Day of Empire_ How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--And Why They Fall - Amy Chua [16]
To finance his ambitious projects, Darius formalized the system of imperial taxation and tribute, requiring each satrapy to pay a fixed annual amount, usually in talents of gold or silver. Herodotus reports that both Bactria and India were assessed 360 talents a year. Egypt had to pay 700 talents and the “income from the fish of Lake Moeris.” Babylonia was assessed 1,000 talents and “500 young eunuchs.” In addition, for reasons still debated, some peoples did not have to pay taxes but made their contributions in the form of “gifts.” For example, Colchis (a kingdom in the Caucasus) sent a “gift” of “a hundred boys and a hundred girls,” and the Ethiopians, “about two quarts of unrefined gold, two hundred logs of ebony, [five Ethiopian boys,] and twenty elephant tusks.” According to Plutarch, Darius also mastered the art of the fictitious tax cut. After setting the amount of taxes for a particular satrapy, Darius would “consult” with local leaders, asking if the amounts were too heavy, then magnanimously announce that the taxes were to be cut in half.25
Throughout his reign, Darius continued the Achaemenid tradition of cultural and religious tolerance; indeed, he carried it further. Darius apparently took pride in the extraordinary diversity of his empire. He described himself with a title that has been translated as “king of the countries containing all races” or “king of the peoples of every origin.” He respected his empire's multilingual-ism: His royal inscriptions were translated into several languages; satrapal orders were proclaimed in Greek, Babylonian, Lycian, or Demotic, and interpreters operated throughout the kingdom. Interestingly, Darius himself was almost certainly monolingual—and probably could not read.26
In some of his royal inscriptions, Darius refers to the divinity Ahura Mazda as the “greatest of gods” and “god of the Aryans.” Historians continue to debate these passages: What was the religion of the Achaemenids? Did Darius and Cyrus favor the same gods? Were the Achaemenids Zoroastrians? But on one point there is consensus: Like Cyrus, Darius did not impose Persian gods on his subjects. On the contrary, Darius and the satraps under him exhibited great reverence for local cults and divinities. Darius also left local social structures largely intact. “The great majority of the elites of subject peoples, with the possible exception of Egypt, saw the Persian king not as a foreign ruler or tyrant, but as the guarantor of political stability, social order, economic prosperity, and hence ultimately of their own position.”27 Darius famously codified and enforced local laws. For example, the Persian king upheld and even guaranteed decisions of Egyptian judges. Similarly, Darius reportedly recognized and sanctioned the Torah as the law of Israel.28
From these policies of tolerance, Darius reaped tremendous benefits. Instead of wasting resources destroying conquered populations or trying to “Persianize” them, Darius harnessed their different skills, talents, and resources. In this way, Darius built some of the most splendid imperial capitals the world had ever seen.
For example, in constructing the grand royal residence at Susa, Darius employed the finest materials and best artisans from his empire, drawing on the labors of at least sixteen different peoples. In Susa's trilingual “foundation charter,” Darius says:
The palace of Susa, it is I who made it; its materials were brought from afar…That which [was made] of molded bricks, people who [were] Babylonians made it themselves.