Life of Artaxerxes
1. The first Artaxerxes,1 who surpassed all other Persian kings in mildness and magnanimity, was nicknamed Macrochir (‘long-hand’), because his right hand was longer than his left. He was the son of Xerxes.2 The second Artaxerxes, the subject of this work, was nicknamed Mnemon (‘mindful’), and was the son of the first Artaxerxes’ daughter, Parysatis. For Darius3 and Parysatis had four sons, of whom Artaxerxes was the eldest, then Cyrus, and then the youngest Ostanes and Oxathres.4 Cyrus was named after the earlier Cyrus, and it is reported that the latter took his name from the sun, since cyrus is said to be the Persian word for sun.5 Artaxerxes was at first called Arsicas. Deinon6 gives the name as Oarses, but Ctesias7 is more trustworthy here, since, even though in general he fills his books with a miscellaneous jumble of wild and incredible tales, it is unlikely that he did not know the name of the king at whose court he spent his time, acting as doctor to him, his wife, mother and children.
2. Now Cyrus was intense and impetuous from his youth, while Artaxerxes seemed milder in all things and was by nature gentler in his impulses. Artaxerxes married a beautiful and noble wife in accordance with his parents’ bidding, and kept her against their wishes. For his father, the king, had her brother killed and wanted to do away with her too. But throwing himself on his mother’s mercy and supplicating her with many tears, Arsicas (as he was then called) in the end succeeded in persuading them not to kill his wife nor to insist on a separation.
But their mother loved Cyrus more than his brother and wanted him to be king. So when their father was ill Cyrus was immediately summoned from the coast and began journeying inland, in full expectation that his mother had arranged for him to be declared successor to the throne.8 Indeed his mother did have a plausible argument, the same one that the elder Xerxes had used on the advice of Demaratus: that she had given birth to Arsicas when her husband was a private individual, but to Cyrus when he was a king.9 However, she could not persuade Darius, and the elder of the two was proclaimed king under the new name Artaxerxes,10 while Cyrus was proclaimed satrap of Lydia and commander of the coastal provinces.11
3. Shortly after Darius’ death, the new king rode to Pasargadae in order that the initiation ceremony marking his accession to the throne might be carried out by the Persian priests. There is a shrine there to a warrior goddess, whom one might liken to Athena.12 The candidate for the royal initiation has to enter this shrine and lay aside his own robes and put on those worn by the elder Cyrus before he became king. Then he should eat a cake of figs, chew some terebinth and drink a cup of sour milk.13 Whether they do anything else in addition is unclear to outsiders. Artaxerxes was on the point of doing these things when Tissaphernes arrived with one of the priests. This priest had supervised Cyrus’ boyhood studies when he was undergoing the traditional Persian education14 and had taught him the wisdom of the Magi,15 and had seemed more distressed than any other Persian when Cyrus was not declared king. As a result he was given considerable credence when he made an accusation against Cyrus. He claimed that Cyrus was intending to lie in wait in the shrine; as soon as the king started taking off his clothes, he would attack and kill him. Some people say that Cyrus’ arrest followed this denunciation; others, however, maintain that Cyrus had actually entered the shrine and his hiding place was betrayed by the priest. He was almost put to death, but his mother threw her arms round him, entwined him with her hair and held him close, and with loud laments and entreaties succeeded in averting his death and had him conveyed down to the coast again. But Cyrus was not content with his command there and kept in mind not his release but his arrest; he seethed with rage and his determination to obtain the throne grew all the greater.
4. Some people say that Cyrus revolted against the king because he was not satisfied with the revenue he received for his daily meals.16 But that is ridiculous. For whatever else he might have lacked, he had his mother, and she could supply freely from her own wealth whatever he wanted. Evidence of his wealth is also provided by the mercenary troops that were maintained for him by his friends and allies, as Xenophon has reported.17 He did not bring these together into one body, as he was still trying to conceal his preparations, but he had agents scattered in different places recruiting troops for him on a variety of pretexts. Meanwhile at court his mother worked to allay the king’s suspicions, and Cyrus himself always wrote to Artaxerxes in an obsequious manner, sometimes requesting favours, sometimes making counter-accusations against Tissaphernes, as though his jealous rivalry were directed wholly against the latter.