The report they sent to him was written as follows: “To King Darius: All greetings!

A scroll was found in the citadel of Ecbatana which is in the province of Media, and it was inscribed as follows: “Memorandum:

so that he may initiate a search of the records of his predecessors and discover in those records that this city is rebellious and injurious to both kings and provinces, producing internal revolts from long ago. It is for this very reason that this city was destroyed.