uilding the administrative and religious cities of Susa and persepolis. He also ordered to make a canal from the Nile river to the red sea, so his war ships could pass through it. ( In 1866 Suez workers discovered a monument at 20 miles north of Suez. According to 'the Dazzling Reach of Darius's Imperial Spear' Time life book, the inscription on its sides spelled out in old Persian,Babylonian, Elamite, and Egyptian. These included an message repeated in all four languages from Darius the Great, king of Persia: "I ordered this canal to be dug from the Nile, which flows in Egypt, to the sea that goes to Persia. This canal was dug as I commanded and ships went from Egypt through this canal as was my desire." According to Herodotus, the canal was wide enough for to war galleys to pass each other. ) Darius I extended the frontiers of the empire in the east where he captured Gandihar and Indus Valley.Then he turned against Greece. At the same time he was attemting to put down a rebellion in Egypt , so he lost the battle against Greece at Maraton near Athen. Darius died two years later without renewing his attack on Greece.After Darius his son , Xerxes I became the next Achaemenid emperor. He put down the revolt in Egypt and Babylon successfully. Then he attacked Greece and brought another great victory for the Achaemenid Empire. He captured Thessaly , Masedonia, Attica, and Athen which he burned them down. After this victory Xerxes returned to Persia and never left again. After Xerxes died, Artaxerxe I became the king. He didn't extend the Empire that much during his kingdom. After he died, his sons ( he had 18 sons ) started fighting over taking the power. First Xerxes II toot the power, but 45 days later he was assassinated by his half-brother Sogdianos. Around six mount later Sogdianos was also assassinated by his brother, Darius II. With the help of his wife and his hale-sister , Darius got rid of his other brothers and finally establis...
