Smerdis (also Bardia) was the son of Cyrus the Great whose name was allegedly usurped by an impostor, a magian reportedly named Gaumata. Smerdis/Gaumata reigned as a Persian king over the whole Achaemenid Empire for seven months, before he was killed by Darius I in 521 BC. Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: Kuruš,[1] modern Persian: کوروش - Kuruš; ca. ... The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - Land of the Aryans[1]) and beyond. ... Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Dynasty was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire, including Cyrus II the Great, Darius I and Xerxes I. At the height of their power, the Achaemenid rulers of Persia ruled over territories roughly emcompassing some parts of todays Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon... Seal of Darius I, showing the king hunting on his chariot, and the symbol of Ahuramazda Darius the Great (Pers. ... Centuries: 7th century BC - 6th century BC - 5th century BC Decades: 570s BC - 560s BC - 550s BC - 540s BC - 530s BC - 520s BC - 510s BC - 500s BC - 490s BC - 480s BC - 470s BC Events 529 BC - Cambyses II succeeds his father Cyrus as ruler of Persia. ...

Name and sources

The Persian name of this prince is Bardia; by Ctesias, Pers. 8, called Tonyoxarces; by Xenophon, Cyrop. Vin. 7. ii, who takes the name from Ctesias, Tanooxares; by Justin i. 9, Mergis; in Aeschylus, Pers. 774, Mardos. The prevalent Greek form Smerdis has assimilated the Persian name to the Greek (Asiatic) name Smerdis or Smerdies, which occurs in the poems of Alcaeus and Anacreon.-1... Ctesias of Cnidus (in Caria) (Greek ), was a Greek physician and historian, who flourished in the 5th century BC. In early life he was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger. ... Xenophon, Greek historian Xenophon (In Greek , c. ... Justin or Marcus Junianus Justinus or Justinus Frontinus, 3rd century Roman historian. ... Bust of Aeschylus from the Capitoline Museums, Rome Aeschylus (525 BC—456 BC; Greek: Ασχύλος) was a playwright of Ancient Greece. ... Alcaeus may refer to several ancient Greek figures: in mythology, Alcaeus was the son of Perseus and the father of Amphitryon. ... Anacreon (born ca. ...

The son of Cyrus

Bardia was the younger son of Cyrus the Great who, according to Ctesias, on his deathbed appointed him governor of the eastern provinces (cf. Xen. Cyrop. vin. 7, if). According to his successor Darius (in the Behistun Inscription) and the Greek historian Herodotus, Cambyses II, before he set out to Egypt, secretly caused his brother to be murdered, being afraid that he might attempt a rebellion during his absence. His death was not known to the people, and so in the spring of 522 a usurper pretended to be Smerdis and proclaimed himself king on a mountain near the Persian town Paishiyauvada. According to Herodotus, the real Smerdis had only one daughter, called Parmys. She eventually got married to Darius I, to legitimize his claims to the throne. Cyrus the Great (Old Persian: KuruÅ¡,[1] modern Persian: کوروش - KuruÅ¡; ca. ... Darius I of Persia Darius the Great (ca. ... The Behistun Inscription, carved into a cliffside, gives the same text in three languages, telling the story of King Darius conquests, with the names of twenty-three provinces subject to him. ... Bust of Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos Halikarnasseus) was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - ca. ... Cambyses II (Persian Kambujiya), was the name borne by the son of Cyrus the Great. ... Events Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius is imprisoned on charges of conspiring against Theoderic. ... Paishiyauvada was a Persian city during the Achaemenid era. ... Parmys (Elamite Uparmiya) was a Persian princess, the only daughter of Smerdis, son of Cyrus the Great. ... Seal of Darius I, showing the king hunting on his chariot, and the symbol of Ahuramazda Darius the Great (Pers. ...

The usurper

Owing to the despotic rule of Cambyses and his long absence in Egypt, "the whole people, Persians, Medes and all the other nations," acknowledged the usurper, especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herod. iii. 68). Cambyses began to march against him, but seeing that his cause was hopeless, killed himself in the spring of 521. Medea (Medea Proper), ca. ... Bust of Herodotus Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Greek: , Herodotos Halikarnasseus) was a Dorian Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC (484 BC - ca. ... Events Future Byzantine emperor Justinian becomes consul. ...

The real name of the usurper was, Darius tells us, Gaumata, a Magian priest from Media; this name has been preserved by Justin i. 9 (from Charon of Lampsacus?), but given to his brother (called by Herodotus Patizeithes), who is said to have been the real promoter of the intrigue; the true name of the usurper is here given as Oropastes; by Ctesias as Sphendadates. The Wise Men are given the names Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthasar in this Romanesque mosaic from the Basilica of St Apollinarius in Ravenna, Italy. ... Justin may refer to: Justin (name), a common given name Junianus Justinus, a 3rd century Roman historian Justin I (c. ...

Historians are divided over the veracity of Darius' claim. For example, Tom Holland in his book 'Persian Fire' presents Darius' claim that Smerdis/Bardiya was an imposter to be merely justification for a sucessful coup.

His reign

The history of the 'false' Smerdis is narrated by Herodotus and Ctesias according to official traditions; Cambyses before his death supposedly confessed to the murder of his brother, and in public explained the whole fraud. But, as Darius said, nobody had the courage to oppose the new king, who ruled for seven months over the whole empire. It is certain that Smerdis transferred the seat of government to Media; and here in a castle in the district of Nisaya he was surprised and killed by Darius and his six associates in October 521. Events Future Byzantine emperor Justinian becomes consul. ...

Some contracts dating from his reign have been found in Babylonia, where his name is spelt Barziya (for the chronology cf. Ed. Meyer, Forschungen zur alten Geschichte, ~i. 472 if.). Darius says that he destroyed some temples, which Darius restored, and took away the herds and houses of the people (Behistun Inscr. i. 14).

We have no means of explaining this statement, nor can we fully understand all the incidents connected with his usurpation; but the attempts of modern authors (Gore Vidal, Creation) to prove that Gaumata in reality was the genuine Smerdis and Darius a usurper have contributed to controversy over the usurpation. Gore Vidal in 1948, photographed by Carl Van Vechten Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (born October 3, 1925) is a prolific, versatile American writer of novels, stage plays, screenplays, and essays, and, of late, a liberal political pundit. ...

Aftermath

In the next year, another pseudo-Smerdis, named Vahyazdata, rose against Darius in eastern Persia and met with great success. But he was finally defeated, taken prisoner and executed (Behistun Inscr. ~ 40 if.) Perhaps he is identical with the King Maraphis "the Maraphian," name of a Persian tribe, who occurs as successor in the list of Persian kings given by Aeschylus, Pers. 778. The death of the false Bardia was annually celebrated in Persia by a feast called “the killing of the magian," (Magiophani) at which no magian was allowed to show himself (Herod. ~ 79 Ctes. Pers. 15). Magi (Μάγοι) were Zoroastrian astrologer-priests from ancient Persia. ...

The Persepolis Ruins The Achaemenid dynasty (Old Persian:Hakamanishiya, Persian: هخامنشیان) - was a dynasty in the ancient Persian Empire. ... Cambyses II (Persian Kambujiya), was the name borne by the son of Cyrus the Great. ... The following is a comprehensive list of all Persian Empires and their rulers: // Early realms in Iran Elamite Kingdom, 3000–660 BC The Elamites were a people located in Susa, in what is now Khuzestan province. ... Darius I of Persia Darius the Great (ca. ... Pharaoh is a title used to refer to any ruler, usually male, of the Egyptian kingdom in the pre-Christian, pre-Islamic period. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.