by Athina Mitropoulos-Monk

Carved high into the rock face at Mount Bisitun are the inscription and relief which record Darius I’s version of his accession to the throne. On this main road connecting the royal capitals of Babylon and Ecbatana, king Darius tells his story. With the text written in three languages, Old Persian, Babylonian and Elamite, and a relief carving showing what he wants to show, everyone who passed it could look and know there is a new king in town. It’s unlikely anyone read it  – it was carved into a rock face about 100 metres above the ground, and the ledge beneath it which workmen used to create it was removed, so no one could climb up and deface it. But that didn’t matter. Travelers would still pass it, look at it, and doubtless discuss what it showed and what it may have said. Darius even ordered copies of the inscription to be set up around the empire, so that it could be read elsewhere.

           The Bisitun inscription depicts Darius with two senior officials behind him, looking down on nine leaders of conquered peoples whose necks are tied. They represent the peoples who challenged his rule after he took the throne. Darius even treads on a tenth figure, Gaumata, who took over the empire pretending to be Cambyses’ brother, Bardiya. Above the scene, the greatest Persian god Ahuramazda is depicted. Darius raises his hand in salute to Ahuramazda and Ahuramazda faces him in return.

Darius’ legitimacy

The Bisitun Inscription clearly shows Darius as the mighty ruler, the one who squashed rebellions and rebels. He is shown to be bigger than the others, towering over his enemies, and in control of the situation. The rebel peoples are chained, slightly hunched over, facing Darius in a pose of forced submission. While he is not shown actively fighting them, this battle is implied. Here is Darius the victor.

           But where else does he get his legitimacy from?

1.      His relationship with Cyrus and their shared ancestry.

2.      His relationship with the Persian god, Ahuramazda.

Darius and Cyrus: kin?

On the Bisitun Inscription, Darius says:

           “My father is Hystaspes; the father of Hystaspes was Arsames; the father of Arsames was Ariaramnes; the father of Ariaramnes was Teispes; the father of Teispes was Achaemenes. King Darius says: That is why we are called Achaemenids; from deep in the past, we have been noble; from deep in the past has our dynasty been royal. King Darius says: Eight of my dynasty were kings before me; I am the ninth. Nine in succession we have been kings.”

           Darius is quite vague on his claim to the throne. The only member of his family who was a Persian king was Teispes, his great-great grandfather, whose name appears in Cyrus the Great’s ancestry as the first king of Anshan. What’s interesting though is that Cyrus makes no reference to Achaemenes in his own list of royal ancestors. Who is Achaemenes therefore and did he really exist? Scholars seem to doubt it. 

Professor of Ancient History at the University of Cardiff, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, in his book The Persians, says ‘Darius was trying to force bogus links between his own family and the line of Cyrus… At best, it is possible that Darius might have been a member of an extended Achaemenid clan which shared some common blood with Cyrus’ dynasty, but if this was indeed the case, then the connection between Darius’ family and Cyrus’ lineage was a very distant one and Darius’ claim on the kingship was extremely spurious.’

           So why create his ancestor? Legitimacy. Darius’ accession to the throne was not a smooth one. As he proclaims on the Bisitun Inscription, and as Greek historian Herodotus writes, he faced a series of rebellions at the start of his reign. He wasn’t the son of the previous King, Cambyses, and therefore he had to create a link between himself and the incredibly successful Cyrus the Great to prove he was a legitimate choice.

           This propagandist re-writing of history is seen not only on the Bisitun Inscription, but even at the palace of Cyrus of Pasargadae. Darius carved trilingual cuneiform inscriptions into the stonework here, announcing in the voice of Cyrus: “I am Cyrus the king, an Achaemenid.”

Since we don’t know of Cyrus relating himself to an Achaemenes, and since these inscriptions were carved in after the palace was made, it is likely they were set up by Darius to further forge this close relationship. He wanted it to look as though Cyrus had linked himself with Achaemenes, so that Darius’ links to him implied their shared ancestry.  

Darius and Cyrus: pals for life?

           While the epigraphic evidence from the start of Darius’ reign stresses a link between Darius and Cyrus, his actions at Persepolis might suggest something different. It was previously thought that Persepolis was chosen as a site for a palace entirely by Darius; that he created this palace here out of nothing, setting the foundations on empty land. But recent excavations have unearthed a Babylonian-style gateway at Tol-e Ajori, very near to Persepolis, which dates to either Cyrus the Great’s reign, or that of his son Cambyses. This suggests that far from choosing the site of his own accord, Darius is building somewhere where Cyrus had been before.

The plot thickens, however. We might expect Darius to pay homage to this site of his supposed family, the previous king and founder of the Persian Empire, incorporating it into his building works, but he does almost the opposite. He tore it down. Next to it, on a cleared plain in the Marv Dasht, he erected an enormous platform terrace which dwarfed Cyrus’ gateway and from which, as Professor Llelwellyn-Jones says, he ‘could literally look down on Persia’s founding father.’ Why would he do this? Was he jealous? Was he so confident in his rule and position now that he no longer needed Cyrus’ legitimacy? Or was it purely for the aesthetics of the site and therefore a practical decision? We simply can’t be certain, but it does suggest that his links to and dependency on Cyrus were not consistent.

Conclusion

Darius was a very cunning and thoughtful propagandist. He knew how he wanted to portray himself, when he needed to rely on others, and when he could afford to stand on his own two feet. The man who ascended the throne, put down countless rebellions, and maintained power for thirty-five years: he was clearly very good at public relations!

           While the Bisitun Inscription showed his legitimacy stemmed from Cyrus and from Ahuramazda, I think it was the link with Ahuramazda that was the more significant of the two. This lasted the full length of his reign. Countless times and in countless contexts, the two are linked. The Daiva inscription records Darius’ kingship was due to the god: “A great god is Ahura Mazda, who created this earth, who created the sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king over many, one lord over many.” At Persepolis, Darius inscribed: “It was Ahuramazda’s desire…that this palace should be built.” At Susa, Darius stated “Ahuramada is mine; I am Ahuramazda’s.” It seems that unlike his relationship with Cyrus, Darius’ dependence on Ahuramazda was consistently and constantly crucial to his reign.