Some 400 miles [640 km] to the southeast of their summer residence at Ecbatana, the Persian emperors built a gigantic palace at Persepolis. A relief there shows Darius on his throne, and on an inscription he boasts: “I am Darius, great king, king of kings, king of lands . . . who constructed this palace.” A few towering columns of this splendid capital still stand today.

Some 400 miles [640 km] to the southeast of their summer residence at Ecbatana, the Persian emperors built a gigantic palace at Persepolis. A relief there shows Darius on his throne, and on an inscription he boasts: “I am Darius, great king, king of kings, king of lands . . . who constructed this palace.”