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ARTAXERXES
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ARTAXERXES , a name representing Pers. Artakhshatra, " he whose See also:empire is well-fitted " or " perfected ", Heb. Artakhshasta, Bab. Artakshat.su, Susian Irtakshashsha (and variants), Gr. 'Apra kpEns, 'AproEEpErls, and in an inscription of See also:Tralles (Dittenberger, Sylloge, 573) 'ApraEVags; See also:Herodotus (vi. 98) gives the See also:translation giyas apiitos, and considers the name as a See also:compound of See also:Xerxes, showing thereby that he knew nothing of the See also:Persian See also:language; the later Persian See also:form is See also:Ardashir, which occurs in the form Artaxias (Artaxes) as the name of some See also:kings of See also:Armenia. It was See also:borne by three kings of the Achaemenian See also:dynasty of See also:ancient See also:Persia; though, so See also:long as its meaning was understood, it can have been adopted by the kings only after their See also:accession to the See also:throne. 1. ARTAXERXES I., surnamed Macrocheir, Longimanus, "Long-See also:hand," because his right hand was longer than his See also:left (Plut. Artax.i.). He was the younger son of Xerxes, and was raised to the throne in 465 by the See also:vizier See also:Artabanus, the murderer of his See also:father. After a few months he became aware of the crimes of the vizier, and slew him and his sons in a hand-to-hand fight in the See also:palace. His reign was, on the whole, peaceful; the empire had reached a See also:period of stagnation. See also:Plutarch (Artax. i.) says that he was famous for his mild and magnanimous See also:character, See also:Nepos (de Reg. i.) that he was exceedingly beautiful and valiant. From the See also:authentic See also:report of his See also:cup-See also:bearer See also:Nehemiah we see that he was a See also:kind, See also:good-natured, but rather weak monarch, and he was undoubtedly much under the baneful See also:influence of his See also:mother Amestris (for whose mischievous character cf. See also:Herod. . ix. 1(39 ff.) and his See also:sister and wife Amytis. The peacefulness of his See also:rule was interrupted by several insurrections. At the very beginning the See also:satrap Artabanus raised a See also:rebellion in See also:Bactria, but was defeated in two battles. More dangerous was the rebellion of See also:Egypt under Inarus (Inaros), which was put down by Megabyzus only after a long struggle against the Egyptians and the Athenians:(46o-454). Out of it sprang the rebellion of Megabyzus, who was greatly exasperated because, though he had persuaded Inarus to surrender by promising that his See also:life would be spared, Artaxerxes, yielding to the entreaties of his wife Amytis, who wanted to take revenge on Inarus for the See also:death of her See also:brother See also:Achaemenes, the satrap of Egypt, had surrendered him to her for See also:execution. In spite of his weakness, Artaxerxes I. was not unsuccessful in his polity. In 448 the See also:war with See also:Athens was terminated by the treaty concluded by See also:Callias (but see CALLIAS and See also:CIMON), by which the Athenians left See also:Cyprus and Egypt to the Persians, while Persia gave up nothing of her rights, but promised not to make use of them against the See also:Greek cities on the See also:Asiatic See also:coast, which had gained their See also:liberty (Ed. See also:Meyer, Forschungen zur alt. Gesch. ii. 71 ff.). In the Samian and the Peloponnesian See also:wars, Artaxerxes remained neutral, in spite of the attempts made by both See also:Sparta and Athens to gain his See also:alliance.
During the reign of Artaxerxes I. the Jewish See also:religion was definitely established and sanctioned by See also:law in See also:Jerusalem, on the basis of a See also:firman granted by the See also: See also:Inscriptions of the king himself are not extant; his See also:grandson mentions his buildings in See also:Susa. For the suggested See also:identification of Artaxerxes I. with the Biblical See also:Ahasuerus, see AHASUERUS. 2. ARTAXERXES II., surnamed Mnemon, the eldest son of See also:Darius II., whom he succeeded in the See also:spring of 404. According to See also:Ctesias (Pers. S7; Plut. Artax. i.) he was formerly called See also:Arsaces or Arsikas, whereas Dinon (Plut. Artax. i.) calls him Oarses. This is corroborated by a Babylonian tablet with observations of the See also:moon (Brit. See also:Mus. Sp. ii. 749; Zeitsch. f. Assyriologie, vii. 223), which is dated from the 26th year of " Arshu, who is Artakshatsu," i.e. 379 B.C. (cp. Ed. Meyer, Forschungen zur See also:alien Geschichte, ii. 466 ff.). When Artaxerxes II. mounted the throne, the See also:power of Athens had been broken by See also:Lysander, and the Greek towns in See also:Asia were again subjects of the Persian empire. But his whole reign is a See also:time of continuous decay; the See also:original force of the Persians had been exhausted in luxury and intrigues, and the king, though personally brave and good-natured, was quite dependent upon his favourites and his See also:harem, and especially upon his mother See also:Parysatis. In the beginning of his reign falls the rebellion of his brother See also:Cyrus, who was secretly favoured by Parysatis and by Sparta. Although Cyrus was defeated at Cunaxa, this rebellion was disastrous inasmuch as it opened to the Greeks the way into the interior of the empire, and demonstrated that no See also:oriental force was able to withstand a See also:band of well-trained Greek soldiers. Subsequently Greek mercenaries became indispensable not only to the king but also to the satraps, who thereby gained the means for attempting successful rebellions, into which they were provoked by the weakness of the king, and by the continuous intrigues between the Persian magnates. 
The reign is, therefore, a continuous See also:succession of rebellions. Egypt soon revolted anew and could not be subdued again. When in 399 war See also:broke out between Sparta and Persia, the Persian troops in Asia See also:Minor were quite unable to resist the Spartan armies. The active and energetic Persian See also:general See also:Pharnabazus succeeded in creating a See also:fleet by the help of See also:Evagoras, king of See also:Salamis in Cyprus, and the Athenian See also:commander See also:Conon, and destroyed the Spartan fleet at See also:Cnidus (See also:August 394). This victory enabled the Greek See also:allies of Persia (See also:Thebes, Athens, See also:Argos, See also:Corinth) to carry on the Corinthian war against Sparta, and the Spartans had to give up the war in Asia Minor. But it soon became evident that the only gainers by the war were the Athenians, who in 389, under See also:Thrasybulus, tried to found their old empire anew (see DELIAN See also:LEAGUE). At the same time Evagoras attempted to conquer the whole of Cyprus, and was soon in open rebellion. The consequence was that, when in 388 the Spartan See also:admiral See also:Antalcidas (q.v.) came to Susa, the king was induced to conclude a See also:peace with Sparta by which Asia See also:fell to him and See also:European See also:Greece to Sparta. After the peace, Evagoras was attacked. He lost his conquests, but had to be recognized as See also:independent king of Salamis (38o B.C.). Two expeditions against Egypt (385—383 and 374—372) ended in See also:complete failure. At the same period there were continuous rebellions in Asia Minor; See also:Pisidia, See also:Paphlagonia, See also:Bithynia and See also:Lycia, threw off the Persian yoke and Hecatomnus, the satrap of See also:Caria, obtained an almost independent position. Similar wars were going on against the See also:mountain tribes of Armenia and See also:Iran, especially against the Cadusians on the See also:Caspian See also:Sea. In this war Artaxerxes is said to have distinguished himself personally (38o B.c.), but got into such difficulties in the See also:wild See also:country that he was glad when Tiribazus succeeded in concluding a peace with the Cadusian chieftains. By the peace of Antalcidas the Persian supremacy was See also:pro-claimed over Greece; and in the following wars all parties, Spartans, Athenians, Thebans, Argives continually applied to Persia for a decision in their favour. After the See also:battle of See also:Leuctra, when the power of Thebes was founded by See also:Epaminondas, See also:Pelopidas went to Susa (367) and restored the old alliance between Persia and Thebes. The Persian supremacy, however, was not based upon the power of the empire, but only on the discord of the Greeks. Shortly after the See also:edict by which the king had proclaimed his alliance with Thebes, and the conditions of the general peace which he was going to impose upon Greece, his weakness became evident, for since ;56 all the satraps of Asia Minor (Datames, See also:Ariobarzanes, See also:Mausolus, See also:Orontes, Artabazus) were in rebellion again, in See also:close alliance with Athens, Sparta and Egypt. The king could do little against them; even Autophradates, satrap of See also:Lydia, who had remained faithful, was forced for some time to unite himself with the rebels. But every one of the allies mistrusted all the others; and the See also:sole See also:object of every satrap was to improve his See also:condition and his See also:personal power, and to make a favourable peace with the king, for which his neighbours and former allies had to pay the See also:costs. The rebellion was at last put down by a series of treacheries and perfidious negotiations. Some of the rebels retained their provinces; others were punished, as opportunity offered. See also:Mithradates betrayed his own father Ariobarzanes, who was crucified, and murdered Datames, to whom he had introduced himself as a faithful ally. When the long reign of Artaxerxes II. came to its close in the autumn of 359 the authority of the empire had been restored almost everywhere. Artaxerxes himself had done very little to obtain this result. In fact, in the last years of his reign he had sunk into a perfect dotage. All his time was spent in the pleasures of his harem, the intrigues of which were further complicated by his falling in love with and marrying his own daughter Atossa (according to the Persian religion a See also:marriage between the nearest relations is no See also:incest). At the same time, his sons were quarrelling about the succession; one of them, Ochus, induced the father by a series of intrigues to condemn to death three of his older See also:brothers, who stood in his way. Shortly afterwards, Artaxerxes II. died. In this reign an important innovation took place in the Persian religion. See also:Berossus (in Clemens Alex. Protrept. i. 5. 65) tells us that the Persians knew of no images of the gods until Artaxerxes II. erected images of Anaitis in See also:Babylon, Susa, See also:Ecbatana, See also:Persepolis, Bactra, See also:Damascus, See also:Sardis. This statement is proved correct by the inscriptions; all the former kings name only Auramazda (Ahuramazda), but Artaxerxes II. in his See also:building inscriptions from Susa and Ecbatana invokes Ahuramazda, Anahita and Mithra. These two gods belonged to the old popular religion of the Iranians, but had until then been neglected by the true Zoroastrians; now they were introduced into the See also:official See also:worship much in the way in which the cult of the See also:saints came into the See also:Christian religion. About the See also:history of Artaxerxes II. we are comparatively well informed from Greek See also:sources; for the earlier See also:part of his reign from Ctesias and See also:Xenophon (See also:Anabasis), for the later times from Dinon of See also:Ephesus, the historian of the Persians (from whom the account of See also:Justin is derived), from See also:Ephorus (whose account is quoted by Diodorus) and others. Upon these sources is based the See also:biography of the king by Plutarch.
3. ARTAXERXES III. is the See also:title adopted by Ochus, the son of Artaxerxes II., when he succeeded his father in 359. The chronographers generally retain the name Ochus, and in the Babylonian inscriptions he is called " Umasu, who is called Artakshatsu." The same form of the name (probably pronounced Uvasu) occurs in the Syrian version of the See also:canon of See also:Ptolemy by See also:Elias of See also:Nisibis (See also:Amos).
Artaxerxes III. was a cruel but an energetic ruler. To secure his throne he put to death almost all his relatives, but he sup-pressed the rebellions also. In 356 he ordered all the satraps to dismiss their mercenaries. Most of them obeyed; Artabazus of See also:Phrygia, who tried to resist and was supported by his brothers-in-law, See also:Mentor and See also:Memnon of See also:Rhodes, was defeated and fled to See also: One or two years later Artaxerxes, at the See also:head of a great See also:army, began the See also:siege of Sidon. The Sidonian king Tennes considered resistance hopeless, and betrayed the See also:town to the Persian king, assisted by Mentor, who had been sent with Greek troops from Egypt to defend the town. Artaxerxes repressed the rebellion with great See also:cruelty and destroyed the town. The traitor Tennes was put to death, but Mentor See also:rose high in the favour of the king, and entered into a close alliance with the See also:eunuch See also:Bagoas, the king's favourite and vizier. They succeeded in subjecting the other rebels, and, after a hard fight at See also:Pelusium, and many intrigues, conquered Egypt (343) ; Nectanebus fled to See also:Ethiopia. Artaxerxes used his victory with great cruelty; he plundered the See also:Egyptian temples and is said to have killed the See also:Apis. After his return to Susa, Bagoas ruled the See also:court and the upper satrapies, while Mentor restored the authority of the empire everywhere in the See also:west. He deposed or killed many Greek dynasts, among them the famous See also:Hermias of Atarneus, the See also:protector of See also:Aristotle, who had friendly relations with Philip (342 B.C.). When Philip attacked See also:Perinthus and See also:Byzantium (340), Artaxerxes sent them support, by which they were enabled to withstand the Macedonians; Philip's antagonists in Greece, See also:Demosthenes and his party, hoped to get subsidies from the king, but were disappointed. In 338 Artaxerxes III., with his older sons, was killed by Bagoas, who raised his youngest son See also:Arses to the throne. Artaxerxes III. is said never to have entered the country of Persia proper, because, being a great See also:miser, he would not pay the See also:present of a See also:gold piece for every Persian woman, which it was usual to give on such occasions (Plut. Alex. 69). But we have a building inscription from Persepolis, which contains his name and See also:genealogy, and invocations of Ahuramazda and Mithra. For the relations of Artaxerxes I.—Ill. with the Jews see JEws, §§19-2I. For See also:bibliographical references see PERSIA: Ancient History. The name Artaxerxes was adopted by See also:Bessus when he proclaimed himself king after the assassination of Darius III. It was borne by several dynasts of See also:Persis, when it formed an independent See also:kingdom in the time of the See also:Parthian empire (on their coins they See also:call themselves Artakhshathr; one of them is mentioned by See also:Lucian, Macrobii, 15), and by three kings of the See also:Sassanid dynasty, who are better known under the See also:modern form Ardashir (q.v.). (ED. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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