When Darius settled onto the throne of Babylon, his first act was not a military campaign or a political purge. He sent for Daniel. According to the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, a 12th-century Hebrew chronicle translated by Moses Gaster in 1899, the aging king placed a throne for Daniel beside his own and made a confession that no monarch admits easily: he was too old and too tired to govern alone.
"Give me counsel what to do," Darius said, "for the spirit of the God of heaven is with thee. I am old now and wanting in strength. Continual wars make me faint, and I am no longer able to bear the burden of my people, to judge between man and man, to reward the righteous and punish the wicked."
Daniel's advice was practical and immediate. He told Darius to appoint three officers, men of valor and truth, to share the weight of governance. They would judge disputes among the people while the king rested in his palace. Only matters too weighty for the judges would rise to the throne. Darius followed this counsel exactly, appointing two princes of his army with Daniel set in authority above them.
The king then issued a remarkable decree throughout his entire kingdom. He commanded his subjects to honor the God of Daniel, calling Him "the great God over all other gods." He publicly acknowledged that Daniel had given him true counsel and appointed Daniel as vicegerent over the two princes. Anyone who violated Daniel's authority would forfeit his life. The princes, governors, and rulers of every province obeyed, for as the chronicle notes, the holy spirit was with Daniel.