Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/961

Rh DAREIUS. RMttmed the namo of Dareiiis. He was complotely under the power of three eunuchs, Artoxaies, Artibarxaucs, and Athoiis, and of his wife, Pary- eatis, by -whom, before his accession, he had two children, a daughter Araistris, and a son Artmces, wlio succeeded him by the name of Artaxerxes (II. jNInemon). After his accession, Parysatis bore hiui a son, Cyrus [Cykl's the Yol-ngkk], and a daughter, Artosta. He had other children, all of whom died ejirly, except his fourth son, Oxendras. (Ctes. 49, cd. Lion.) Plutiirch, quoting Ctcsias for his authority, calls the four sons of Dareius and Parysatis, Arsicas (afterwards Artaxerxes), Cyrus, Ostiuies, and Oxathres. (Ai-tcur. 1.) The weakness of Dareius's government was soon shewn by repeated insurrections. First his brother Arsites revolted, with Artyphius, the son of INIegabyzus. Their Greek mercenaries, in whom their strengh consisted, were bought off by the royal general Artasyras, and they themselves were taken prisoners by treachery, and, at the instiga- tion of Parysatis, they were put to death by fire. The rebellion of Pisuthncs had precisely a similar result. (B.C. 414.) [TlSSAPHERNES.] A plot of Ai-toxares, the chief eunuch, was crushed in the bud ; but a more formidable and lasting danger soon shewed itself in the rebellion of Egypt under Amyrtaeus, who in B. c. 414 expelled the Persians from Egypt, and reigned there six years, and at whose death (b. c. 408) Dareius was obliged to recognise his son Pausiris as his successor ; for at the same time the Medes revolted : they were, lunvever, soon subdued. Dareius died in the year 405 — 404 B. c, and was succeeded by his eldest son Artaxerxes II. The length of his reign is differently stated: it was really 19 years. Res- pecting his relations to Greece, see Cyrus, Ly- sANDER, TissAPHERNES. (Ctes. Pers. 44 — 56 ; Diod. xii. 71, xiii. 36, 70, 108 ; Xen. Hell. i. 2. § 19, ii. 1. § 8, Jnab. i. 1. § 1 ; Nehem. xii. 22.) 3. Dareius III., named Codomannus before his accession, was the son of Arsames, the son of Ostanes, a brother of Artaxerxes II. His mother Sisygambis was the daughter of Artaxerxes. In a war against the Cadusii he killed a powerful warrior in single combat, and was rewarded by the king, Artaxerxes Ochus, with the satrapy of Ar- menia. He was mised to the throne by Bagoas, after the murder of Arses (b. c. 336), in which some accused him of a share ; but this accusation is inconsistent with the universal testimony borne to the mildness and excellence of his character, by which he was as much distinguished as by his personal beauty. He rid himself of Bagoas, whom he punished for all his crimes by compelling him to drink poison. Codomannus had not, however, the qualities nor the power to oppose the impetu- ous career of the Macedonian king. [Alexander III.] The Persian empire ended with his death, in b. c. 330. (Diod. xvii. 5, &c.; Justin, x. 3, and the w^riters of the history of Alexander.) [P. S-] DAREIUS (Aopeios), the eldest son of Xerxes I., was put to death by his brother Artaxerxes, to whom Artabanus and Spamitres accused him of the murder of Xerxes, which they had themselves committed, (b. c. 465.) The story is told, with some unimportant variations, by the following writers. (Ctes. Pers. 29, ed. Lion ; Diod. xi. 69 ; Justin, iii. 1.) [P. S.] DAREIUS (Aopetos), the eldest son of Arta- xerxes 1 1. Muemon, was designated as succes- DARES. 943 sor to the crown, and permitted to wear the up- right tiara, by his father, towards the close of his life, in order to settle a dispute respecting the suc- cession which had arisen between Dareius and his younger brother Ochus. Dareius was then fifty years old. It was customary on such occasions for the king to make his successor-elect a present of anything he chose to ask. Dareius asked for Aspasia, a favourite concubine of his father's. Art<ixerxes left the matter to the lady's choice, and she preferred Dareius, at which the king was so enraged, that he broke the solemn promise, and devoted Aspasia to the service of Artemis. The resentment of Dareius against his father, and his jealousy of his brother were inflamed by Tiribazus, who had received a somewhat similar injury from ArtJixerxes ; and the prince formed a conspiracy, with several of his bastard brothers, against his father's life, which was detected, and Dareius was put to death. {Plni. Ariau. 26 — 29; Justin, x. 1, 2.) [P. S.] DARES (Aiprjs), was, according to the Iliad (v. 9),a priest of Hephaestus at Troy. There existed in antiquity an Iliad or an account of the destruction of Troy, which was believed to be more ancient than the Homeric poems, and in fact to be the work of Dares, the priest of Hephaestus. (Ptolein. Hephaest. 1; Eustath. ad Bom. Od. xi. 521.) Both these writers sUite, on the authority of Anti- pater of Acanthus, that Dares advised Hector not to kill Patroclus, and Eustathius adds, that Dares, after deserting to the Greeks, was killed by Odys- seus, which event must have taken place after the fall of Troy, since Dares could not otherwise have written an account of the destruction of the city. In the time of Aelian ( V. H. xi. 2 ; comp. Isidor. Oiig^ i, 4 1 ) the Iliad of Dares, which he calls 4>piryta 'lAias, was still known to exist ; he too mentions the belief that it was more ancient than Homer, and Isidorus states that it was written on palm-leaves. But no part or fragment of this an- cient Iliad has come down to us, and it is there- fore not easy to form a definite opinion upon the question. It is, however, of some interest to us, on account of a Latin work on the destruction oi Troy, which has been handed down to us, and pretends to be a Latin translation of the ancient work of Dares. It bears the title " Daretis Phry- gii de Excidio Trojae Historia." It is written in prose, consists of 44 chapters, and is preceded by a letter purporting to be addressed by Com, Nepos to Sallustius Crispus. The writer states, that during his residence at Athens he there met with a MS. of the ancient Iliad of Dares, written by the author himself, and that on perusing it, lie was so much delighted, that he forthwith tnins- lated it into Latin. This letter, however, is a manifest forgeiy. No ancient writer mentions such a work of Corn. Nepos, and the language of the treatise is full of barbarisms, such as no person of education at the time of Nepos could have been guilty of. The name of Corn. Nepos does not occur in connexion with this alleged translation previous to the 14th century. These circumstances have led some critics to believe, that the Latin work bearing the name of Dares is an abridgment of the Latin epic of Josephus Iscanus (Joseph of Exeter, who lived in the 12th century), and there are indeed several expressions in the two works which would seem to favour the opinion, that the author of the one borrowed from the other j but