Darius I was the ruler of ancient Persia, and he remained king of the nation from 522 to 486 BC the tribute to Darius is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart with History starting around 500 BC. His rule began after he defeated and killed King Gaumata. Afterwards, he decided to fight a civil war before he was able to re-establish the Achaemenid Empire. The king participated in numerous wars overseas, and was exposed him to various parts of the world such as Thrace and India.
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Darius as a Ruler
During the rule of Darius, he made his people to understand that it was Ahuramazda who helped him conquer his opponents. He also propagated his belief that Ahuramazda was the highest god in the whole world. He also decided to invent a special kind of Aryan alphabet which matched perfectly the Persian language. The text included details about the power of Ahuramazda, whom he believed was the one true god.
Darius decided to introduce new coins to his kingdom, which was a part of his goal of imposing taxes. The Persians were used to having similar coins as the ones found in Lydia. However, Darius began to introduce the darayaka or gold daric, as well as the silver siglos. These became the empire’s monetary standard after the year 515 BC.
Aside from producing new coins, there was construction of the so-called “Royal Roads”. According to historians, these were centuries-old roads, and they served as a connection to ancient Near East’s major urban areas. People who were travelling such as “king’s eyes” or inspectors, and individuals who served the Persian government, received passports. With a passport, these people can freely get benefits from food rations that were situated along the road.
The calendar was also reformed during the reign of Darius, and this was to meet his goal of reorganizing the government. At this time, the Chaldeans, who were Babylonian astronomers, invented a new and improved system that enabled them to intercaluate months of the year. The very first evidence of the existence of this calendar was in 503 BC, although it was believed that there were calendars even before this period in history.
Courtiers were given different labels. For instance, Pharnaces was noted as the minister of economy, and Gobryas was the lance carrier and commander of the army that fought against Elam‘s King Atamaita. Aspathines was another courtier, and he was Darius’ vacabara who served an important role in the empire.
Imposition of Taxes
In an account by Herodotus, the Persians were free from paying their taxes. While they were not required by law to settle monetary taxes, they were supposed to pay tributes in some kind. For instance, there were state taxes in the form of a small livestock. There were groups of people that must pay about 7,740 talents of silver or at least 232,200 kilograms of silver per year. The total amount paid as an annual tribute reached 14,560 Euboib talents. Herodotus noted that a large amount of the sum was settled by individuals who belonged to economically-progressive nations such as Babylonia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Syria and Asia Minor.
There was also a system of gifts, and it was regulated strictly during the time of Darius. These gifts were supposed to be settled in kind. People residing on the empire’s borders such as the Arabs, Ethiopians, and Colchians paid these tributes to Darius.
http://www.livius.org/person/darius-the-great/6-organizing-the-empire/
http://history-world.org/persians.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darius_I
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