Artaxerxes I, the Merciful and Long-Armed
A. P. Ryabushkin. "Esther before Artaxerxes", 1887.
Artaxerxes I (Artaxerxes - "Possessor of the righteous kingdom"), the fifth Persian king of the Achaemenid Empire, and also the pharaoh of Egypt, was honored with flattering reviews from authors of other nations. Plutarch, for example, wrote about him:
"Artaxerxes I, who surpassed all who reigned in Persia in mercy and greatness of spirit, bore the nickname Long-handed, because his right hand was longer than his left."
It should be noted that some consider the nickname Macrocheir - "Long-armed" or "Long-armed" - to be symbolic, meaning "he who has extended his power far."
Let us return to Plutarch, who in his Moralia asserts that Artaxerxes himself said:
"The business of a king is not to take, but to give."
And here is the opinion of Diodorus Siculus:
"Artaxerxes put the affairs of the kingdom in order... he dismissed those who were hostile to him, and from his friends he chose those who were competent and gave them satrapies. In addition, he took care of both the revenue and the training of the armed forces, and since on the whole his administration of the whole kingdom was gentle, he enjoyed the highest honor among the Persians."
Moreover, it is most likely this king, under the name of Artaxerxes, who appears as a positive hero of the Old Testament. Around 458 BCE, a group of Jews were allowed to return to Judea, and Ezra, "a priest, a scribe, who taught the words of the commandments of the Lord and the laws," was entrusted with governing them "according to the law of God." The king freed the Jerusalem Jewish community from taxes and even helped rebuild the Temple.
Since the inhabitants of Samaria were hostile to the returning Jews, Judea was separated from this province into a separate region, Yehud. Then the king's former cupbearer Nehemiah became the king's viceroy in Jerusalem, and he managed to obtain permission to rebuild the city's walls. However, this decision was later reversed, and the construction of the walls was resumed only in 422 BCE.
However, it should be noted that such an authoritative author as Josephus Flavius attributed the activities of Nehemiah and Ezra to the period of the reign of Xerxes I, the father of the hero of the article.
Many also associate the biblical story with Artaxerxes I. history about the relative and adopted daughter of the Jew Mordecai, Esther. At first, Esther was a simple concubine of the king, but then she became his legal wife and saved her fellow tribesmen, who, on the slander of a certain Haman, were sentenced to complete extermination (in honor of the deliverance from executions, the Jews still celebrate the holiday of Purim).
Gustave Doré. Esther Accuses Haman Before Ahasuerus
In Jewish tradition, Esther is called the mother of the Persian king Darius II, which is unlikely, since many researchers generally consider this story to be just a parable. However, the plot was popular, and Artaxerxes and Esther became the heroes of many paintings, one of which (by A. P. Ryabushkin) you saw at the beginning of the article.
Artaxerxes became the hero of a number of literary works, including Jean Racine's tragedy Esther, written in 1689. And in the XNUMXth century, several feature films were made based on this story.
Now let's return to historical sources.
Origin and circumstances of coming to power
So, Artaxerxes I was the youngest son of the Persian king Xerxes I, and his mother Amestris was the daughter of his grandfather Darius I's sister. It is claimed that Artaxerxes was later greatly influenced by his mother, as well as his sister Amytis.
The exact date of birth of the hero of the article is unknown, but it is believed that it happened during the reign of Darius I.
In 465 BC, Xerxes died during a palace coup led by the commander of the royal bodyguards, Artabanus, and the eunuch Aspamitras. Xerxes' eldest son, Darius, was also killed. The circumstances of the palace coup are described differently.
Ctesias of Cnidus, Justin and Diodorus Siculus report that Artabanus, having killed Xerxes, blamed the king Darius for the death of this king and persuaded the hero of the article to avenge his father's death. Aristotle believed that Artabanus first killed Darius and only then Xerxes. He planned to ascend the throne himself, but the commander Megabyzus, who was married to Artaxerxes' sister, prevented him from dealing with the hero of the article. Artabanus was killed, his sons were executed, and the eunuch Aspamitra died during torture.
Artaxerxes apparently ascended the throne while still a teenager, and they say that he brought Themistocles, the main hero of the famous battle of Salamis, who was expelled from Athens and sentenced to death there, close to him.
Themistocles before Artaxerxes, engraving from 1614.
A reward of 200 talents was set for the head of this strategist, which was given to... Themistocles (!), who voluntarily came to the king. And then he received control over several cities in Asia Minor. They say that young Artaxerxes often conversed with Themistocles, who gave him advice and told him a lot about Athens and other cities of Hellas.
Rebellions and mutinies
Artaxerxes began his reign at a rather turbulent time for the country: the war with Hellas had not yet ended, and palace coups led to a temporary weakening of the central government and rebellions in the provinces. In 464 or 462 BC, the satrap of Bactria rebelled, whom Diodorus Siculus calls the brother of the new king Gitaspes (Persian name - Vishtaspa), and Ctesias of Cnidus - "another Artapan". His army was defeated in two battles, the rebel was killed.
Much more serious was the rebellion in Egypt, which was led by the noble Libyan Inarus (Inarus II), a descendant of the 460th dynasty of Egyptian rulers. It began in XNUMX BC in the lands of the Egyptian delta and spread up the valley of this river. Another center of the rebellion appeared, led by Amyrtaeus I, the ruler of the XNUMXth Lower Egyptian nome with its center in the city of Sais. However, the capital of Egypt, Memphis, and the lands of Upper Egypt were controlled by the Persians.
In the great battle of Papremis, the rebels routed the army of the Egyptian satrap Achaemenes (Artaxerxes' uncle), who died in battle. In 459 BC, 200 ships from Athens and the allied cities of Hellas arrived to help the rebels. Along the way, this squadron plundered the island of Cyprus. Then the allies destroyed the Persian fleet, operating on the Nile River, and attacked Memphis. The siege of the city's "White Walls" fortress lasted almost a year and ended in success, although it cost the Greeks great losses.
Meanwhile, in 456 BC, the army of the Syrian satrap Megabyzus arrived in Egypt, supported by Phoenician ships. The Egyptians and Greeks suffered a crushing defeat, and the remnants of their troops retreated north, taking refuge in the Western Nile Delta on the island of Prosopitida. Here they were surrounded, but held out for another year and a half – until in 454 BC the Persians built a dam, through which they broke through to the island.
The losses of the Egyptians and Greeks were enormous, only a few (including Inar) surrendered in exchange for a promise of life. Nevertheless, the leader of the rebellion was executed in Susa. And then in one of the branches of the Eastern Delta of the Nile, the newly arrived Greek squadron (60 ships) was defeated, the commanders of which did not know that the main forces of the rebels had already been routed.
The new satrap of Egypt was Arshama (Sarsames, according to Ctesias of Cnidus), who may have been one of the grandsons of Darius I. But in the western part of the Nile Delta, Amyrtaeus's troops were still hiding. The fate of this leader of the rebellion is unknown, but Herodotus claims that, in the end, the Persians came to an agreement with his sons Fanniros (Tanniros) and Pausiris about preserving Libya and the territory of the Nile Delta for them, on condition of recognizing the power of the Persian satrap. Pausiris's son Amyrtaeus II then became the pharaoh of Egypt (the only representative of the XXVIII dynasty) and ruled for 6 years.
Finally, around 450 BC, the satrap Megabyzus, who had previously rendered many services to his wife's brother Artaxerxes, rebelled. He managed to win two battles, but when the Athenians tried to seize Cyprus, he nevertheless preferred to come to an agreement with the king - on very favorable terms for himself. And in 445 BC, Megabyzus' son Zopyrus fled from Artaxerxes to Athens, and died in one of the wars, fighting in the army of this city.
War with Greece
Artaxerxes' father also left behind an unfinished war with the cities of Hellas, in which the Athenians, as you remember, provided assistance to the rebellious Egypt. This war began in 480 BC, when the army of Xerxes I invaded Hellas. It was during that campaign that the Spartan king Leonidas died in the Thermopylae Gorge, the Greek fleet defeated the Persian fleet in the battle near the island of Salamis, and the allied army of the cities of Hellas defeated the army of Xerxes' cousin, Mardonius, in the battle of Plataea. The Persians suffered these defeats outside their own country, but they seriously damaged their reputation.
Artaxerxes was lucky in that the Spartans and their allies had already lost interest in this war, moreover, they were already openly hostile to Athens and the Delian Maritime Union created by this city. However, the Athenians at that time had a very good commander - Cimon, the son of Miltiades the Younger (the hero of the famous Battle of Marathon).
In 469 (according to other sources - in 466) BC, the Persians decided to go on the offensive. A large army was assembled, which was transported to the territory of Asia Minor - to Pamphylia. Here, near the mouth of the Eurymedon River (now called Köprüçay), Kimon managed to defeat the Persians in three battles in one day - two sea and one land battle.
It should be noted, by the way, that this river is known to many tourists: it is located between the Turkish cities of Antalya and Side, and now rafting excursions are conducted on it.
By the way, in 190 BC, another major battle took place at sea near the mouth of this river: the Rhodes fleet defeated the squadron of the Seleucid king Antiochus III, which was led by Hannibal Barca, who had been expelled from Carthage by the Romans. But we will continue the story about the era of the Greco-Persian wars of the XNUMXth century BC.
So, having received news that Egyptian ships with a large number of troops on board had anchored at the mouth of the Eurymedon River, Cimon set out to sea at the head of an allied fleet of 200 Athenian and 100 Ionian warships. His attack was unexpected for the Persians: many members of the Persian ships' crews were on the shore and did not even have time to arrive at their ships. The Greeks captured 200 triremes, and then, having landed on the shore, defeated the Persian land army.
But this was not the end, because just at this time the Phoenician squadron of 80 ships allied with the Persians arrived - a new naval battle began, ending with the victory of the fleet of Cimon. These victories shook the entire ancient world, and Plutarch wrote with full justification that Cimon in one day eclipsed the glory of the victories of Themistocles at Salamis and Pausanias at Plataea.
Markus Leupold-Löwenthal. Kimon, bust. Larnaca
After such a defeat, the Persians simply had no choice: they were forced to enter into negotiations, for which a delegation headed by Callias, the husband of Cimon's half-sister Elpinice (and the former wife of this commander - in Greece, marriage between half-brothers and sisters was allowed), arrived in Susa. A temporary agreement was concluded, which was called the Peace of Cimon.
The war continued in 460 BC after Athens and the Delian Maritime League came to the aid of the rebellious Egyptians – we have already discussed this in the previous chapter. This round went to the Persians.
In 449 BC, Cimon led a new squadron of Athens and the Delian League (200 ships). It went to Cyprus, where Cimon decided to attack the main stronghold of the Phoenicians allied with the Persians – the city of Kition. Here, during the siege, he died of some disease, ordering that his death be concealed.
Against the backdrop of the enemy attack on Cyprus, the rebellious Megabyzus decided to make peace with Artaxerxes and began to prepare an army for war with Cimon. The new Persian fleet was preparing to go to sea to fight the Greeks. Having ended the siege of Kition, the allies left Cyprus. On the way home, confident that they were led by the invincible Cimon, they routed both the Persian squadron (capturing 100 ships) and the enemy land army (near the city of Salamis).
The ancient Greek historian Phanodemus later wrote about this that the Athenians returned safely to their city "under the command of Cimon, who had died thirty days before."
The war had reached a stalemate, and neither side had the strength to inflict a decisive defeat on the other. The Persians were once again the first to initiate peace negotiations, and Kimon's son-in-law Callias set out for Susa again.
The result was the signing of a treaty in 449 BC, which is often called the Peace of Callias. Persia no longer had the right to send ships to the Propontis and the Aegean Sea or to keep troops closer than a day's horse ride from the western coast of Asia Minor. Athens, in turn, agreed to leave Cyprus and promised not to provide assistance to the rebels of Egypt. The western cities of Asia Minor remained part of the Delian League, but were recognized as subjects of the Persian king, and the Athenians had to withdraw their garrisons from them.
Change of strategy
Military defeats forced Artaxerxes to change his policy and use not armies and squadrons of warships, but gold coins, which were used to bribe the politicians of the Greek cities. And this immediately produced results, especially since the Greeks themselves were not against fighting each other for free.
The tragic events of 465 BC became the reason for the next cooling of relations between Athens and Sparta: a terrible earthquake almost destroyed Sparta, many citizens died, and to this misfortune was added the uprising of the helots in Messenia, which was suppressed only 10 years later.
The authorities of Lacedaemon turned to Athens for help – and found support from Cimon, who convinced his fellow citizens of the need to help the Spartans. But the arriving Athenians were suddenly suspected of sympathizing with the rebellious helots and were required to leave Lacedaemon. In Athens, this was considered an insult, Sparta's enemies came to power, and Cimon, a friend of this polis, was expelled from the city.
Pericles came to power in Athens, and in 459 BC he began the Little Peloponnesian War with Sparta and its allied Greek cities. After the defeat at the Battle of Tanagra, Pericles himself proposed the return of his opponent Cimon to Athens (this was probably the wisest decision of Pericles in his entire life).
The Little Peloponnesian War was only a prelude to a major war that lasted 27 years – from 431 to 404 BC. It brought together two unions of Greek city-states – the Peloponnesian, created by Sparta, and the Delian naval one, led by Athens.
Peloponnesian and Delian alliances
Thucydides, who described the Peloponnesian War, compared it to the Trojan War, calling it much more difficult and bloody. And Persia now alternately helped Athens and Sparta. The successors of Artaxerxes I did the same.
During the reign of the grandson of the hero of the article, the Spartan king Agesilaus, having defeated the Persians near the city of Sardis, complained that Artaxerxes II “expels him with the help of an army of 30 thousand archers”: he was referring to the Persian coins – darics, with which the “demagogues” (“leaders of the people”) of Athens, Thebes, Corinth, Argos and some city-states of the Aegean islands were bribed.
Persian daric depicting an archer
This time, the Corinthian War began in Hellas, in which one of the best Spartan commanders, Lysander, the teacher and educator of Agesilaus, died.
The end of the life of Artaxerxes I
Diodorus Siculus believes that the reign of Artaxerxes I lasted 40 years, Eusebius of Caesarea believes that Artaxerxes I ruled for 41 years, and Ctesias of Cnidus speaks of 42 years. In any case, the period is more than respectable. Historians agree that, despite wars and rebellions, the Achaemenid state under Artaxerxes remained rich, strong and authoritative for its neighbors.
Artaxerxes I died in March 424 BC, and, as they say, on the same day as his wife Damaspe. According to some researchers, this may indicate that they were poisoned. He was buried near Persepolis - in Naqsh-e Rustam.
Tomb of Artaxerxes I in Naqsh-e Rustam
Artaxerxes I. Depiction on the tomb in Naqsh-e Rustam
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