Thrace, which conquered the Paeones and transplanted them to Phrygia. Another expedition conquered a part of In- dia, and the explorations down the Indus, and around the shores of the Erythraean sea, under Scylax, a Carian Greek, even gained maritime glory for the monarch. The revolt of the lonians, the support given them by the Athenians and Eretrians, and particularly the burning of Sardis (500), incited Darius to an expedition against Greece. After the conquest of Miletus, an army under Mardonius and a fleet were sent to subdue the Greeks ; but the attacks of the Scythian tribes in Thrace, and tempests off Mount Athos, compelled both to return, and the Athenians rejected with scorn the demand for earth and water made by the heralds of the great king. Another army, sent with 600 vessels under the command of Datis and Artaphernes, conquered Naxos, but spared the sacred island of Delos (while the other Oy- clades submitted without a struggle), destroyed the betrayed Eretria on the island of Euboea, and landed in Attica. But the victory of the Athenians under Miltiades at Marathon (490) defeated the army of Darius, though not his hope of subduing Greece. Arming the whole force of his empire, he was checked by a revolt in Egypt, soon after which he died, leaving the accomplishment of his revenge to his son Xerxes. Like Cyrus, Darius favored the Jews, and it was during his reign that they rebuilt the temple of Jerusalem. III. Darius Oehns (the latter being his name before his ac- cession), surnamed by the Greeks Nothus (the bastard), reigned 424-405 B. 0. He became king by putting to death his natural brother Sogdianus, who had killed Xerxes II., the only legitimate son of Artaxerxes I. He was a weak prince, ruled by his favorites, and especially by his queen Parysatis, a cunning and ambitious woman. His reign was disturbed by rebel- lions, among which that of Amyrtsaus in Egypt was particularly successful. His governors in. Asia Minor, Tissaphernes and Cyrus (the young- er), his son, extended the influence of Persia in the affairs of Greece, which during his reign was distracted by the Peloponnesian war. His successor was his son Artaxerxes II. Mnemon. IV. Dtrius Codomannns, the last ruler of the Per- sian empire, 336-330 B. C. His father was Arsames, the son of Ostanes, who was a. brother of Artaxerxes Mnemon. His mother. Sisygambis, was either the sister or cousin of his father, it is uncertain which, the marriage of brother and sister not being uncommon among Persians of high rank. The eunuch Bagoas, chief minister of Artaxerxes Ochus, having assassinated that monarch and his suc- cessor Arses, and all the royal princes, placed Codomannus upon the throne, who assumed the name of Darius. He appears to have had no connection with the crimes of Bagoas, and one of the first acts of his reign was to put the eunuch to death. He was remarkable for personal beauty and bravery. In the year in which he ascended the throne Philip of Macedon was assassinated, and succeeded by Alexander. Before the death of Philip a portion of the Macedonian troops had crossed into Asia, and immediately on his accession Darius commenced preparations to resist their advance. The death of Philip and the perils by which Alexander was surrounded at home freed Darius from any immediate apprehension, and he relaxed his efforts ; but he renewed them as soon as- the European campaigns of Alexander showed that he would probably become a formidable enemy. He got ready a fleet, sent troops from the interior of the empire into Asia Minor, despatched emissaries to Greece to stir up such states as were most hostile to Alexander, and placed a large body of Greeks in the pay of Per- sia under the command of Memnon the Rhodian. He gained some advantages over the Mace- donian troops in Asia, which gave the Persian satraps a low opinion of their enemy, and they made no resistance when Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Mysia with about 35,000 men. The Persian satraps first opposed Alex- ander at the river Granlcus, with a force largely composed of Greek mercenaries. They were completely defeated, and in the course of the following year Alexander made himself master of Asia Minor. In the spring of 333 Mem- non died, and Darius, seeing that he must bring his whole force against the Macedonian invader, collected an army estimated at from 300,000 to 600,000 men. The combatants met on the shores of the gulf of Issus, in a narrow defile, where the great numerical superiority of the Persians was of little advantage, and they were totally defeated. The mother, wife, sister, and several other members of the family of Darius were captured by Alexander, and were treated kindly. Alexander now turned his forces in another direction, crossing Syria and invading Egypt, and Darius had nearly two years in which to prepare for another ef- fort to save his empire. He made two ineffec- tual attempts to obtain peace by negotiation, offering to cede the whole of Asia Minor, and to pay an immense ransom for his family. His overtures were rejected, and he set about pre- paring for the final struggle. He assembled an army, it is said, of more than 1,000,000, and awaited the attack of Alexander in a great plain