Darius I (550 BC - October 486 BC) Persian: داریوش； Hebrew: דָּרְיָוֶשׁ； Also known as Darius the Great, he was the third emperor of the Persian Empire and came from a branch of the Achaemenid family. He once accompanied Gambius II on an expedition to Egypt and was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Immortal Army. Later, at the age of 28, he ascended to the throne at the time of Gambius II's violent death. Darius I was not only a great monarch of the Persian Empire, but also one of the famous politicians in world history. In less than a year of succession, he launched 18 major battles with a strategy of defeating each one, eliminating the leaders of the eight separatist forces, and the vast Persian Empire returned to unity. Having achieved success and achieved success, full of ambition, and touring various places. When patrolling to a small village called Bethesda, he had the famous Bethesda Inscription engraved on the nearby stone walls, praising himself and leaving a lasting legacy. He claims to be the "King of Nations" and is revered as the "Iron and Blood Emperor" in later generations.

Early experiences
Darius I was born into a collateral branch of the Achaemenid royal family in Persia. His father, Histaspa, was a cousin of Emperor Gambis II and served as the governor of the Parthian region. In 525 BC, Gambius II led the Persian army on an expedition to Egypt and appointed Darius as the commander-in-chief of the "Immortal Army". According to the Behistun Inscription, on March 11, 522 BC, during his stay in Egypt, a coup broke out in the Pyreshwad region of Persia. Rebel leader Gomeda proclaimed himself king under the name of his brother Baldia, while announcing the exemption of taxes and military service for three years and carrying out religious reforms within the country, destroying numerous temples. Gomeda's actions were deeply supported by the people, to the extent that by July 1st of the same year, Persia, Midea, Babylon and other places unanimously supported him. After learning the news, King Gobiz II hastily returned to his home country with his army, but died suddenly while passing through Eqbatan in Syria.

Ascend to the throne as king
After the death of Gambissus, a group of seven consisting of Darius, Otanes, Itafrene, Gobias, Sudarnes, Megabizos, and Aspatines received support from slave owners and nobles, and returned to China to quell the rebellion. On July 10th of the same year, Darius led his army to kill Gomedah at the fortress of Zecayahuwati in Midea.
According to the "History" written by Herodotus, a few days after the death of Gomeda, Darius and his companions discussed the future of the Achaemenid Empire: Otanes proposed the establishment of a republican state, Megabizos hoped to establish oligarchy, and Darius himself hoped to maintain monarchy. In the end, Darius convinced other nobles on the grounds that monarchy could maintain strong centralization, and soon after publicly proclaimed himself king.
After Darius I ascended the throne, his efforts to protect the interests of the slave owners and nobles caused dissatisfaction among the people. In the following year, uprisings broke out in Babylon, Elam, Midi, and other places. Darius led his army to suppress the rebellion in all directions, fighting eighteen times in a row, and capturing eight rebel leaders, reversing the situation where the empire was on the brink of collapse.
After consolidating its rule over the occupied areas, it continued to expand outward.
In 518 BC, troops were dispatched to conquer the northwest region of India and establish the 20th province of the Persian Empire.

Expedition to Scythia
In 513 BC, the Persian army personally led by Darius I used the engineering techniques of Egypt and Greece, as well as the ships of the Phoenicians, to build a giant pontoon bridge across the Bosphorus Strait, conquering the fragmented Thracian tribe. Then, the Persian army crossed the Danube and swaggered into the land of the Scythians, preparing to burn their boats and demolish the pontoon bridge. Before leaving Asia, the Persian ally and the general of the Greek city-state Mithriel, Coes, warned Darius that the Scythians had no fixed abode or defense, so they should not easily burn their boats and retreat until they had captured the enemy's precise position.
At that time, the Scythians were a loose alliance composed of different agricultural, pastoral, and hunting tribes, with the Scythians, a royal family of the Eastern Iranian language family, as the core. The alliance includes hybrid descendants of Greek colonizers and Scythians, as well as other nomads who clearly belong to different races from the Scythians. These ethnic groups in the Great Plains of Eastern Europe, except for a few wooden fortresses, have no cities to defend. Except for the Scythians who rely on agriculture as their main source of income, most Scythians rely on farming and animal husbandry to support themselves. So overall, the territory of the Scythians basically had no targets that needed targeted defense, and the Great Plains of Eastern Europe had ample space for nomadic armies to strategically maneuver. So the core tribes such as the royal Scythians hoped to firmly resist the invasion of the Persian Empire. But other tribes have different hearts. This is because tribes such as the agricultural Scythians or Arazones primarily rely on settled agriculture as their economic source, so their sphere of influence is smaller and more determined than that of Scythian herders, which also determines their attitude towards foreign invasion. It is also because there is no danger to defend on the plains of Eastern Europe that they will be more cautious in formulating their foreign policy. Some allies of the Scythians believed that the relationship between the Persians and their close relatives, the Massagetes, was a never-ending one due to the Persian king Cyrus being killed in battle. Unable to obtain the expected foreign aid from their neighboring Scythian compatriots and small Thracian countries, the Scythians cleared their territory in advance, organized military and civilian withdrawals, and prepared to use scorched earth tactics to force the Persians to surrender. Moreover, the Scythians were similar to early Persians in that they could serve the entire population, such as the women of the Saulomateans who also rode horses to fight.

In terms of natural geography, the rivers in the Eastern European Great Plains, where the Scythians were located, are intertwined. Due to the temperate forest grassland climate here, the river flow in the Eastern European grasslands is very stable, with sufficient water flow year-round, which is not only beneficial for farming and grazing, but also for defenders to rely on the river for defense.
In terms of military strength, the Scythians divided the army into two parts. One part was commanded by the Scythian king Taksagis, who maintained a day's riding distance from the Persian main force, while the other part was commanded by Scopasis, who was responsible for threatening the Persian flank and preventing the Persians from finding their old and weak supplies retreating northward. This approach is very similar to the practice of the Xiongnu people in the Battle of the Han Xiong Desert, who believed that the Han army could not reach the northern part of the screen. At the same time, this group of people is responsible for waiting for an opportunity to ambush the Persians in the rear. The previous army maintained a non-contact tactic and avoided engaging with the Persian army before the official start of the war. In this way of both fighting and retreating, the main force of Darius was continuously led through the southern Russian grasslands. During the first period of the battle, Persian infantry and cavalry carried supplies and pursued through the cleared territory of the Scythians, in a relatively passive and food scarce state, without capturing any non combatants or civilian buildings. The entire army was like a complete annihilation, except for burning down the wooden fortresses of the settled Bunidi tribe along the way, the Persian army gained nothing.
In the game of cat and mouse competition, two armies chase and lure each other one in front and one behind, until the present-day area north of the Sea of Azov. Darius built eight fortresses there, hoping to pin down the Scythians to besiege and take advantage of the opportunity to fight against them. However, the Scythians did not fall for it. Instead, they led their army eastward through the desert and returned to the area they had previously passed through, while the Persians temporarily lost their whereabouts. This purpose is not only to consume the logistics and physical strength of the Persians through marching, but also for the next step of arrangement. So Darius abandoned halfway to build half of the fortress and turned to pursue the Scythians.

So the Scythians, according to the monarch's plan, introduced the Persian army into the territory of the neutral states, which were the brother tribes of the Scythians. The reckless invasion of Persians triggered strong resistance and annexation by neutral indigenous peoples, leading to further isolation of the Persian army; Moreover, the Scythians effectively prevented the Persians from obtaining sufficient supplies, greatly reducing the mobility and mobility of the Persian army.
Considering the decreasing supplies, weakened physical strength of the warhorses, and low morale, Darius decided to invite the Scythians to engage in a battle through a contract. He said either to go to war or to offer water and soil instead of choosing to flee. And the response from King Idan Tarsus of Sikki Thailand is: because our country has no towns, farmland, or buildings, and the carts are our homes and campsites, we don't have to guard any fixed targets and can move freely. So no one ran away, everyone was just moving freely. Unless the Persians dig the ancestral graves of the Scythians, they will come to confront them head-on. At this time, the ancestral graves of the Scythians were far away from the battlefield, making it impossible for the Persians to return. He also warned Persians not to consider themselves owners of the Scythians, otherwise they would regret it. After seeing the right timing, the Sikki Thai kings made the letters of the Persians public and announced to their followers that Darius regarded them as slaves, inspiring the public anger of all male and female warriors. So after numerous pursuits and detours, the Scythians finally turned their heads and faced the Persians head-on on the banks of the Ister River.

In terms of military composition, the Scythians used tribal libertarians as cavalry archers and nobles as heavy cavalry. The archers only have fur or light armor, wear pointed felt hats, and use a Sigma shaped composite bow. This weapon has a long range, with an effective range of 50-100 meters, and also has special arrows for different protective equipment such as armor, breastplate, and helmet. Arrows deep into the spine or skull can often be found in the tombs of Scythians in Central Asia; In addition, short spears measuring 1.7-1.8 meters in length were also used as throwing weapons by the Scythians. The heavy cavalry of the Scythians were the earliest warriors in the world to be equipped with full body armor and vests. The armor of these people is mainly fish scale armor, inlaid with copper or iron plates on soft leather. The helmets are mainly the Kuban style helmets of their own ethnic group or the Greek style Kalses, Collins, Attica, and Frigia helmets, which can effectively protect the warrior's head or face. As the first generation nomadic hegemons, the Scythians were also the earliest people in the world to use frontal charge and flanking tactics. The Scythian cavalry is not unable to engage in direct combat, but rather to launch a large-scale attack in order to find the time that can minimize casualties and achieve the greatest results.
In the mixed army brought by the Persians, there were cavalry provided by the Medes, and the Scythians ruled over Medes for 70 years, so the Medes also had Scythian style cavalry units. The main Persian army consisted of infantry wielding large wicker shields, a few elite heavy infantry wielding 8-shaped shields, wearing scale armor under their robes, and wearing pointed helmets, as well as most light infantry fighting with bows, hammers, and Copas machetes. These people mainly rely on infantry formations to fight.

The Persians were already lacking in logistics and supplies, and the Scythians deliberately took advantage of the Persians' daily mealtime to launch large-scale attacks. Despite the enemy's lack of preparation, they repeatedly defeated the Persians' cavalry in field and night battles, causing the Persians to complain incessantly. In the field, the Scythians lured their opponents into the encirclement with light cavalry shooting arrows, and then suddenly broke out of the line with heavy cavalry wearing armor and spears, stabbing the Persians off their horses. After the Persian cavalry fled back to their formation, the Scythians also did not crave war. But patiently waiting for the next opportunity to engage in battle, calmly finding opportunities to kill more enemies. Not pursuing or attacking the infantry formation is to allow the Persian cavalry who have fled back to transmit fear to the Persians in the camp, using the fear of the masses to further weaken the enemy's combat effectiveness.
In addition, during night raids, the Scythians often emitA terrifying roar of war. In terms of appearance, they not only tattoo various ferocious animal shapes, but also have ferocious faces. This is because after the death of King Sikki and the chief of Thailand, everyone had to scratch their foreheads, nose tips, and arms, causing blood and tears to flow down together. The Scythians believed that the soul flowed in the blood, so they would do so. And this approach will continue to affect the future nomadic hegemons. The scarred appearance undoubtedly intensified the enemy's fear.
In order to prevent situations where dogs jump over walls and fish die and the net is broken, the Scythians deliberately left some cattle and sheep for the Persians to eat, putting them in a state of fear but not to the end of the battle. This approach is very similar to the principle of "encirclement must be eliminated" in military law; Finally, the Scythians, who were adept at understanding people's hearts, vigorously encouraged their trading partners and the Greeks who guarded the floating bridge over the strait for the Persians to defect: telling them that the Persians were trapped on the grasslands and had no way back, thus cutting off Darius's path home.
Before the war with the Persians and during the process of suppressing the slave uprising, the Scythians fought hard and were at a stalemate with the rebellious slaves. However, when the Scythians raised their whips and threatened the slave soldiers, the slaves quickly calmed down and gave up resistance, as their masters waving their whips reminded them of their origins. Herodotus adopted this story in "History" mainly to reflect one of his core views: regardless of race or origin, people are slaves to customs. But this also indirectly reflects the cunning side of the Scythians who are good at insight into human nature.
Finally, in the face of such intimidating enemies, the Scythians showed tactical importance and strategic contempt. When facing the Persian army, the soldiers in the front row deliberately chased a wild rabbit and let out fanatical roars and cries, completely ignoring the Persians and showing their greatest contempt for their opponents.
Under the multi-dimensional strategy of the Scythians surrounding but not annihilating and demoralizing, most of the Persian army lost their fighting spirit, and due to a lack of food, they were in a state of semi lifeless and powerless. Finally, at the suggestion of his staff, Darius was forced to use the strategy of empty city to make a false statement, and the golden cicada peeled off its shell. In the end, he retreated completely. Due to the fact that the Scythians had never seen donkeys, the Persians released mules to intimidate the Scythians' horses. At the same time, they also made a big fuss, and the camp fire of the generals was lit up all night, indicating that they were about to launch a large-scale attack, which made the Scythians nervous. However, Darius fled the camp overnight with his strong soldiers and returned to the floating bridge between Asia and Europe. In the end, he was able to retreat completely from the floating bridge guarded by the Greek Allied forces and withdraw to Asia, leaving the remaining elderly, weak, and sick in the army as prisoners for the Scythians.

Greco-Persian Wars
In 492 BC, Darius sent Madonius to lead his navy on an expedition to Greece. Along the way, he encountered a major storm at the Cape of Athos, causing great damage to his fleet.
Darius ruled the Persian Empire for 37 years, and in his later years he gradually became stubborn and incompetent.
In 490 BC, Darius I sent veteran generals Datis and Ataphenis to lead an army of more than 20000 people across the Aegean Sea, capturing and destroying the city of Eretria. He then advanced south and landed on the Marathon Plain, 40 kilometers northeast of Athens. General Matthias of Athens led 10000 Athenian infantry and 1000 Pucatan reinforcements to defeat the dominant Persian army in a marathon, enhancing the Greeks' confidence in resisting Persian aggression. After the marathon, both sides actively expanded their armies and prepared for war.
In 486 BC, an uprising broke out in Egypt, and Darius went to suppress it. He died before it could be completed. His son Xerxes continued the war against the Greek city states after suppressing the uprising, but returned in vain, wasting the power of Persia. Darius's career was left with regret due to two failures in his later years. However, due to the Greek Persian War launched by Darius, the Greek city states entered a state of war, and preparation for war became the main function of each city state. When there was no Persian invasion, the Greek city states engaged in melee, ultimately leading to the decline of ancient Greek civilization, which was also the influence that Darius brought to history.