Lies

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The Persian Great King Dareios I described the nine personalities against whom he had fought and asserted his rule over the Achaemenid Empire within a year (522-521 BC) as kings of lies . Darius I had staged the fight against them in the famous Behistun inscription commissioned by him for propaganda purposes.

background

In 522 BC Darius I had overthrown his relative Bardiya from the throne of the Persian great kings in order to ascend it himself. In the Behistun inscription, he justified this violent overthrow with the fact that the identity of the alleged Bardiya was actually hidden behind the identity of the magician Gaumata , who in a case of identity theft turned out to be a real Bardiya - which actually happened months before the death of his predecessor, Cambyses II . died - spent and occupied the throne of the Persians. Dareios and six Persians conspiring with him had revealed his true identity and killed him in a palace revolt. Thereupon Darius was proclaimed as the next descendant of the Achaemenid dynasty as the new Great King.

According to Darius, Gaumata was the first "king of lies" whom he got rid of. However, the coup led to uprisings in large parts of the Persian Empire, in which the peoples who had been subject to the Persians in the years before wanted to free themselves from their rule. At the head of these uprisings were eight men who had proclaimed themselves kings by posing as descendants of the old ruling houses of their peoples, which the Persians had previously destroyed. One of them even claimed to be the real Bardiya. According to Dareios, however, these claims were based on lies, as in his opinion these rebellions could only be sustained by the principle of lies ( old Persian: drauga ), by means of which the rebel leaders could incite the people against legitimate rule. In nineteen battles until December 521 BC Darius and his military leaders had BC suppressed the uprisings and killed the "kings of lies", after which he was the undisputed ruler of the Persian Empire. But assuming that Darius I 522 BC BC had actually overthrown the real Bardiya, these uprisings are likely to have been a reaction to his unlawful usurpation to the throne.

Fight against the nine kings of lies

The Behistun inscription with relief. Darius I can be seen here as the third figure from the left, setting foot on the corpse of Gaumata. Lined up in front of him are the eight other "kings of lies" whom he defeated and now judges over them.
From left to right there are:
1. ššina
2. Nidintu-Bel "Nebuchadnezzar III."
3. Phraortes "Khšathrita"
4. Martiya "Ummaniš"
5. Tritantaichmes
6. Vahyazdata "Bardiya"
7. Aracha "Nebuchadnezzar IV."
8 . Frâda

The "kings of lies" are immortalized on the rock of Behistun in a relief representation (see picture). While Darius I has set his left foot on the body of Gaumata, the eight rebels stand in front of him, tied up to be judged. The Persian king describes the fight in the inscription below.

ššina

ššina was the first rebel leader who, shortly after the overthrow , placed himself at the head of a rising of the Elamites and proclaimed himself King of Elam. But already in December 522 BC He was beaten and captured by a Persian army. He was personally slain by Darius.

Nidintu-Bel "Nebuchadnezzar III."

At about the same time, Nidintu-Bel had passed himself off as the alleged son of Nabonid in Babylon and rose to be king under the name "Nebuchadnezzar III". On the banks of the Tigris he was first defeated by Darius I on the 26th day of the month Tagššiyādiya (December 13, 522 BC). On the 2nd day of the month of Anāmaka (December 18, 522 BC), the second decisive defeat occurred at Zazannu at Sippar . Nidintu-Bel fled to Babylon, where he was captured and executed by Darius I.

Martiya "Ummaniš"

The absence of the king in Babylon had been used by rebels in several Iranian provinces to raise insurrections. So again in Elam, where Martiya proclaimed himself king under the name "Ummaniš". Dareios I moved in the spring of 521 BC. From Babylon against him and killed him after a short fight.

Phraortes "Khšathrita"

He then turned to media , where Phraortes had passed himself off as a descendant of Kyaxares II and proclaimed himself king as "Khšathrita". He had already been defeated on the 27th day of the month of Anāmaka (January 12, 521 BC) by the general Hydarnes near Maruš south of Yazd , but was able to flee and continue the rebellion. On the 25th day of the month of Adukanaiša (May 8, 521 BC) Darius I was able to win a second time decisively over Phraortes at Kunduruš near Bisutun , who was captured on the run and crucified in Ekbatana .

At the same time, Darius I had charged two of his followers with the suppression of an uprising in Armenia , which by the end of the month of Thūravāhara had again subjected Armenia after several battles.

Tritantaichmes

The Median revolt was continued by Tritantaichmes, who also posed as a descendant of Kyaxares II and proclaimed himself king in Sagartien . He was born in the summer of 521 BC. Defeated by the general Takhmaspada and crucified by Darius I in Arbela .

Shortly afterwards, Hystaspes , the father of Darius, put down the uprisings in Parthia and Hyrcania by the first day of the month of Garmapada.

Vahyazdata "Bardiya"

Then Darius I sent a general against Vahyazdata, who already in December 522 BC. In whom Persis was raised to king when Dareios was still in Babylon. Like Gaumata before him, Vahyazdata also claimed to be the real Bardiya. In December 522 BC He tried to install a follower in the province of Arachosia as governor, but the Darius-loyal satrap Vivana was able to repel him. On the 7th day of the month of Viyaxana (February 21, 521 BC) Vivana was victorious in a second battle and was able to besiege and kill the counter-satrap in the Aršada castle. Vahyazdata himself was defeated for the first time on the 12th day of the month Thūravāhara (May 24, 521 BC) by the general of Darius. He was able to escape first, but was beaten again on the 5th day of the month of Garmapada (July 14, 521 BC) on the Praga mountain and taken prisoner. Darius had him crucified in the Persian city of Uvadaicaya.

Aracha "Nebuchadnezzar IV."

The arduous struggle in Persis had encouraged the people of Babylon to a second revolt, at the head of which the native Armenian Aracha stood, passed himself off as the son of Nabonidus and proclaimed himself king as "Nebuchadnezzar IV." Darius sent his follower Intaphrenes against him , who beat him on the 22nd day of the month of Markasanaš (November 27, 521 BC) and took him prisoner. He was born in Babylon in December 522 BC. Crucified by the meanwhile arrived Darius.

Frada

While Darius I was in Babylon, a certain Frâda rose to be king in Margiana . He was put to battle, defeated and killed by the loyal satrap of Bactria , Dadaršiš, on the 23rd day of the month of Āššiyādiya (December 28, 521 BC). He was the last of the "kings of lies" who rose up against Darius I.

More opponents

In addition to the nine kings of lies, Darius I had to assert himself against two other opponents. In Elam in the winter of 521 BC. Chr. Atamaita brought to the king, but as early as the summer of the 520th BC could be defeated. He is not immortalized in the relief of Behistun, just as he was not counted by Darius to the kings of lies. Then, in his third year of rulership (520/519 BC), Darius led a campaign against the Scythian king Skuncha , which was subsequently inserted in the Behistun relief behind the eight kings of lies .

literature

  • Pierre Briant : From Cyrus to Alexander. A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake 2002, pp. 114-128.
  • MA Dandamaev: A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire. BRILL, 1989, pp. 114-131

Remarks

  1. ^ Behistun-Inscription (DB), plate 4, §52 in: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian-Grammar Texts Lexicon . American Oriental Society, 1953.
  2. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 4, §54. See Briant, pp. 125-126.
  3. ↑ See Briant, p. 125.
  4. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 1, §16.
  5. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 1, §17.
  6. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 1, §18.
  7. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 1, §19.
  8. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §20.
  9. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §22.
  10. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §23.
  11. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §24.
  12. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §25.
  13. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §31–32.
  14. ↑ Behistun-Inscription (DB), plate 2, §26-30.
  15. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §33.
  16. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 2, §35 – panel 3, §36.
  17. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §40.
  18. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §45.
  19. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §46.
  20. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §41.
  21. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §42.
  22. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §43.
  23. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §49.
  24. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 3, §50.
  25. ↑ Behistun-inscription (DB), plate 3, §38.
  26. ^ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 5, §71.
  27. ↑ Behistun inscription (DB), panel 5, §74.