Darius I Seizes the Persian Throne (522 BC): Gaumata Affair

Darius I seized the Persian throne on 29 September 522 BC, when he and six nobles killed the man then ruling as king in a fortress in Media. Darius claimed this man was Gaumata, a Magian priest impersonating Cyrus the Great’s son Bardiya. His coup was followed by a year of revolts across the empire, which he crushed in a series of campaigns. Whether Darius overthrew an impostor or murdered the true heir is one of the great puzzles of ancient Persian history.

Background: the sons of Cyrus

Cyrus the Great died in 530 BC and was succeeded by his elder son Cambyses II. Cyrus’s younger son, Bardiya (called Smerdis by the Greeks), held a powerful position in the eastern provinces.

Cambyses spent the years from 525 BC in Egypt, which he conquered after the Battle of Pelusium. During his long absence, discontent grew in Persia and elsewhere, perhaps because of heavy demands for troops and taxes.

Darius’s account

The main source is the Behistun Inscription, carved on a cliff in western Iran on Darius’s orders and written in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian. It tells the story as Darius wanted it told.

According to Darius, Cambyses had secretly killed his brother Bardiya before leaving for Egypt, and the people did not know of the murder. Then a Magian priest named Gaumata rebelled, claiming to be Bardiya. Darius dates the start of the revolt to 14 Viyakhna, or 11 March 522 BC, and says Gaumata seized the kingship on 9 Garmapada, about 1 July 522 BC.

Cambyses, the inscription says, then “died his own death”, a phrase usually understood to mean a natural or accidental death rather than murder. Herodotus says he died in Syria of a wound to the thigh from his own sword, received while mounting his horse.

Darius says that no one dared oppose Gaumata, who killed many who had known the real Bardiya. He then describes how, with a few men, he killed Gaumata on 10 Bagayadish, 29 September 522 BC, at the fortress of Sikayauvatish in the district of Nisaya in Media, and took the kingship.

The Seven

Darius names six helpers: Intaphernes, Otanes, Gobryas, Hydarnes, Megabyzus and Ardumanish. Herodotus gives almost the same list but has Aspathines in place of Ardumanish.

Herodotus adds colourful details. Otanes became suspicious because the king never appeared in public, and his daughter Phaidyme, one of the royal wives, discovered that the man had no ears, which had been cut off as a punishment. Herodotus also describes a debate among the conspirators on whether Persia should become a democracy, an oligarchy or a monarchy, and says Darius won the throne through a trick involving his groom and his horse’s neighing at sunrise. These stories reflect Greek ideas and are not considered reliable.

Revolts across the empire

Darius’s seizure of power was followed by widespread rebellion. According to Behistun, Darius fought 19 battles and captured nine rebel kings within about a year. Rebels included:

• Elam: Assina, and later Martiya, both proclaimed king.
• Babylonia: Nidintu-Bel, who called himself Nebuchadnezzar III, and later Arakha, who took the name Nebuchadnezzar IV.
• Media: Fravartish (Phraortes), who claimed descent from the Median king Cyaxares.
• Persia: Vahyazdata, who also claimed to be Bardiya.
• Other regions: Rebels in Sagartia, Margiana, Armenia and Parthia.

Darius and his generals defeated each rebellion in turn. Many captured leaders were mutilated and executed publicly as a warning. By late 521 BC the empire was largely secure. The relief at Behistun shows Darius with his foot on Gaumata, facing a line of bound rebel leaders roped together at the neck.

Key people

• Darius I: Son of Hystaspes, born around 550 BC. Herodotus says he had served Cambyses in Egypt as a spear-bearer, a position of trust at court.
• Bardiya (Smerdis): Younger son of Cyrus the Great. Whether he was killed by Cambyses before 522 BC, or was the king killed by Darius, is the central question of the episode.
• Gaumata: The Magian priest who, according to Darius, impersonated Bardiya. The Magi were a priestly group of Median origin.
• Cambyses II: Elder son of Cyrus, king from 530 BC and conqueror of Egypt, who died in 522 BC without a son.
• Otanes: A leading Persian noble, prominent in Herodotus’s version as the first to suspect the impostor.

Propaganda in stone

Behistun was not only a record but a political tool. Darius ordered that copies of the text be sent throughout the empire. Fragments of a Babylonian copy have been found at Babylon, and an Aramaic version on papyrus survives from the Jewish military colony at Elephantine in southern Egypt.

The inscription repeatedly calls the rebels liars and links rebellion with “the Lie”, the opposite of truth and order in Persian religious thought. Darius presents himself as the king chosen by Ahuramazda, the great god of the Persians, to restore truth. This framing made his opponents not only rebels but enemies of divine order, and it shaped how later generations understood his rise.

The relief that accompanies the text was itself revised during carving. A figure of a Scythian rebel, Skunkha, was added at the end of the line of captives after a campaign of around 519 BC, showing that the monument was updated as Darius’s victories continued.

An impostor or the real Bardiya?

Many modern historians doubt Darius’s version. They point out that the story is told almost entirely by the winner, and that the claim that Cambyses secretly murdered his brother, with no one noticing for years, is hard to believe.

Darius belonged to a side branch of the Achaemenid family. His father, Hystaspes, was still alive and, according to Behistun, commanded Persian forces in Parthia during the revolts. Darius claimed a shared ancestor with Cyrus, Achaemenes, and quickly married Cyrus’s daughters Atossa and Artystone, as well as Parmys, a daughter of Bardiya. These steps suggest he needed to strengthen a weak claim to the throne.

Other historians accept that Darius’s account may contain truth. Herodotus, writing independently a few generations later, tells broadly the same story of a Magian impostor, although he probably relied on Persian traditions shaped by Darius’s own version. The question cannot be settled from the surviving evidence.

Consequences

Darius ruled until 486 BC and became one of the most important Persian kings. He reorganised the empire into satrapies with fixed tribute, introduced the gold daric coin, built roads and founded Persepolis. He also campaigned into Europe, leading eventually to the Persian invasion of Greece and the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.

Timeline

• 530 BC: Cyrus the Great dies; Cambyses II becomes king.
• 525 BC: Cambyses conquers Egypt.
• 522 BC, 11 March: Revolt of the man Darius calls Gaumata begins.
• 522 BC, about 1 July: He is recognised as king, ruling as Bardiya.
• 522 BC, summer: Cambyses dies on his way home from Egypt.
• 522 BC, 29 September: Darius and six nobles kill the king in Media.
• 522-521 BC: Darius suppresses revolts in Babylonia, Elam, Media, Persia and elsewhere.
• c. 520 BC: The Behistun Inscription is carved.

Why it matters

Darius’s coup founded a line of kings that ruled Persia until Alexander the Great. His version of events, carved at Behistun, is one of the earliest examples of a ruler publishing official history to justify his power. The doubts surrounding it remind readers that ancient royal records need to be read as carefully as any political statement.