I cannot think, with Mr. Hussey, that there is any reason for believing either the name or the coin Daric to be older than Darius son of Hystaspês. Compare Boeckh, Metrologie, ix, 5, p. 129.
Particular statements respecting the value of gold and silver, as exchanged one against the other, are to be received with some reserve as the basis of any general estimate, since we have not the means of comparing a great many such statements together. For the process of coinage was imperfectly performed, and the different pieces, both of gold and silver, in circulation, differed materially in weight one with the other. Herodotus gives the ratio of gold to silver as 13 : 1.
[431] Herodot. iii, 96.
[432] Herodot. v, 52-53; viii, 98. “It appears to be a favorite idea with all barbarous princes, that the badness of the roads adds considerably to the natural strength of their dominions. The Turks and Persians are undoubtedly of this opinion: the public highways are, therefore, neglected, and particularly so towards the frontiers.” (Kinneir, Geog. Mem. of Pers. p. 43.)
The description of Herodotus contrasts favorably with the picture here given by Mr. Kinneir.
[433] Herodot. iii, 120.
[434] Herodot. iii, 39; Thucyd. i, 13.
[435] Herodot. iii, 40-42. ... ἤν δὲ μὴ ἐναλλὰξ ἤδη τὠπὸ τούτου αἱ εὐτυχίαι τοι τοιαύταισι πάθαισι προσπίπτωσι, τρόπῳ τῷ ἐξ ἐμεῦ ὑποκειμένῳ ἀκέο: compare vii, 203, and i, 32.
[436] Herodot. iii, 44.
[437] Herodot. iii, 44.