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Document Details : Title: Darius I and the Daric Reconsidered Author(s): VARGYAS, Péter Journal: Iranica Antiqua Volume: 35 Date: 2000 Pages: 33-46 DOI: 10.2143/IA.35.0.519095 Abstract : The designation of the famous Achaemenid gold coins known to us as darics derives, as the majority of scholars today think, from the name of Darius. The author reconsiders some of the accepted beliefs concerning the introduction of the daric by Darius I. The conclusion reached in the article is that the monetary reform was realised in at least two steps in the first decade of Darius' rule. The first was the introduction of the siglos before the end of 521, mainly for military and propagandistic reasons, but some years later widely used in the economic life of the empire. The second (and perhaps final) phase was the creation of the daric before 512 mainly for purpose of prestige and seldom if ever used in the economic life of the Achaemenid Empire. If these dates can be accepted, earlier explanations for the evident anomalities of the reform can now be discarded. |
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