Darius the Great. Persian king, ruler of lands from Egypt to India

The book by Jacob Abbott tells of the ascension to the throne of Darius I, the king of the Achaemenid dynasty founded by Cyrus the Great. Under Darius, the Persian Empire reached its greatest power. With the help of his personal guard - "the ten thousand immortals" - he managed to suppress the unrest of the Scythian tribes of Central Asia, as well as the uprisings in Babylonia, Media, Elam, Egypt, Parthia, and to conquer part of India. However, Darius's campaign against the freedom-loving citizens of Greece ended in his defeat at the famous battle of Marathon.