BABYLON AND PERSIA

DAREIOS I. : YEARS OF PEACE. 39 1not see that Babylon, Asia Minor, Phoenicia, orEgypt e'^er renounced their own monetary sta'ndards.5. Seven yearsfrom 51$ to 508 B.C.were de¬voted by Dareios to works of peace. This short periodsufficed him for all the innovations and reformswhich turned an empire loosely composed of discon¬nected and incongruous elements into a compactstate, the first model of modern monarchies. It wasalso during this interval that he began and in greatpart achieved the constructions which, being contin¬ued by his son and grandson, are the immortal gloryof the eariy Akhaemenian era. We have seen thatSusa was considered by foreigners and virtually wasthe capital of the empire, being fitted for the pur¬pose by its ancient royal associations and especiallyby its vicinity to such important centres, alwaysneeding supervision, as Babylon and Agbatana, aswell as to the' Syrian provinces and Asia Minor.Yet Susa was by no means exclusively honored bythe king's presence. It became customary for himto spend a portion of each year at the other twocapitals, from motives both of policy and health,Babylon offering the inducements of a deliciouswinter climate, while Agbatana, cool and secludedamidst the Zagros highlands, was an incomparableresort for the summer months. But the Persianmonarch could not neglect his own native state.He was bound, on the contrary, to endow it with aroyal residence that should equal, if not surpass inbeauty and magnificence, those of the older rivalcountries. So Dareios selected a favorable and ap-'propriate site in the finest, healthiest, and most fqr-