Darius's attempt to invade the land of the Scythians of Europe seems somewhat strange in these years of development and tranquility.. There are several different theories about Darius's purpose and motivation for this campaign. Perhaps he wanted to punish them for the destructive attacks they had repeatedly made on the land of Iran, and to permanently discourage them from carrying out such attacks, a possibility that Herodotus also quotes..
In the land of the Scythians, Darius, instead of facing the resistance of these tribes, faced their retreat.. For two months, the Iranian army was wandering through the deserts and endless plains looking for the enemy, and the result that Darius wanted from this campaign did not come immediately.. Although this campaign caused heavy losses to Darius, the goal of this campaign was realized shortly after, because both the Scythians did not think of encroaching on Iran's borders for a long time and the Greek wheat and timber trade centers came under Iranian control..
