DARIUS I

born 550 BC died 486 byname Darius The Great king of Persia in 522486 BC, one of the greatest rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty, who was noted for his administrative genius and for his great building projects. Darius attempted several times to conquer Greece; his fleet was destroyed by a storm in 492, and the Athenians defeated his army at Marathon in 490. Additional reading A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire: Achaeminid Period (1948, reissued 1985).