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Smerdis, Bardiya or Bardia ( Bardiya) was a son of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great , , also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was a Persian people Shah . He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, an empire, perhaps the most wealthy and magnificent in history....
 and the younger brother of Cambyses II, whose name was allegedly usurped by an impostor, a magus
Magi

File:Adoracao_dos_magos_de_Vicente_Gil.jpgMagi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BCE, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic civilization associated Zoroaster with, which was – in the main – the ability to read the stars, and manipulate the fate that the stars foretold....
 (member of the Medes
Medes

The Medes were an Ancient Iranian peoples who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea ....
' priestly caste
Priestly caste

In certain societies, particularly nomadic and tribe a priestly caste is a social group responsible for officiating over sacrifices, leading prayers and other religious functions....
) reportedly named Gaumata ( Gaumata). Smerdis/Gaumata reigned as a Persia
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
n king over the whole Achaemenid Empire for seven months, before he was killed by Darius I in 522 BC.

prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources.






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Smerdis, Bardiya or Bardia ( Bardiya) was a son of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great , , also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was a Persian people Shah . He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, an empire, perhaps the most wealthy and magnificent in history....
 and the younger brother of Cambyses II, whose name was allegedly usurped by an impostor, a magus
Magi

File:Adoracao_dos_magos_de_Vicente_Gil.jpgMagi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BCE, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic civilization associated Zoroaster with, which was – in the main – the ability to read the stars, and manipulate the fate that the stars foretold....
 (member of the Medes
Medes

The Medes were an Ancient Iranian peoples who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea ....
' priestly caste
Priestly caste

In certain societies, particularly nomadic and tribe a priestly caste is a social group responsible for officiating over sacrifices, leading prayers and other religious functions....
) reportedly named Gaumata ( Gaumata). Smerdis/Gaumata reigned as a Persia
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
n king over the whole Achaemenid Empire for seven months, before he was killed by Darius I in 522 BC.

Name and sources

The prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources. His Persian
Persian language

name=Persian|nativename=|pronunciation=[f??r'si]|image=|caption=Farsi in Perso-Arabic script |states= Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Bahrain....
 name is Bardia; by Ctesias
Ctesias

Ctesias of Cnidus was a Hellenic civilization physician and historian from Cnidus in Caria. Ctesias, who flourished in the 5th century BC, was physician to Artaxerxes II, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger....
, Pers. 8, he is called Tonyoxarces (Sphendadates); by Xenophon
Xenophon

Xenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates....
, Cyrop. Vin. 7.ii, who takes the name from Ctesias, he is called Tanooxares; by Justin
Junianus Justinus

'Justin' was a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire. His name is mentioned only in the title of his own history, and there it is in the genitive, which would be M....
 i.9, Mergis; and in Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
, Pers. 774, his name is Mardos. In the prevalent Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
  form of his name, Smerdis, the Persian name has been assimilated to the Greek (Asiatic) name Smerdis or Smerdies, a name which also occurs in the poems of Alcaeus
Alcaeus

Alcaeus may refer to several ancient Greek figures, notably:*Alcaeus , the son of Perseus and the father of Amphitryon*Alcaeus of Mytilene, a lyric poet of the archaic period...
 and Anacreon.

The son of Cyrus

Smerdis was the younger son of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great

Cyrus the Great , , also known as Cyrus II of Persia and Cyrus the Elder, was a Persian people Shah . He was the founder of the Persian Empire under the Achaemenid dynasty, an empire, perhaps the most wealthy and magnificent in history....
, who, according to Ctesias, on his deathbed appointed him governor of the eastern provinces (cf. Xen. Cyrop. vin. 7, if). According to his successor Darius
Darius I of Persia

Darius I or Darius the Great was the son of Hystaspes and Persian Empire from 522 BC to 486 BC. Darius is the dominant Latin language spelling used by the Roman historians....
 (in the Behistun Inscription
Behistun Inscription

The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the town of Jeyhounabad in western Iran....
) and according to the Greek historian Herodotus
Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
: another of Cyrus's sons - the Great King Cambyses II - (before setting out for Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
) secretly conspired for his brother to be murdered. This was because he was afraid that he might attempt a rebellion during his absence. Smerdis's death was not known to the people, and so in the spring of 522 BC a usurper, Gaumata, is said to have pretended to be Smerdis and proclaimed himself king on a mountain near the Persian town Paishiyauvada
Paishiyauvada

Paishiyauvada was a Persian city during the Achaemenid era.Gaumata the Magian pretended to be Smerdis and proclaimed himself king on the mountain Arakadrish near the town Paishiyauvada....
. According to Herodotus, the real Smerdis had only one daughter, called Parmys
Parmys

Parmys was a Persian Empire princess, the only daughter of Smerdis, son of Cyrus the Great.When he seized the throne, king Darius I married two daughters and a granddaughter of Cyrus to legitimise his position....
. She eventually married Darius I, to legitimize his claims to the throne.

The usurper

Some time during the African campaign of Cambyses II, in which he conquered much of Sudan and Ethiopia, the Persian throne was usurped by the Magus Gaumata, a supposed Median Priest of the Mithraist religion, who claimed to be Bardiya, and told everyone that he had survived the attack of Cambyses and had been hiding for years. In any case, Gaumata bore a passing resemblance to the King's dead brother, and with the King away at war, and increasingly unpopular at home, the stage was set for a coup.

The despotic rule of Cambyses, coupled with his long absence in Egypt, contributed to the fact that "the whole people, Persians, Medes
Medes

The Medes were an Ancient Iranian peoples who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area was known in Greek as Media or Medea ....
 and all the other nations," acknowledged the usurper [or indeed Smerdis himself], especially as he granted a remission of taxes for three years (Herod.
Herodotus

Herodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greeks historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture....
 iii.68). Cambyses began to march against him, but died in the spring of 522 in mysterious circumstances.

Darius claimed that the real name of the usurper was Gaumata, a Magi
Magi

File:Adoracao_dos_magos_de_Vicente_Gil.jpgMagi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BCE, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic civilization associated Zoroaster with, which was – in the main – the ability to read the stars, and manipulate the fate that the stars foretold....
an priest from Media; this name has been preserved by Justin
Justin

Justin may refer to:* Justin , a common given name* Justin Martyr, early Christian apologist* Justin , 3rd century Roman historian* Justin I , or Flavius Iustinius Augustus, Eastern Roman Emperor who ruled from 518 to 527; founder of the Justinian dynasty and uncle of future emperor Justinian I...
 i. 9 (from Charon of Lampsacus?), but given to his brother Cambyses (called Patizeithes by Herodotus), who is said to have been the real promoter of the intrigue; the name of the Magian usurper, according to Herodotus, was Oropastes. Alternatively, according to Ctesias, it was Sphendadates.

Historians are divided over the veracity of Darius' claim that Smerdis's kingship had been usurped by 'Gaumata'. Claims of the existence of a magian 'double' may have been invented by Darius to legitimate his own usurpation of the Persian throne. Yet the consensus is that Darius was a member of the Achamenid family, whereas Gaumata was not.

His reign

The history of the 'false' Smerdis is narrated by Herodotus and Ctesias according to official traditions; Cambyses before his death supposedly confessed to the murder of his brother, and in public explained the whole fraud. But, as Darius said, nobody had the courage to oppose the new king, who ruled for seven months over the whole empire. It is certain that Smerdis transferred the seat of government to Media; and here in a castle in the district of Nisaya he was surprised and killed by Darius and his six associates in September 522.

Some contracts dating from his reign have been found in Babylonia, where his name is spelt Barziya or Bardiya. Darius says that Smerdis destroyed some temples, which Darius later restored. Smerdis also took away the herds and houses of the people, which Darius corrected once he gained the throne. (Behistun Inscr. i.14).

We have no means of explaining this statement, nor can we fully understand all the incidents connected with his usurpation; but the attempts of modern authors (Gore Vidal
Gore Vidal

Gore Vidal is an United States novelist, screenwriter, playwright, essayist, short story writer and politician. Early in his career he wrote the ground-breaking The City and the Pillar , which outraged mainstream critics as one of the first major American novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality....
, Creation) to prove that Gaumata in reality was the genuine Smerdis and Darius a usurper have contributed to controversy over the usurpation.

Aftermath

In the next year, another pseudo-Smerdis, named Vahyazdata rose against Darius in eastern Persia and met with great success. But he was finally defeated, taken prisoner and executed (Behistun Inscr. ~ 40 if.) Perhaps he is identical with the King Maraphis "the Maraphian," name of a Persian tribe, who occurs as successor in the list of Persian kings given by Aeschylus
Aeschylus

Aeschylus was an Ancient Greece playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedy whose Play survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides....
, Pers. 778. The death of the false Bardia was annually celebrated in Persia by a feast called “the killing of the magian," (Magiophani) at which no magian was allowed to show himself (Herod. ~ 79 Ctes. Pers. 15).

See also

  • Ardumanish
    Ardumanish

    Ardumani? was a Persian people nobleman and son of Vakauka. He was one of the seven conspirators who killed the Magian Gaumata, who had attempted to usurp the throne of the Achaemenid Empire, and helped Darius the Great become king....