A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

ARTAXERXES.
this battle fell Tigranes, a noble Armenian, the
cousin of Artavasdes. The usurper fled to Constantinople, where he was besieged by the imperial
forces; and while this city was exposed to the horrors of famine, Nicetas was taken prisoner near
Nicomedeia. On the 2nd of November, 743, the
besiegers took Constantinople by storm. Artavasdes, 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. (Cedrenus, i. pp. 796-8, ed. Bonn.; Zonaras, ii. pp. 107,
108, ed. Paris; Procopius, de Bell. Pers. i. 2, &c.;
Theophanes, pp. 347-50, ed. Paris.) [W. P.]
ARTAXERXES or ARTOXERXES ('Apr'aZEp4's or 'AprToýe'pjs) is the name of three Persian kings, and signifies, according to Herodotus
(vi. 98), "the great warrior" (d j.'yas dpl'ios).
The word is compounded of Arta, which means
" honoured" [see p. 284, a.], and Xerxes, which
is probably the same as the Zend, ksathra, and
the Sanscrit, kshatra, " a king:" consequently
Artaxerxes would mean " the honoured king."
ARTAXERXES I., surnamed Longimanus (MaKpoxEtp) from the circumstance of his right hand
being longer than his left (Plut. Artax. 1), was
king of Persia for forty years, from B. c. 465 to
B. c. 425. (Diod. xi. 69, xii. 64; Thuc. iv. 50.)
Hle ascended the throne after his father, Xerxes
I., had been murdered by Artabanus, and after
he himself 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 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
(AEvfc6V TEXos), 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. 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 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 j

ARTAXERXES. 371
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. 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. MEGAvBzus, 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 (Mve n/s')
from his good memory, succeeded his father, Dareius 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 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. 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.] Tissaphernes
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. [TiunMBRON; 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. xv. 9.) At the same time he had
to carry on war against the Cardusians, on the
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