Editing Darius the Great (section)

===Organization===
{{further|Districts of the Achaemenid Empire}}
[[File:Tribute in the Achaemenid Empire.jpg|thumb|350px|Volume of annual tribute per district, in the Achaemenid Empire.<ref name=HIII>Herodotus [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/3D*.html Book III, 89–95]</ref><ref name=ZA>{{cite book |last1=Archibald |first1=Zosia |last2=Davies |first2=John K. |last3=Gabrielsen |first3=Vincent |title=The Economies of Hellenistic Societies, Third to First Centuries BC |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-958792-6 |page=404 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w9YUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA404 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Iranica – Achaemenid Relations">{{cite web |title=India Relations: Achaemenid Period – Encyclopaedia Iranica |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/india-iii-relations-achaemenid-period |website=iranicaonline.org }}</ref>]]

Early in his reign, Darius wanted to reorganize the structure of the empire and reform the system of taxation he inherited from Cyrus and Cambyses. To do this, Darius created twenty provinces called [[satrapies]] (or ''archi'') which were each assigned to a [[satrap]] (''archon'') and specified fixed [[tribute]]s that the satrapies were required to pay.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} [[List of revenues of Darius I of Persia|A complete list]] is preserved in the catalogue of Herodotus, beginning with Ionia and listing the other satrapies from west to east excluding [[Persis]], which was the land of the Persians and the only province which was not a conquered land.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} Tributes were paid in both silver and gold talents. Tributes in silver from each satrap were measured with the Babylonian [[Talent (measurement)|talent]].{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} Those paid in gold were measured with the [[Euboea|Euboic]] talent.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} The total tribute from the satraps came to an amount less than 15,000 silver talents.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}}

The majority of the satraps were of [[Persian people|Persian]] origin and were members of the royal house or the six great noble families.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} These satraps were personally picked by Darius to monitor these provinces. Each of the provinces was divided into sub-provinces, each having its own governor, who was chosen either by the royal court or by the satrap.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} To assess tributes, a commission evaluated the expenses and revenues of each satrap.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} To ensure that one person did not gain too much power, each satrap had a secretary, who observed the affairs of the state and communicated with Darius; a treasurer, who safeguarded provincial revenues; and a garrison commander, who was responsible for the troops.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} Additionally, royal inspectors, who were the "eyes and ears" of Darius, completed further checks on each satrap.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}}

The imperial administration was coordinated by the chancery with headquarters at Persepolis, Susa, and Babylon with Bactria, Ecbatana, Sardis, Dascylium and Memphis having branches.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} Darius kept [[Aramaic]] as the common language, which soon spread throughout the empire.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} However, Darius gathered a group of scholars to create a separate language system only used for Persis and the Persians, which was called Aryan script and was only used for official inscriptions.{{sfn|Shahbazi|1994|pp=41–50}} Before this, the accomplishments of the king were addressed in Persian solely through narration and hymns and through the "masters of memory".{{sfn|Briant|2002|pp=126–127}} Indeed, oral history continued to play an important role throughout the history of Iran.{{sfn|Briant|2002|pp=126–127}}