A Ideologia Imperial Aquemênida a partir das inscrições em Behistun e Naqsh-e Rostam

Abstract

Thanks to accounts in Book III of Herodotus’s Histories and the Behistun Inscription (DB), we have some insight into how King Darius rose to power in the Achaemenid Empire (550–330 BCE). Numerous revolts broke out across the Empire because Darius was viewed as a usurper; he was not a direct successor to the throne—since neither Cambyses nor Bardiya had children—and was accused of having killed the man believed to be Bardiya. It was against this backdrop of extreme instability in the Empire's central authority that the DB was created. In this context, Darius needed not only to launch campaigns to reconquer satrapies and quell rebellions but also to legitimize his rule. Employing rhetorical strategies, Darius presents himself as a royal, descended from a line of kings, and—furthermore—establishes close ties to the Empire's first monarch and founder, Cyrus the Great, who was regarded as the ideal ruler. The second source to be analyzed in this research is Darius’s Testament at Naqsh-e Rostam (DNa-b). On the tomb's façade, representatives of the imperial satrapies appear beneath Darius, supporting the throne and, by extension, the Empire. Therefore, this project focuses on analyzing how these two inscriptions (DB and DNa-b) contributed to the establishment and maintenance of imperial power through a “reformulated Achaemenid imperial ideology”.