Darius the Mede

DARIO the Mede. — A figure mentioned in the book of Daniel (v.) as king of Babylon between the end of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty, represented by Baldassarre (Dan. 6:1), and the advent of Ciro the Persian (cf. 6:29). The information concerning a Median kingdom, intermediary between the Babylonian kingdom and the Persian conquest, stands in contrast both with the evidence of Oriental documents and with the depiction of the pagan empires of the East given by the book of Daniel, in which Medes and Persians form a single historical entity. It is therefore probable that the mention of this fictitious figure is due to the retouching of a redactor, I (v.) of Hystaspes (organizer of the Persian Empire through the system of satrapies, as is said in Dan. 6:2 of D. the Mede), but attributing to him the chronological position of Ciro, the true successor of the last Neo-Babylonian king.