Assassination, conspiracy and cover-ups - what more could we want in a story about Imperial
succession? The First Persian Empire was one of the greatest that ever existed. An expertly
organised economy, a relatively tolerant and lenient provincial system, along with other
groundbreaking advances in human civilisation, was combined with some of the most scandalous
and bloody court politics in the history of the world. Much of ancient Persia’s prominence
and prosperity was made possible by one man, perhaps the most competent ruler Persia ever
produced - Darius I the Great. Welcome to our video on Darius the Great and the story
of how he rose to become the King of Kings.
The Neo-Assyrian Empire had dominated the ancient near-east for three-hundred years,
but its final destruction in 612 BC prompted the emergence of a multipolar geopolitical
situation in the region. Four major powers jostled for the remnants of Assyrian glory:
Babylon, Egypt, Lydia and the Median Empire, but they would all soon be eclipsed by another
figure from east of the Zagros mountains. The grandson of Astyages, King of Media, whose
name was Cyrus, razed the province of Anshan in revolt against his overlord. Three years
later, in 550BC, Cyrus managed to decisively defeat Astyages and brought the Medes into
his rising Persian empire. Marching his conquering army west, Cyrus - who was soon to be called
Cyrus the Great - then defeated the Lydian King Croesus after capturing Sardis in 547.
Finally, the Mesopotamian power of Babylon was crushed, and the city itself was captured
in 539. Due to his peaceful and humane conduct during the city’s seizure, Cyrus has been
revered ever since by Iranians as the inventor of human rights. After spending the following
period administering his new empire, this ‘king of the universe’, as he was now
known, passed away around 530BC. How this monumental figure in world history died is
variable in the sources. Herodotus states that the king was killed in battle with the
ancient Scythian queen Tomyris, while Xenophon believed he died in his sleep.
“The following is what was done by me after I became king. A son of Cyrus, named Cambyses,
one of our dynasty, was king here before me. That Cambyses had a brother, Bardiya by name,
of the same mother and the same father as Cambyses. Afterwards, Cambyses slew this Bardiya.
When Cambyses slew Bardiya, it was not known unto the people that Bardiya was slain.”
Before his death, Cyrus had taken measures to mitigate the traditional dangers of succession
in monarchy. In order to secure his dynasty, the first King of Kings fathered three daughters
and, more crucially, two sons. His elder son, Cambyses, was appointed the crown prince,
to inherit the newly won empire after Cyrus’ death. The younger son, Bardiya, was appointed
governor of Bactria, the largest and most important of the eastern satrapies. Moreover,
he was granted additional privileges compared to a regular, non-royal satrap, being exempt
from the payment of taxation or tribute to the central authority.
These measures were clearly taken with the intention of neutralising any insurrectionist
ambition from Bardiya, but they could equally have intensified such an urge. Cyrus’ plans
for the world of the future were clear to all. Cambyses would sit on the throne while
Bardiya would be his loyal lieutenant in the eastern satrapies. To hammer the point home
even further, Cambyses was married to two of his own sisters. After all, as historian
Tom Holland states in his book Persian Fire: “Who worthier of Cyrus’ daughters than
Cyrus’ son?”. Nevertheless, after the great king’s corpse was interred in a sarcophagus
of gold at Pasargadae, Bardiya set to establishing himself in the east, while the incumbent king
Cambyses marched on the fourth and final great regional power: Egypt.
Using an attempted deception by the Pharaoh Amasis II as a casus belli - (he had attempted
to send another girl to him in place of his daughter, who Cambyses wished to be his mistress),
the Persian king advanced into Egypt via a combined land and sea attack. This was a stunning
success, and the Persians decisively defeated Amasis’ son, Psammeneitus, at Pelusium in
525. After subjugating the Egyptians, Cambyses
marched south into Nubia. While attempting to subdue the African kingdoms there, his
army was gradually destroyed by a lack of provisions and the hostile desert conditions.
Weakened as it was, this ‘lost army of Cambyses’ was buried in the desert by sandstorms, where
it supposedly remains to this day. This failure strained the Persian king’s
mind to breaking point, and he began to descend into paranoia and madness. Matters became
even worse when Cambyses entered Memphis to the jubilous celebrations of local people
and their rulers, who were performing a religious festival in honour of the god Apis. Seeing
the revelry, the half-mad Persian king was furious, believing the celebrations were actually
prompted by his army’s misfortunes in the southern desert. With this in his mind, Cambyses
ordered the sacred Apis bull brought to him and then stabbed it in the thigh, killing
the creature which was revered as a representation of Apis in the Egyptian religion. To top his
actions off, he also executed the leaders of Memphis who had, or so he thought, instigated
such joy at his expense.
"There was a certain man, a Magus [maygus], Gaumâta by name, who raised a rebellion in
Paishiyauvada, in a mountain called Arakadriš. On the fourteenth day of the month Viyaxana
did he rebel. He lied to the people, saying: 'I am Bardiya, the son of Cyrus, the brother
of Cambyses.'”
Descending ever further into paranoia and violence, Cambyses now ordered that his brother
Bardiya be executed. Why? The king had a dream in which he saw Bardiya sitting on the throne,
and so he feared an attempt at usurpation. After sending representatives to do the deed
in secret, the younger of Cyrus’ sons was killed, either on a hunting trip or by drowning
in the Red Sea. An almost comical series of typically insane
actions followed this assassination. The king wished to marry his sister against Persian
tradition, but then personally killed her for sympathising with the dead Bardiya. Then,
after this ‘mad king’ subsequently had some of the most prominent Persian officials
buried alive, Croesus - the former king of Lydia and now an advisor to the great kings
- chided him for it. Getting angry at this backchat, Cambyses then tried to kill Bardiya
[Croesus?] with a bow and arrow, but Croesus managed to escape.
After sending assassins to do the job for him, who actually ended up protecting the
august Croesus, Cambyses changed his mind and ordered that his advisor be spared. He
was happy that the act had not been carried out, nevertheless he executed those men who
had delayed. It is at this point, as the great Persian
king descended further into madness in Egypt, that two Magi brothers rebelled against the
throne in Persia proper, one of whom was said to look like the dead Bardiya. The insurrection
of this lookalike ‘magus’, known as Gaumata, began on March 11th, 522, and Babylonian tablets
began to be dated to the reign of the false king.
Heralds were sent from the new pretender king across the empire, proclaiming a new reign
and informing the provinces that tribute and levies would not be extracted for three years
under ‘Bardiya’. The people, who did not know of the real Bardiya’s death at the
hands of insane Cambyses, began to pledge their loyalty to the man whom they believed
was Cyrus’ surviving son. One of Gaumata’s emissaries made his way
to Egypt, appearing before the army commanded by Cambyses. This man boldly told the soldiers
that they must not obey Cambyses anymore, but Bardiya instead. The army did not heed
this command, but the king learned from this herald that it was not ‘Bardiya’ himself
who gave the order, but instead a man named Patizeithes, the second magus, and one who
had been left in charge of the royal household while Cambyses was in Egypt.
Realising he now had a revolt to quell, the king hastily jumped on his horse to lead the
army home. However, as Cambyses mounted his steed, the scabbard slipped from a sword on
his lap and the sharp blade consequently wounded him. In a karmic twist, he was wounded in
the same place that he had stabbed the Apis bull, in the thigh. The wound quickly became
infected and rotten, and Cambyses realised that he was going to die. Only now did the
mad king realise that his dream of Bardiya’s seizure of the throne had been true, but only
of the imposter magus Gaumata instead. Realising he had killed his brother for no
reason, the king wept and urged his highborn Persian attendants to take back the empire
in an emotional scene, during which he seems to have regained some sanity. After this,
he died, having reigned for eight years. During these final hours, one man who had notably
been at the king’s side was his ‘lance-bearer’ - Darius.
For eight months after Cambyses’ untimely death, Gaumata ruled as a pretender king and
it seemed as though he would get away with it. On the eighth month however, the magus’
deceptions were discovered. A Persian aristocrat, known as Otanes, was
of high standing and extremely wealthy - a member of the empire’s ruling class. His
daughter Phaedyne had married Cambyses and was now wed to Gaumata, along with the majority
of Cambyses’ former wives. Suspecting that this king ‘Bardiya’ was not who he said,
Otanes asked his daughter to check the ears of her husband when she occupied the royal
bed again. This was because he knew that Cambyses had removed the ears of Gaumata years before,
and this would still be the case even IF he looked like Bardiya in other ways.
When Otanes received confirmation that the man’s ears had indeed been cut, he decided
to act. He could not do so alone, so he approached two other highborn Persians whom he felt comfortable
trusting. These were Aspathines and Gobryas. Realising they would need additional help,
the three conspirators each recruited their most trusted acquaintance into the fellowship.
Otanes brought Intaphrenes, Gobryas called upon Megabyzus and Aspathines trusted in Hydarnes.
Finally, a seventh man entered the conspiracy seemingly out of the blue - the aforementioned
Darius. He was trusted due to his lofty status as Cambyses II’s lance-bearer and the fact
that his father - Hystaspes, was a well-regarded satrap of Persia. The Conspiracy of the Seven
was now in motion.
“There were none who dared to act against Gaumata, the Magus, until I came! Then I prayed
to Ahura Mazda; Ahura Mazda brought me help. On the tenth day of the month Bâgayâdiš
I, with a few men, slew that Gaumâta, the Magus, and the chief men who were his followers.”
- Behistun Inscription
During the first meeting of The Seven, a debate broke out between Otanes and Darius regarding
what path to take in the execution of their plan to remove the magi from power. Otanes
argued for restraint and to wait until more information emerged, and until the group had
more allies. In contrast, Darius urged immediate action, arguing that only evil would come
of delay and that, for monetary gain, somebody would probably betray them to the magus king
if too many learned of their plan. Acquiescing to Darius’ point of view, Otanes
asked him how the group would gain entry into the fortress so that they could assail the
two magi. Darius argued that due to the The Seven’s lofty status as the very highest
aristocrats and leaders of the Persian empire, the guards would not dare to refuse them entry,
partly through reverence and partly through fear. Moreover, Darius would inform them of
a letter he had been instructed to give from his illustrious father to the king. This plan
persuaded the conspirators that they would succeed, and they all came over to Darius’
point of view. With their confidence raised, the Seven set off for the fortress of Sikyavautish,
from which the magus ruled.
When the group approached the fortress gate, Darius’ plan came into effect immediately.
The gate guards, out of respect for the chief men of Persia and lacking knowledge as to
their purpose, allowed them entry. Stage one of the plan was complete without a hitch.
Upon entering the courtyard, the conspirators were approached by a gathering of royal eunuchs,
who asked the oligarchs why they had come and chided the gate guards for allowing them
in. It was at that moment that the Seven aristocrats drew their daggers and attacked the eunuchs,
quickly stabbing those men who barred their path and progressing into the apartments where
the magi pretenders Gaumata and Patizeithes were sat talking.
Inside, the two men had heard the commotion with the eunuchs and armed themselves; Gaumata
with a bow and Patizeithes with his spear. During the ensuing fight, Gaumata was immediately
on the back foot due to only having a bow in close combat. However, his companion struck
Aspathines in the thigh and stabbed Intaphrenes in the eye, resisting fiercely.
Nevertheless, Gaumata began to flee from the fight and went to close the door on his pursuers,
but Darius and Gobryas barrelled after him into the darkened chamber. Gobryas tackled
the false Bardiya to the ground, and the two began grappling together in the darkness of
the room. Darius stood idle with blade in hand, to which Gobryas asked why he did not
strike - Darius replied “For fear of stabbing you!”. His companion told Darius to strike
anyway, and so he did. The false king was killed, while Gobryas was uninjured. The Conspiracy
of the Seven had been a stunning success.
I restored that which had been taken away, as it was in the days of old. This did I by
the grace of Ahuramazda, I labored until I had established our dynasty in its place,
as in the days of old; I labored, by the grace of Ahura Mazda, so that Gaumâta, the Magus,
did not dispossess our house.
When the Persians heard what had been done inside the fortress at Sikyavautish, and how
the magi had tricked them, they followed Darius’ example and slew all the magi they could find.
Five days after the act had been done, a council was held between the conspirators to discuss
the future of the state. Otanes argued for a democracy, Megabyzus for oligarchy and Darius
for the continuation of monarchy. When all the arguments were given, four of the seven
were persuaded by Darius’ point of view and, in the subsequent contest for who would
become the great king, Darius gained victory by a trick of his own.
He was crowned Darius I, King of Kings and all was well in the world once again… Or
so Darius would have us all believe. Since the very beginning of this tale, only the
words of Darius himself have been heard - his version of events. For almost two millennia,
this story was accepted without question, but modern times have given us new sources
and new methods. Using these, it is possible to tell that Darius, that Persian who supposedly
hated lies above all else, might just have perpetuated once of the greatest deceptions
in all history.
Consider for a moment the possibility that Cambyses was not insane, and that he did not
kill the Apis bull, as newly released records show he did not. In addition, consider that
Cambyses did not kill his brother and it too was a lie. If Bardiya had not perished at
the hands of his elder brother, just how did he die? Finally, consider the fate of ‘Gaumata
the magus’ and entertain the idea that maybe, instead of being a fake Bardiya, that he was
in fact the real Bardiya. It seems increasingly likely that it was Bardiya - the rightful
heir to the throne, that the conspirators killed that day in Sikyavautish.
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