Darius the Great: Tomb Inscriptions

The Persian king Darius I (r. 521–486 BCE) is perhaps best known for his western military campaigns, which became the main theme of Herodotus’s Histories. Although Darius successfully quelled an Ionian Greek revolt on the west coast of Anatolia (present-day Turkey; 500–494 BCE), he encountered resistance from the Greek Athenians, who had come to protect their interests on the Anatolian mainland. They burned Sardis, the Persian administrative capital in the region. Darius responded by sending a reconnaissance force in 490 BCE to the Attic Peninsula of Greece, landing at the Bay of Marathon, where a combined Athenian and Plataean force routed the Persians. The Athenian victory became a symbol of Greek liberty, as they had repelled a foreign tyrant. However, to the Persians, the battle was probably considered a minor setback. Darius died before a full-scale invasion could be prepared, a task that became the responsibility of his son, Xerxes I, who suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Greeks (480–479 BCE).