Latest / The Achaemenid Empire: Persia's Golden Age of Power — Fexingo History / Achaemenid Empire's Forgotten Rebel: Bardiya
Transcript
- Lucas: So for anyone joining us across these conversations about the Achaemenid world, we've covered a lot of ground — the law, the conquests, the coinage. But there's this strange, murky episode right at the heart of the empire's foundation story, and it's about a king who might not have been who he said he was. Luna: You mean the whole Bardiya affair? That's always felt like a mystery wrapped in a murder. Lucas: Exactly. Before we dive in, though — a quick thought about this show. We deliberately keep it free of ads, because we think history is better when it's not interrupted by someone selling you something. If you want to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Just a small gesture, and it keeps these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, I think that's part of why this show feels a bit different — it's just us talking, no noise. Lucas: Right. So, Bardiya. In 522 BCE, Cambyses II is away in Egypt, conquering the Nile Valley — which we talked about in an earlier episode. And while he's out there, a man claiming to be his brother Bardiya takes the throne back in Persia. Cambyses starts marching home, but he dies under suspicious circumstances — some say suicide, some say accident, some say he was murdered. And then this Bardiya rules for about seven months before a group of conspirators, led by Darius, kills him and Darius becomes king. Luna: So the official story is that Bardiya was an imposter — a Magian named Gaumata, right? Lucas: That's what Darius tells us in the Behistun Inscription, carved high on a cliff in modern Iran. According to Darius, the real Bardiya had already been secretly assassinated by Cambyses years earlier, and this Gaumata — a priest, a Magian — took advantage of the confusion to seize power. He even adopted Bardiya's name and rule. Luna: But you don't sound fully convinced. Lucas: Well, here's the thing. Darius had every reason to paint the man he killed as a fraud. If Bardiya was the legitimate king, then Darius was a usurper who killed a rightful ruler. But if Bardiya was Gaumata, then Darius was a hero restoring the true line. The inscription is basically propaganda — it even lists the rebellions that broke out after Darius took power, which suggests many people didn't accept him as king. Lucas: And Herodotus — writing a generation later — tells a similar story, but with more details. He calls the imposter Smerdis, the Greek version of Bardiya, and says he did have a striking resemblance to the prince. But Herodotus also mentions that Cambyses had ordered Bardiya killed, and that the real Bardiya's wife or mother might have known the truth. Luna: So who do you think was actually king? Lucas: Honestly, the evidence is genuinely ambiguous. There's a compelling case that the man who ruled in 522 was the real Bardiya. For one thing, he seems to have had support from the provinces — he issued a tax relief for a few years, which would have made him popular. And when he was killed, there were uprisings across the empire, which suggests people were shocked that their legitimate king had been murdered. Lucas: Also, some scholars point out that Cambyses had a history of eliminating potential rivals — he had another brother, maybe named Smerdis or Tanyoxarces, killed earlier. So it's possible that the Bardiya who took the throne was actually a lookalike put forward by the court, or that Cambyses tried to have him killed but failed. Luna: But if he was the real Bardiya, why would Darius invent such an elaborate story? Lucas: Because he had to justify his own kingship. Darius wasn't in the direct line of descent from Cyrus — he claimed to be a distant relative, but his line went through a different branch of the family. So he needed to show that the previous king was illegitimate, and that he, Darius, was the chosen one, blessed by the god Ahura Mazda. The inscription is full of that: 'By the grace of Ahura Mazda I became king.' Lucas: But here's a twist. The Persepolis Fortification Tablets — those administrative records we've mentioned before — they actually mention a royal estate called 'the estate of Bardiya' even after he was killed. That's odd if he was a usurper who'd been erased from history. It's like the name still had some legitimacy. Luna: And there's also the Cyprus cylinder, isn't there? It mentions a king called 'Barziya' as a legitimate ruler. Lucas: That's right. Some scholars have argued that the Cyprus cylinder, which is a land grant in Cyprus, refers to Bardiya as a king in a positive context. That's hard to square with Darius's official memory. So the picture is really muddled. Lucas: What's more, Bardiya's reforms — if they were his — were actually pretty progressive. He granted tax exemptions for three years, which was a huge relief for the provinces. That kind of policy would have made him beloved, not hated. It makes you wonder if Darius exaggerated his tyranny to justify his own coup. Luna: So maybe we should give Bardiya a chance — maybe he was the good guy? Lucas: Perhaps. Or perhaps he was a clever impostor who knew exactly how to win hearts. Either way, the story shows how power in the ancient world was often won by narratives as much as by swords. Darius didn't just kill Bardiya; he erased his story and replaced it with his own version. And because the Behistun Inscription is one of the few surviving sources from the Achaemenid court, we've inherited that version. Luna: It's like the victor writes history, but here we're actually catching him in the act. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes this episode so fascinating — it's not just about who was king, but about how we know what we think we know. When you read Darius's words, you have to ask: what's he not telling us? And that's a lesson that applies far beyond ancient Persia. Lucas: So next time you hear a story about a usurper or a false king, take a moment to wonder who's telling the story and why. It might just be that the 'false' king was the one who truly belonged. Luna: That's a great place to leave it. Thanks for digging into this with me, Lucas. Lucas: And thanks to everyone listening. If this episode made you curious, there's always more to explore — the Achaemenid story is full of secrets like this. Until next time.