ABSTRACT
It is plain, from Chapters 3 and 4 , that the Achaemenid empire was created in the space of less than thirty years. By 522, it stretched from the First Cataract in Egypt’s south and the Aegean coast to Central Asia. This very rapid acquisition of empire created internal problems in Persia, involving (probably) a revolt by Cambyses’ younger brother, Bardiya, during the former’s absence in Egypt. Cambyses himself, according to Herodotus, died trying to get back to Persia, leaving no male offspring (5, no. 4). The serious nature of the internal Persian conflict is strikingly illustrated by the fact that, despite being a legitimate son of Cyrus, founder of the empire, Bardiya was rapidly eliminated by a small group of Persian nobles. As Bardiya had no surviving sons, one of his assassins then acceded to the throne, claiming relationship with Cyrus’ family. This was Darius I (522–486), and the turmoil unleashed by this major crisis is known from the massive, in some cases repeated, revolts against his seizure of the throne, which affected the whole Iranian plateau as well as Babylonia, Armenia, Egypt and Elam (see Appendix). Most striking is the fact that Fars itself was involved in the resistance to Darius (5, no. 1, paras.16–54; see Dandamaev 1976; Kuhrt 1995a: 664–7; Briant 1996a: 109–35 [2002b: 97–122]). But these revolts were efficiently and ruthlessly put down and Darius was able to consolidate control in northern Central Asia (5, no. 1, para.74), add the Indus valley to his realm and begin to exploit the maritime routes between north India and the Persian gulf (6, no. 3). He further strengthened his north-western frontier, by adding Thrace and several Aegean islands to his direct control, and creating close links with Macedón in northern Greece (Briant 1996a: 154–6 [2002b: 141–4]; 6, Sections B & C). His son Xerxes’ (486–465) attempt to consolidate this by extending Persia’s hegemony in Greece in 480/79 was not successful, although the setback for the Persian empire in this region was, over all, slight (Kuhrt 1995a: 670–2; Briant 1996a: 545–59 [2002b: 528–42]) and proved ultimately to be temporary (see further 7, Sections C & D; 8, Sections A(d), B(b); 9, Section B).
