What is Darius the Great?
{{Infobox monarch |name=Darius |succession=Shah of Persia |predecessor=Bardiya |image=Darius the Great.png |successor=[[Xerxes I]] |birth_date=550 BCE |death_date=October 486 BCE (aged 64) |religion=[[Zoroastrian]] }} '''Darius the Great''' (c. 549 BC– 486/485 BC) was the son of [[Hystaspes]] and [[Persian people|Persian]] [[Shah]] of [[Achaemenid Empire|Iran]] from 522 BC to 485 BC. After Darius became [[Shah]] of [[Achaemenid Empire|Persia]], he divided the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian Empire]] into twenty provinces, and appointed a governor for each province. He introduced golden coins and developed commerce within the empire and trade without. He tried to conquer [[Greece]] and subjugate the [[Greek people|Greeks]] in the first [[Greco–Persian wars|Greco–Persian war]] but lost at the [[Battle of Marathon]]. Darius allowed the [[Jew]]s to rebuild the [[Temple of Solomon]] in [[Jerusalem]]. He also built many temples in [[Egypt]]. He crowned himself as the ''[[Pharaoh]] of Egypt''. The largest building that was built by Darius, is the new capital of [[Persepolis]], near [[Pasargadae]]. Darius died in Persepolis. His [[tomb]] was cut into a rock face near Persepolis. After his death, [[Xerxes]] became the Shah of Iran. [[Category:Iranian people]] [[Category:Shahs of Iran]]