Keywords
Achaemenids
Darius
Scythes
Scythian Campaign
How to Cite
Abstract
When the Great Persian King Dareios I ascended the throne (522 B.C.), all of the Near East civilizations were included within the borders of the Persian empire by the previous Persian kings. Dareios spent the first
years of his rule in suppressing the revolts that took place
within the territory of the empire. However, there was not
yet Persian dominion in Europe. He gathered a great army
from the vast imperial territory. Thracian tribes living in
the lands on the route to Scythia were subjugated sometimes through diplomacy and sometimes by force. The
Scythian campaign of Darius become the first military
expedition which took Persian dominion into Europe.
Darius, with his army crossed over to Europe at the
Bosphorus Straits using a pontoon bridge. He entered the
Scythian country by crossing the Istros River over another
the pontoon bridge built by the Hellens under the rule of
the tyrants, which ruled the Ionian, Aiolis and Hellespontine coasts. He had no military success in the Scythian
country, where he stayed for two months, and he had to
return, without obtaining any success and he had to leave
Scythian territory returning to Asia. However, this campaign of Darius was problematic from many perspectives,
including its aim, history, success, and results. The aim of
this paper is to present an evaluation of this expedition, its
aims and its troubles.
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