Darius I
The Persian king who seized the throne in 522 BC and organised the empire. He confirmed Cyrus’s decree for the Jerusalem temple, which was completed in his sixth year.
Darius, son of Hystaspes, was not a son of Cyrus the Great. By his own account he killed a usurper in the autumn of 522 BC, took the kingship and spent the next year putting down revolts (Behistun Inscription i.1–15; iv.52). Herodotus says that he reigned thirty-six years and died while preparing campaigns against Egypt and Athens, leaving the throne to his son Xerxes (Herodotus, Histories 7.4–5).
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah date their messages by his years (Haggai 1:1) (Zechariah 1:1). According to Ezra, when his governor questioned the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, Darius had the archives searched, found Cyrus’s decree and ordered the work to be finished at royal expense (Ezra 6:1–12). The book of Daniel also has a “Darius the Mede”, who receives the kingdom of Babylon and is named before Cyrus (Daniel 5:31; 6:28). No source independent of Daniel knows such a king.
In the timeline
- March 515 BC, estimated dateThe Second Temple Is Completed
After years of delay the returned exiles, urged on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah and backed by a decree of Darius, finish rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem. It is dedicated in the spring of 515 BC.
Primary sources
Histories
- Herodotus, Histories 7.4–5penelope.uchicago.edu