The central depiction of Darius the Great and its inscription (ΔΑΡΕΙΟΣ, top right) gave the vase, its name the “Darius Vase.” Darius PainterĪn anonymous artist painted the Darius Vase, who is today commonly called the Darius Painter. The Darius vase may have represented a scene from a Greek drama. The use of pebbles on a marked board to make calculations, echos the fact that the Latin word for “pebble” is “calx,” which is the etymological root for the word “calculation.” The tax collector also holds an open diptych wax tablet in which can be read the letters “one hundred talents.” On a table lays a calculating tablet with several counters in front of the Greek numerals. The bottom tier shows the Royal Treasurer receiving payments from various conquered nations, whose representatives crouch before him. Xerxes I, still a Prince, is second from right. A bodyguard stands behind him, as Darius is listening to his War Council debate the question of War with the Greeks.
The middle Tiet shows Darius I seated, wearing a long, ornate, sleeved robe and a high Persian hat. In the top tier, above Darius stands a line of Greek Gods that include: Artemis riding a stag, Apollo seated holding a swan, Aphrodite together with Eros, and Zeus holding a winged thunderbolt.
The “Darius Vase” was discovered in 1851 near Canosa di Puglia and is now on display at the National Archaeological Museum, Naples. It is an essential example of Apulian vase painting. The pottery was produced between 340 and 320 BCE, by a workshop in the Greek city of Taranto, ancient Taras, Magna Graecia, before the fall of Taranto to the Romans. The Darius Vase is a famous vase painted by an unknown Magna Graecia Apulian vase painter.