Artaxerxes
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Artaxerxis Proper-name noun: masculine genitive singular of Artaxerxes
- the name of several Persian kings, Nep. Reg. 1, 3; Just. 3, 1; 10, 3 al.
➳ acc. em et surtout en.
or Artoxerxes (Ἀρταξέρξης or Ἀρτοξέρξης) is the name of three Persian kings, and signifies, according to Herodotus (6.98), "the great warrior" (ὁ μέγας ἀρήϊος). The word is compounded of Arta, which means " honoured" [see p. 284a.], and Xerxes, which is probably the same as the Zend, ksathra, and the Sanscrit, kshatra, " a king:" consequently Artaxerxes would mean " the honoured king."
surnamed Longimanus (Μακρόχειρ) from the circumstance of his right hand being longer than his left (Plut. Art. 1), was king of Persia for forty years, from B. C. 465 to B. C. 425. (Diod. 11.69, 12.64; Thuc. 4.50.) He ascended the throne after his father, Xerxes I., had been murdered by Artabanus, and after he himself had put to death his brother Darcius on the instigation of Artabanus. (Just. 3.1 ; Ctesias, apud Phot. Bibl. p. 40a., ed. Bekk.) His reign is characterized by Plutarch and Diodorus (11.71) as wise and temperate, but it was disturbed by several dangerous insurrections of the satraps. At the time of his accession his only surviving brother Hystaspes was satrap of Bactria, and Artaxerxes had scarcely punished Artabanus and his associates, before Hystaspes attempted to make himself independent. After putting down this insurrection and deposing several other satraps who refused to obey his commands, Artaxerxes turned his attention to the regulation of the financial and military affairs of his empire. These beneficent exertions were interrupted in B. C. 462, or, according to Clinton, in B. C. 460, by the insurrection of the Egyptians under Inarus, who was supported by the Athenians. The first army which Artaxerxes sent under his brother Achaemenes was defeated, and Achaemenes slain. After a useless attempt to incite the Spartans to a war against Athens, Artaxerxes sent a second army under Artabazus and Megabyzus into Egypt. A remnant of the forces of Achaemenes, who were still besieged in a place called the white castle (λευκόν τεῖχος), near Memphis, was relieved, and the fleet of the Athenians destroyed by the Athenians themselves, who afterwards quitted Egypt. Inarus, too, was defeated in B. C. 456 or 455, but Amyrtaeus, another chief of the insurgents, maintained himself in the marshes of lower Egypt. (Thuc. 1.104, 109; Diod. 11.71, 74, 77.) In B. C. 449, Cimon sent 60 of his fleet of 300 ships to the assistance of Amyrtaeus, and with the rest endeavoured to wrest Cyprus from the Persians. Notwithstanding the death of Cimon, the Athenians gained two victories, one by land and the other by sea, in the neigbourhood of Salamis in Cyprus. After this defeat Artaxerxes is said to have commanded his generals to conclude peace with the Greeks on any terms. The conditions on which this peace is said to have been concluded are as follows :--that the Greek towns in Asia should be restored to perfect independence; that no Persian satrap should approach the western coast of Asia nearer than the distance of a three days' journey; and that no Persian ship should sail through the Bosporus, or pass the town of Phaselis or the Chelidonian islands on the coast of Lycia. (Diod. 12.4; comp. Thirlwall, Hist. of Greece, iii. p. 37, &c.) Thucydides knows nothing of this humiliating peace, and it seems in fact to have been fabricated in the age subsequent to the events to which it relates. Soon after these occurrences Megabyzus revolted in Syria, because Artaxerxes had put Inarus to death contrary to the promise which Megabyzus had made to Inarus, when he made him his prisoner. Subsequently, however, Megabyzus became reconciled to his master. (Ctesias, apud Phot. Bibl. p. 50, &c.; comp. Megabyzus, Inarus.) Artaxerxes appears to have passed the latter years of his reign in peace. On his death in B. C. 425, he was succeeded by his son Xerxes II. (Clinton, Fast. Hell. ii., sub anno, 455, and p. 380.)
Surnamed Mnemon (Μνήμων) from his good memory, succeeded his father, Dareius II., as king of Persia, and reigned from B. C. 405 to B. C. 362. (Diod. 13.104, 108.) Cyrus, the younger brother of Artaxerxes, was the favourite of his mother Parysatis, and she endeavoured to obtain the throne for him; but Dareius gave to Cyrus only the satrapy of western Asia, and Artaxerxes on his accession confirmed his brother in his satrapy, on the request of Parysatis, although he suspected him. (Xenoph. Anab. 1.1.3 ; Plut. Art. 3.) Cyrus, however, revolted against his brother, and supported by Greek mercenaries invaded Upper Asia. In the neighbourhood of Cunaxa, Cyrus gained a great victory over the far more numerous army of his brother, B. C. 400], but was slain in the battle. [Cyrus.] Tissaphernes was appointed satrap of western Asia in the place of Cyrus (Xenoph. Hellen. 3.1.3), and was actively engaged in wars with the Greeks. [Thimbron; Dercyllidas; Agesilaus.]
Notwithstanding these perpetual conflicts with the Greeks, the Persian empire maintained itself by the disunion among the Greeks themselves, which was fomented and kept up by Persian money. The peace of Antalcidas, in B. C. 388, gave the Persians even greater power and influence than they had possessed before. [Antalcidas.] But the empire was suffering from internal disturbances and confusion : Artaxerxes himself was a weak man; his mother, Parysatis, carried on her horrors at the court with truly oriental cruelty; and slaves and eunuchs wielded the reins of government. Tributary countries and satraps endeavoured, under such circumstances, to make themselves independent, and the exertions which it was necessary to make against the rebels exhausted the strength of the empire. Artaxerxes thus had to maintain a long struggle against Evagoras of Cyprus, from B. C. 385 to B. C. 376, and yet all he could gain was to confine Evagoras to his original possession, the town of Salamis and its vicinity, and to compel him to pay a moderate tribute. (Diod. 15.9.) At the same time he had to carry on war against the Cardusians, on the shores of the Caspian sea; and after his numerous army was with great difficulty saved from total destruction, he concluded a peace without gaining any advantages. (Diod. 15.9, 10; Plut. Art. 24.) His attempts to recover Egypt were unsuccessful, and the general insurrection of his subjects in Asia Minor failed only through treachery among the insurgents themselves. (Diod. 15.90, &c.) When Artaxerxes felt that the end of his life was approaching, he endeavoured to prevent all quarrels respecting the succession by fixing upon Dareius, the eldest of his three legitimate sons (by his concubines he had no less than 115 sons, Just. 10.1), as his successor, and granted to him all the outward distinctions of royalty. But Dareius soon after fell out with his father about Aspasia, and formed a plot to assassinate him. But the plot was betrayed, and Dareius was put to death with many of his accomplices. (Plut. Art. 26, &c.; Justin. l.c.) Of the two remaining legitimate sons, Ochus and Ariaspes, the former now hoped to succeed his father; but as Ariaspes was beloved by the Persians on account of his gentle and amiable character, and as the aged Artaxerxes appeared to prefer Arsames, the son of one of his concubines, Ochus contrived by intrigues to drive Ariaspes to despair and suicide, and had Arsames assassinated. Artaxerxes died of grief at these horrors in B. C. 362, and was succeeded by Ochus, who ascended the throne under the name of Artaxerxes III. (Plut. Life of Artaxerxes ; Diod. 15.93; Phot. Bibl. pp. 42-44, ed. Bekker; Clinton, Fast. Hellen. ii. p. 381, &c.)
also called Ochus, succeeded his father as king of Persia in B. C. 362, and reigned till B. C. 339. In order to secure the throne which he had gained by treason and murder, he began his reign with a merciless extirpation of the members of his family. He himself was a cowardly and reckless despot; and the great advantages which the Persian arms gained during his reign, were owing only to his Greek generals and mercenaries, and to traitors, or want of skill on the part of his enemies. These advantages consisted in the conquest of the revolted satrap Artabazus [Artabazus, No. 4], and in the reduction of Phoenicia, of several revolted towns in Cyprus, and of Egypt, B. C. 350. (Diod. 16.40_52.) From this time Artaxerxes withdrew to his seraglio, where he passed his days in sensual pleasures. The reins of the government were entirely in the hands of the eunuch Bagoas, and of Mentor, the Rhodian, and the existence of the king himself was felt by his subjects only in the bloody commands which he issued. At last he was killed by poison by Bagoas, and was succeeded by his youngest son, Arses. (Diod. 17.5; Plut. De Is. et Os. 11; Aelian, Ael. VH 4.8, 6.8, H. A. 10.28; Justin, 10.3; comp. Clinton, Fast. Hellen. ii. p. 382, &c.) Respecting Artaxerxes, the founder of the dynasty of the Sassanidae, see Sassanidae. [L.S] ARTA'XIAS
(Ἀρταξίας) or Artaxes (Ἀρτάξης), the name of three kings of Armenia.
(Ἀρταξέρξης). The name of four Persian kings. (1) Surnamed Longimănus, from his right hand being longer than his left, succeeded his father, Xerxes I., and reigned B.C. 465-425. He carried on war against the Egyptians, who were assisted in their revolt by the Athenians. He was succeeded by his son, Xerxes II.
(2) Surnamed Mnemon, from his good memory, succeeded his father, Darius II., and reigned B.C. 405-359. Respecting the war between him and his brother Cyrus, see Cyrus. Tissaphernes was appointed satrap of Western Asia in the place of Cyrus, and was actively engaged in wars with the Greeks. Artaxerxes had to carry on frequent wars with tributary princes and satraps, who endeavoured to make themselves independent. Thus he maintained a long struggle against Evagoras of Cyprus, from 385 to 376; and his attempts to recover Egypt were unsuccessful. Towards the end of his reign he put to death his eldest son Darius, who had formed a plot to assassinate him. His last days were still further embittered by the unnatural conduct of his son Ochus, who caused the destruction of two of his brothers, in order to secure the succession for himself. Artaxerxes was succeeded by Ochus, who ascended the throne under the name of Artaxerxes III.
(3) Also called Ochus, reigned B.C. 359-338. By the aid of his Greek generals and mercenaries he reconquered Phoenicia and Egypt. The reins of government were entirely in the hands of the eunuch Bagoas and of Mentor the Rhodian. At last he was poisoned by Bagoas, and was succeeded by his youngest son, Arses.
(4) The founder of the dynasty of the Sassanidae. See Persia; Sassanidae.
- at war with Greeks in Asia: Paus. 3.9.1-7
- puts Tissaphernes to death: Paus. 3.9.7
- lends Conon a Phoenician fleet: Paus. 1.3.2
- expedition of Cyrus against: Paus. 9.15.5
- king of Persia: Paus. 1.8.2, Paus. 6.5.7