大流士一世(前550～西元前486年)

Darius I

别名大流士大帝（Darius the Great）。

波斯国王（西元前522～486年）。安息（Parthia）省长希斯塔斯普（Hystaspes）之子。有关他的生平大多是透过碑文来认识。他用武力夺得政权，杀了居鲁士大帝的儿子巴尔迪亚（Bardiya）。即位後，接续前人未完成的征服大业，降服色雷斯（Thrace）、马其顿（Macedonia）、一些爱琴海岛屿，并把势力延伸至印度河流域。西元前513年他进攻里海东岸的西徐亚人（Scythians），未果，但平息了爱奥尼亚叛变（Ionian revolt，西元前499年），这起叛乱有埃雷特里亚（Eretria）和雅典（Athens）在背後支持。曾两度远征希腊，西元前492年遭飓风吹毁其舰队，西元前490年在马拉松战役中被雅典人击败。後来，他又准备进行第三次远征，但是在西元前486年就去世。他是阿契美尼德王朝（Achaemenian dynasty）最伟大的国王之一，以行政管理天才和建筑计画闻名，特别是建设陪都波斯波利斯（Persepolis）。

English version：

前550～西元前486年

Darius I

King of Persia (522-486 BC). He was the son of Hystaspes, satrap of Parthia. Much of what is known of him is through his own inscriptions. He took the throne by force, killing Bardiya, a son of Cyrus the Great, who had usurped power. He continued the conquests of his predecessors, subduing Thrace, Macedonia, some Aegean islands, and land stretching to the Indus Valley. He failed in his great expedition against the Scythians (513), but put down the Ionian revolt (499), which had been supported by Eretria and Athens. After that he twice tried to conquer Greece, but a storm destroyed his fleet in 492 and the Athenians defeated him at the Battle of Marathon in 490. He died before a third expedition could be launched. Among the greatest of the Achaemenian dynasty, he was noted for his administrative genius and his building projects, especially those at Persepolis.