Darius I becomes king of Persia
PoliticsDynastyDarius I takes the throne, organising the empire into satrapies and building Persepolis and the Royal Road.
- Date
- 522 BCE · View on map
- Countries
- Iran
- Regions
- Middle East
- Importance
- ★★★★★
- Sources
Related events
539 BCE★★★★★
Fall of Babylon to Persia
Cyrus the Great takes Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire; he later allows exiled Judeans to return to Judah.
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c. 550 BCE★★★★★
Cyrus the Great founds the Achaemenid Empire
Cyrus II defeats the Median king Astyages, laying the foundation of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the largest empire of its time.
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c. 587 BCE★★★★★
Babylon destroys Jerusalem and the First Temple
Nebuchadnezzar II's forces take Jerusalem, destroy Solomon's Temple and deport many Judeans to Babylon.
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612 BCE★★★★★
Fall of Nineveh
A Babylonian and Median coalition sacks Nineveh, the Assyrian capital, marking the collapse of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
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October 331 BCE★★★★★
Battle of Gaugamela
Alexander the Great defeats Darius III, sealing the fall of the Achaemenid Empire.
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323 BCE★★★★★
Death of Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great dies in Babylon aged 32, leaving an empire stretching from Greece to India.
DeathPolitics· Iraq, Greece