As you know, nothing lasts forever under the moon. And to be convinced of this, it is enough to leaf through the pages of history and re-read the biographies of rulers whose names say nothing to most of our contemporaries. But millennia ago, these people ruled the world and the existence of entire nations depended on them. These ancient politicians include King Artaxerxes I Dolgoruky.
Accession
From the end of the 8th and 4th century BC. e. one of the greatest states of that time - Persia - was ruled by the Achaemenid dynasty. Around 480, King Xerxes the First had a second son, named Artaxerxes. At that time, the state already had an heir - Darius, who enjoyed the favor of his royal parent. The second son was not satisfied with the post of ruler of one of the provinces, which he would be offered to take after his brother’s accession to the throne. Moreover, he wanted to have everything now, so in 465 BC e. plotted against his father. As a result, the king and the heir were killed by the eunuch Aspamitra and the chief of the palace guard Artaban, and the prince himself sat on the throne of Persia and went down in history under the name Artaxerxes I.
There is another version according to which the young man was not guilty of the death of his relatives, and he even had to fight with the conspirators so that the Achaemenid dynasty would not lose power over the country. Such statements could be believed, if not for subsequent events. In particular, a year after the accession of Artaxerxes, his younger brother Gistasp, who was a satrap of the province of Bactria, revolted. It was suppressed, and the rebel killed. To avoid future similar problems with relatives who were ready to challenge his right to the throne, the young king ordered the rest of his brothers to be ruthlessly executed.
The situation in Greece
During the reign of the predecessors of Artaxerxes, the inhabitants of Hellas brought the most problems to the Persians, however, by the time he took the throne, they were occupied by internecine wars between city-states. Moreover, the Greeks ostracized the famous commander Themistocles, who at one time defeated the father of the new king - Xerxes the First. He decided to seek salvation in the camp of the former enemy, despite the fact that the Persians at one time promised a huge sum for his head - 200 talents.
Artaxerxes I pardoned Themistocles, announcing that he was doing this, since the general appeared to him himself, generously awarded him and appointed him the manager of several cities in Asia Minor.
Rebellion in Egypt
In the fourth year of the reign of Artaxerxes I, Egypt revolted. The rebels were led by the Libyan Inar and Amirtei I from the city of Sais. Against the rebels came the uncle of the king and the Persian satrap of Egypt - Achaemen. The decisive battle took place at Papremis and ended with the defeat of the Persians. To humiliate the enemy, the Egyptians sent Achaemen’s corpse to Artaxerxes and stated that they intend to fight until all the invaders were expelled from the country.
Inar decided to find reliable allies and sent messengers to Athens. They returned with good news, and 200 Greek ships arrived after them . First, the Athenian fleet captured and plundered Cyprus, which at that time belonged to the Persians, and then sailed to Egypt and sunk the warships of Artaxerxes. Then the Greeks captured Memphis. The city was in their hands, but the Persian garrison took refuge in the fortress and withstood the siege for about a year, waiting for help from Persia.
Victory over the rebels
In 456 BC e. against the rebels from Persepolis was sent one of the most famous Persian commanders, who is also the satrap of Syria - Megabiz. Aware of the importance of suppressing the uprising, Artaxerxes I gave the Phoenician fleet and a strong army under his command. This experienced warlord managed to defeat the Egyptians and Athenians and restore Persian rule over Memphis. Despite this, it took another year and a half for Inar to be captured with his few supporters.
The new satrap of Egypt, King Artaxerxes 1 appointed Arsham - the grandson of Darius the First. At the same time, it was not possible to suppress all the centers of the uprising, so the Persians had to recognize the sons of Amirtey and Inar over Delta and Libya, provided that they were subject to the Persian satrap.
The fight for Cyprus
Around 450 BC e. the rebellion of the satrap megabiz rebelled. He managed to defeat the Artaxerxes forces in two battles, however, when the threat of the capture of the island by the Athenians loomed, the former feuds between the king and his best commander were forgotten.
In 449 BC e. 200 ships of the Athenians and their Greek allies, led by the commander Cimon, arrived on the shores of Cyprus. The diverse population of the island met the "liberators" without enthusiasm. They were joined by only a few cities where mostly Greeks compactly lived.
Then Cimon sent 60 ships to help the Egyptian rebels, and he besieged the city of Kitiy. It was not possible to take him by storm for a long time, and when the commander died of a sudden illness, the Greeks realized that they had no chance. They sailed to Salamis and met there with the Persian fleet. Then military luck turned away from the Persians, and the Greeks sank most of their ships, and 100 ships were captured.
Kalliev world
The Persian king Artaxerxes went down in history as a monarch, in which one of the most famous treaties was concluded to end the long-standing military confrontation in history. He received the name Kallieva Mira, after the Greek diplomat who was entrusted with this important mission. Kallius had a kinship with many famous Athenian families, including Pericles, and was an excellent negotiator.
The main condition for the agreement was a clear distinction between the Athenian and Persian spheres of influence in the region. According to the agreements reached, King Artaxerxes the First was obligated never to enter the fleet into the Aegean Sea, and in Asia Minor the land border between the Greek states and the king's possessions was to pass from the coast at a distance of one day's horseman journey. As for the Athenians, they undertook not to invade the territories recognized as the control zone of the second contracting party. Unlike many other similar documents, Kalliev peace was very durable, and he is considered the final point in the long Greco-Persian wars.
Domestic policy
The Persian king Artaxerxes (reign 465-424 BC) in the eyes of his subjects was a wise and moderate monarch. For 41 years of being in power, the country flourished. At the same time, the king tried in every possible way to maintain the loyal attitude of the peoples included in his empire. So, he issued a decree allowing Jews to rebuild the Jerusalem temple and rebuild the city. Moreover, in 445 BC. e. Artaxerxes 1 appointed Nehemiah the Jewish governor.
His merits also include the restoration of the palace in Persepolis and the improvement of the capital of the state.
Death
Artaxerxes I died in the spring of 424 BC. e. According to the preserved cuneiform inscriptions, on the same day his wife Damascius died, and their bodies were enclosed in tombs carved in the rocks of Naksha-Rustam, which are located near Persepolis. The throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes II, and then to Sogdian. Both kings were killed as a result of conspiracies. As a result, the throne was taken by the third son of Artaxerxes - Oh, who is known as Darius the Second.
Women and children
According to the surviving information, King Artaxerxes had one legitimate son and 17 offspring from concubines.
The king’s wife, Damaspia, was the mother of the heir to the throne, named after Grandfather Xerxes. In addition, the story retained the names of three favorite Artaxerxes concubines:
- the Babylonian Aloguna, who gave birth to the king the second son of Sogdian;
- Akkadki Cosmartiden - the mother of Arsid and Okha, who subsequently was to become king and rule 19 years;
- Andia - the Babylonian, who gave the king a son and daughter, Parisatis, who went down in history as the queen and mother of King Artaxerxes the Second, as well as the famous intriguer, skillfully managing the men around her.
Bible Artaxerxes
Perhaps the supportive attitude that Artaxerxes I showed towards the Jews caused his name to be mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament. In particular, it is said that during the reign of the king with the same name the prophets Nehemiah and Ezra lived. The first of them was the butler of Artaxerxes. According to biblical legend, it was he who begged him to allow the Jews to restore the walls of Jerusalem. The name of this Persian king is also associated with the Old Testament tradition of Esther, whose ardent supplications did not leave the monarch indifferent and saved the Jews from extermination. In the latter case, the identification of the real monarch and the biblical by many researchers is considered unlawful, since in the original it is called Ahasuerus, which, more likely, corresponds to the name Xerxes I.
Now you know who Artaxerxes I was (a photo of the bas-reliefs with his image see above). Once he ruled over a vast empire, occupying the territory of modern Iran, Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, Israel and many other countries, and today only a few mean lines in school textbooks are dedicated to him.