He died in the year following the Egyptian revolt (B.C.

486), in the sixty-third year of his age, and the thirty-sixth of his reign, leaving his crown to his eldest son by Atossa, Xerxes.
The character of Darius will have revealed itself with tolerable clearness in the sketch which has been here given of the chief events of his reign.

But a brief summary of some of its main points may not be superfluous.

Darius Hystaspis was, next to Cyrus, the greatest of the Persian kings; and he was even superior to Cyrus in some particulars.
His military talent has been underrated.

Though not equal to the founder of the Empire in this respect, he deserves the credit of energy, vigor, foresight, and judicious management in his military expeditions, of promptness in resolving and ability in executing, of discrimination in the selection of generals, and of a power of combination not often found in Oriental commanders.