Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/389

Rh ARTAXERXES. this hattlc foil Ti^n-anes, a noble Annonian, the cousin of Artavasde8. Tlie usurper fled to Con- Btantinople, where he was besieged by the imperial forces ; and while this city was exposed to the hor- rors of famine, Nicolas was taken prisoner near Nicomodeia. On the 2nd of November, 743, the besiegers took Constantinople by storm. Arta- vasdes, his sons, and his principal adherents, had their eyes put out, were conducted through the city on asses, with the tails in their hands, and were afterwards all put to death. Artavasdes was recognized as emperor by pope Zacharias. (Cedre- nus, i. pp. 79G-a, ed. Bonn. ; Zonaras, ii. pp. 107, 108, ed. Paris ; Procopius, de Bell. Fers. i. 2, &c. ; Theophanes, pp. 347-50, ed. Paris.) [W. P.] ARTAXERXES or ARTOXERXES ('Apro- ^6p^7js or 'ApTol^p^Tjs) is the name of three Per- sian kings, and signifies, according to Herodotus (w. 98), "the great warrior" (o t^h"-^ ap-n'Cos). The word is compounded of Arta, which means " honoured" [see p. 284, a.], and Xerxes, which is probably the same as the Zend, ksaihra, and tlie Sanscrit, kshatra, " a king : " consequently Artucierjces would mean " the honoured king." Ahtaxerxes I., surnamed Longimamis (Ma- Kpox^ip) from the circumstance of his right hand being longer than his left (Plut. Ariax. 1), was king of Persia for forty years, from b. c. 465 to B. c. 425. (Diod. xi. 69, xii. 64 ; Thuc. iv. 50.) He ascended the throne after his father, Xerxes I., had been murdered by Artabanus, and after he liimself had put to death his brother Dareius on the instigation of Artabanus. (Justin, iii. 1 ; Ctesias, ap. Phot. BibL p. 40, a., ed. Bekk.) His reign is characterized by Plutarch and Diodorus (xi. 71) as wise and temperate, but it was dis- turbed 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 in- f5urrection of the Egyptians under Inarus, who was su[)ported by the Athenians. The first army which Artaxerxes sent under his brother Achae- nienos 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 {(vk6v Tilxos), near Memphis, was relieved, and the fleet of the Athenians destroyed by the Athe- nians themselves, who afterwards quitted Egypt. Inarus, too, was defeated in B. c. 456 or 455, but Amyrtaeus, another chief of the insurgents, main- tained himself in the marshes of lower Egypt. (Thuc. i. 104, 109 ; Diod. xi. 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 Athe- nians 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 ARTAXERXES. 371 I 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 Bosponis, or pass the town of Phaselis or the Chelidonian islands on the coast of Lycia. (Diod. xii. 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, ap. Phot. Bibl. p. 50, &c. ; comp. Mega- byzus, 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.) Artaxerxes II., surnamed Mnemon (Vlv/niav) from his good memory, succeeded his father, Da- reius II., as king of Persia, and reigned from b. c. 405 to B. c. 362. (Diod. xiii. 104, 108.) Cyrus, the younger brother of Artaxerxes, was the iw- vourite of his mother Parj'satis, and she endeavour- ed 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. A7iab. i. 1. § 3 ; Plut. Artax. 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. 401, but was slain in the battle. [Cyrus.] Tissaphenies was appointed satrap of western Asia in the place of Cyrus (Xenoph. Hellen. iii. 1. § 3), and was actively engaged in wars with the Greeks. [Thim- bron; 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 dis- turbances 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 ex- hausted the strength of the empire. Artaxerxes thus had to maintain a long struggle against Eva- goras 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. xv. 9.) At the same time he had to caiTy on war against the Cardusians, on the 9 H-2