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The Last Wishes of Darius The Great

 
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stefania



Joined: 17 Jul 2003
Posts: 4250
Location: Italy

PostPosted: Tue Jun 01, 2004 6:15 pm    Post subject: The Last Wishes of Darius The Great Reply with quote

The Last Wishes of Darius The Great

Last will and testament of King Darius who ruled Persia from 522 to 486
B.C.

As I am about to depart this world, twenty-five countries are part of
the Persian Empire. In all of these countries, Persian currency is
accepted, and Persians enjoy a particular respect in these countries. My
successor, Khashyar Shah must, like me, work to retain these countries.
And the way to retain them is to not interfere in their internal affairs,
and to respect each country's religion and ritual.

As I am about to depart this world, you have twelve koroure in gold in
the royal treasury; this gold is one of the pillars of your power. A
king's power is not just dependent on the sword, but on wealth as well.
Remember that you must add to this treasury and not diminish it. I am
not suggesting that under dire circumstances, you should not take gold
out of it, as the rule for this treasury gold is that it must be used
when necessary, but at first chance, return what you have taken to the
treasury. I am indebted to your mother Atousa, so you must, at all times,
ensure her happiness and peace of mind.



For ten years, I have been busy building grain silos all around the
country. I learned the method of building these cone-like stone structures
in Egypt, and since the silos are intermittently emptied, insects do
not thrive there and grain can be stored in these silos for several years
without rotting. And you must continue the work of building these silos
until the time when they can hold two to three years' reserve for the
whole country. And each year, after the harvest, use the stored grain to
eliminate shortages and replenish the silos after harvesting and this
way, you shall never worry about foodstuff in this country, even if you
face two or three years of draught.

Never appoint your friends, or intimate servants to governmental posts,
since for them the privilege of your friendship should suffice. If you
appoint your friends and servants to governmental posts, and they
inflict injustice on the people, and abuse their position, you will be
unable to punish them, since they are your friends, and you must bear in
mind this friendship.

The canal I wanted to build between the Nile and the Red Sea is not yet
finished, and finishing this waterway is very important from the
perspective of the military and commerce. You must finish this canal, and the
fees for passage of ships must not be so steep that captains will
prefer avoiding it.

I have sent an army to Egypt with the task of bringing law and order to
that land; I still have not had the chance to send a force to Greece.
You must finish this work. Attack the Greeks with a powerful army, and
make the Greeks understand that the Persian king has the power to punish
those who commit atrocities.

My other recommendation to you is that you should never allow
sycophants and liars in your entourage, since they are both plagues to
monarchies; you should ruthlessly turn away all liars.

Never allow government bureaucrats to have dominion over the populace;
in order to prevent such domination, I have passed tax laws, and
limited the contacts between the people and bureaucrats; if you preserve
these laws, the contacts between the people and government officials will
be minimal.

Keep officers and soldiers of your army content, and never mistreat
them. If you mistreat them, they cannot respond in kind, but instead, they
will take their revenge in the theater of war, even if such revenge
costs them their lives; their revenge will take the shape of inaction and
surrender, and through this they prepare the ground for your defeat.

Continue the education reforms that I began, and allow your subjects to
learn how to read and write and increase their intelligence; the more
intelligent they are, the more you can rule with an easy mind. Always
defend the faith of worshiping Yazdan, but never force any group to
follow your faith, and always bear in mind that everyone should be free to
pursue whatever faith he or she desire.

When I bid farewell to life, wash my body, and enwrap me in the shroud
I have prepared, and put me in a coffin made of stone and place me in
my grave. But do not cover my grave, thus allowing yourself the chance
to occasionally come to the tomb and see my stone coffin, and remind
yourself that there lies my father, a man who authoritatively ruled over
twenty five countries, and now he is dead, and I too shall one day die
like him.

It is human fate to die, and it makes no difference whether you are a
king of twenty-five countries or a poor wood-gatherer, and no one
remains eternally in this world. If you do not visit my tomb every time you
have a chance and see my coffin, pride and selfishness will overcome
you, but when you are near your death, order them to close my grave, and
then in your will, ask your son to keep your grave open so that he can
see the coffin holding your body.

Never, never be a judge and a prosecutor in the same case, and if you
have a claim against someone, ask an impartial judge to adjudicate the
case, and issue a judgment. Since if someone who is the claimant is also
the judge, he will invariably commit injustice.

Never cease the work of developing the country. If you cease the work
of development, the country will inexorably fall into a state of
disarray. It is a rule that a country that is not improving falls into
desolation. In the work of developing, the construction of new aqueducts.
(ghanats), the building of new roads and the establishment of cities must
be giving top priority.

Never forget forgiveness and generosity and know that after justice,
the highest quality for a king is forgiveness and generosity. But mercy
must be offered when the injustice has been committed against you; if
the offender has committed an injustice against someone else and you
pardon the crime, you have committed an injustice yourself, for you have
ignored someone else's rights.

I will say no more. I have made these statements in front of those who
are now, in your absence, in attendance; I want them to know that I
have made these suggestions before my death, and now to leave me alone, as
I feel the hour of my death is near.
_________________
Referendum AFTER Regime Change

"I'm ready to die for you to be able to say your own opinions, even if i strongly disagree with you" (Voltaire)
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reza



Joined: 11 Mar 2004
Posts: 466
Location: England

PostPosted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thats beautiful, darius = Cool
_________________
"When on the battlefield if you have the sole intention of breaking into the enemy lines, you will manifest martial valour. Furthermore if you are slain in battle you should be resolved to having your corpse facing the enemy" - Yamamoto tsunetomo
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