The last time we produced a video of Persian history, it was during the protests in defense of Iranian women -- Women, Life, Freedom! This time, the video is being released against the backdrop of war in Iran. May the people of Iran and the wider Middle East find the peace they deserve. Darius the Great was one of the greatest emperors in dynastic Persian history. His achievements grew the Achaemenid Empire into its largest and most successful era. But it did not come easily. The son of a minor noble, Darius had no legitimate claim to the throne of Cyrus and Cambyses II. To him, it was his daring and his decisive action (with a massive helping of divine favor from Ahura Mazda and the other gods) that allowed him to seize the moment and rule from Persepolis for 38 years. He believed that the Behistun Inscription would declare to the world that this was destiny and he was a humble, yet deadly, servant of fate. But in hindsight, it reads more as a very insecure declaration of a man who never sat easily on the throne. In his first year, Darius fought nineteen battles to secure the empire. And these were not small spats, but massive conflicts against armies of hundreds of thousands of men. He put down multiple rebellions from Media, Babylonia, and his own Persia, claiming that he had toppled nine kings. These are the figures he leads in a halter to their doom in the Behistun Inscription, saving the worst fate for Gaumata the Magian pretender, who called himself Smerdis and history recalls as Bardiya, the second son of Cyrus. It is his prone body that Darius stands upon. Ultimately, the greatest worth of the Behistun Inscription is linguistic. By writing out his claims in Old Persian, Elamite (Susian), and Babylonian, this priceless artifact preserved them after they had been forgotten, and served as a kind of Rosetta Stone for each, allowing us to decypher the forgotten languages. Please join us for this fascinating declaration of heaven and war in the ancient near east! To support the SAMA channel, become a Patron and make history matter! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/The_Study_of_... Donate directly to PayPal: https://paypal.me/NickBarksdale !!!!!!!!!!Above and beyond all -- visit this link to the gofundme for the family of our dear departed founder Nick Barksdale!!!!!!!!!! https://gofund.me/7fc2764dd