Darius and the Achaemenid system
Satrapies, a standardised coinage, a road service and an empire of twenty nations.
- When
- —
- Duration
- 22 years
- Known to
- ± 5 years
- Era
- Iron Age, Holocene
Darius I seizes the throne in 522 BCE and organises the empire into some twenty satrapies with fixed tribute, issues the gold daric, standardises weights, and builds the Royal Road from Sardis to Susa — 2,700 kilometres covered by relay riders in a week. Persepolis, begun in 518 BCE, is a ceremonial capital whose reliefs show delegations from every subject nation bringing gifts, depicted as participants rather than captives.