Darius the Great

Darius. Relief from the
northern stairs of the Apadana
at Persepolis (Archaeological
museum, Tehran)

Darius I (Old Persian Dârayavauš): king of ancient Persia, whose reign lasted from 522 to 486. He seized power after killing king Gaumâta, fought a civil war (described in the Behistun inscription), and was finally able to refound the Achaemenid empire, which had been very loosely organized until then. Darius fought several foreign wars, which brought him to India and Thrace. When he died, the Persian empire had reached its largest extent. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes.

Coup d'état
- The coup according to the Behistun inscription
Sources
Youth
- Herodotus on the cloak of Syloson
Dynastic marriages
- Herodotus on the fall of Intaphrenes
Civil war
- The struggle for Babylon: Herodotus
- The struggle for Babylon: the Behistun inscription
Organizing the empire
Building projects
Travels
Death
- The inscription on Darius' tomb

source:

http://www.livius.org/da-dd/darius/darius_i_0.html

_________________________________________________________________________________________