From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Darius
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Predecessor
| Bardiya
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Successor
| Xerxes I
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Born
| 550 BCE
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Died
| October 486 BCE (aged 64)
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Religion
| Zoroastrian
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Darius the Great
(c. 549 BC? 486/485 BC) was the son of
Hystaspes
and
Persian
Shah
of
Iran
from 522 BC to 485 BC. After Darius became
Shah
of
Persia
, he divided the
Persian Empire
into twenty provinces, and appointed a governor for each province. He introduced golden coins and developed commerce within the empire and trade without. He tried to conquer
Greece
and subjugate the
Greeks
in the first
Greco?Persian war
but lost at the
Battle of Marathon
.
Darius allowed the
Jews
to rebuild the
Temple of Solomon
in
Jerusalem
. He also built many temples in
Egypt
. He crowned himself as the
Pharaoh of Egypt
. The largest building that was built by Darius, is the new capital of
Persepolis
, near
Pasargadae
. Darius died in Persepolis. His
tomb
was cut into a rock face near Persepolis. After his death,
Xerxes
became the Shah of Iran.