Around 500 BC, this problem was particularly acute for one king above all. He'd taken control of a kingdom so large. It was the world's first empire. He needed to find a new way to impose his power across all of this vast territory. He was Darius the Great, the king of the Persians and his capital was Persepolis.

Persepolis is in Iran, one of the wonders of the ancient world. 2,500 years ago, it stood at the heart of Darius’s vast empire, an empire that stretched thousands of miles from the Mediterranean in the west to India in the east. From here, Darius ruled over millions of people across more than twenty nations. He carved the names of the most far-flung nations on a block of solid gold and buried it under Persepolis for posterity. But how on earth could he rule over so many diverse peoples? Darius came up with a plan, a new kind of political leadership which he outlined in a series of inscriptions. Their message was radical. Rather than war and brutality, Darius offered peace and cooperation.

In a war between two nations, I intervene to protect the weak. I am justice and have been asked by God to promote happiness.

Well, it's visionary stuff. The challenge to Darius, however, was how to communicate this to everyone else. His empire was one in which very few people could read, also one in which there were dozens of different languages. So how was he going to spread the word? Darius'sbrainwave was the beginning of nothing less than an artistic revolution. The walls of Persepolis are covered with awe-inspiring images. But there was something unusual about them. These stone reliefs are not just from one artistic style, but combined elements from all over the empire.

words to remember:

1.far-flung: distant 遥远的

2.brainwave: 灵机

3. relief: 浮雕