Facing chronic instability after years of rebellion, Darius reorganized the sprawling Persian Empire into twenty administrative regions called satrapies, each ruled by a governor, to strengthen and stabilize imperial rule.

150:34empire could be. He was determined  to bring about a number of reforms designed to strengthen it and turn it  into a power that could last. To help him with the administration of this unwieldy  territory, Darius reorganized the empire, dividing it into 20 regions over which governors  ruled. These governors were called kh-sha-thra-pavan, which would enter Greek as the word ‘satrap’. These  regions would thus become known as satrapies.

151:14Darius also issued a standard currency  based on gold and silver coins called darics, mostly used in the Western Empire. These were  stamped with an image of a king holding a bow, and would soon be found all around the  ancient world. He also standardized a system of weights and measures, allowing for a  level of coordination in the Achaemenid economy. The economy is actually one of the few areas  where the Persians themselves are able to

151:53speak in the light of history, and that is due  to one remarkable find that occurred in 1933. In that year, archaeologists excavating the ruined  palaces of Persepolis uncovered two small chambers within a bastion along the fortification wall at  the edge of the great stone terrace. There, they discovered a vast cache of tens of thousands  of clay tablets and fragments. These texts, which today are known as the Persepolis Fortification  Tablets, offer a rare glimpse into the workings

152:34of the Achaemenid administrative system. They are  written almost exclusively in Elamite, but some also appear in Phrygian, Aramaic, Old Persian, and  even Greek, and record the collection, transfer, and storage of goods in the region around Persepolis,  controlling the movements of grain and fruit, sheep, goats, cattle and poultry, as well  as flour, bread, beer, wine, fruits, oil, meat, and animal hides. These resources were  distributed to temples, members of the royal