Darius I and the Consolidation of the Empire

Darius I, a member of a collateral branch of the Achaemenid family, seized the throne in 522 BCE after overthrowing the usurper Gaumata. The Behistun inscription, carved into a cliff face in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian, narrates in detail his official version of these events, and records the numerous rebellions he had to suppress across different parts of the empire during his first years of rule.