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It came after the death of Cambyses, during the reign of a great king named Darius.
這是在岡比西斯死之后，在一位名叫大流士的偉大君主的統治期間。
He governed the vast Persian empire – which now stretched from Egypt to the frontiers of India – in such a way that nothing happened anywhere that he himself had not decreed.
他將如今從埃及延伸至印度邊境的整個巨大的波斯帝國管理得井井有條——他的政令到處都得以暢通實施。
He built roads so that his orders might be carried without delay to the furthest parts of his kingdom.
他建造道路，使他的命令立刻就能傳達到帝國的四面八方，
And even his highest officials, the satraps, were spied on by informers known as 'the king's eyes and ears'.
他也使用自己的那些稱為“國王的耳目”的密探監視他的那些稱為地方總督的最高級官員。
Darius now began to extend his empire out into Asia Minor, along whose coasts lay the cities of the Ionian Greeks.
這個大流士還把帝國擴展到小亞細亞，那些伊安尼爾人的希臘城市便坐落在小亞細亞的海岸。
Now the Greeks were not used to being part of a great empire,
那時希臘人根本不習慣從屬于一個大帝國并聽命于一個君主，
with a ruler who sent orders from God knows where in the heart of Asia, expecting instant obedience.
這個君主在亞洲中心的天知道的什么地方發布命令。
Many of the people who lived in the Greek colonies were rich merchants,
希臘殖民地的居民大都是富有的商人，
used to running their own affairs and making their own decisions about the administration of their cities, jointly and independently.
他們習慣共同或獨立自主地安排和處理他們的市政事務。
