After clearing away the "Greek Problem", it seemed that the Western part of the Empire, finally had calmed, as the Greeks warred amongst themselves. However, the problems at court persisted, and many kings were made and unmade.



The third son of Artaxerxes I, Ochus, became king and took the name Darius II in 423 B.C. Together with his wife Parysatis, he eliminated all opposition within the court. When he died in 405 B.C, his eldest son Arsaces, became king, and took the name Artaxerxes II. By this time Egypt again saw its chance and rebelled and managed to gain independence. (Roaf 1990: 213)



In 401 B.C the satrap of Sardis, Cyrus brother to the king, led an army of 10000 Greek mercenaries through Turkey and down to Euphrates to challenge his brother for the throne. However, he was killed during a battle of Cunaxa in Northern Babylon. His army consisting of Greek mercenaries suddenly found themselves in the heartland of the empire. Xenophon who was one of the generals of the 10000 mercenaries recorded their long march through Assyria, Armenia to the black sea, and back to Greece. (Ibid)

Battle of Cunaxa

During this period the “Ionian Problem” was again revived, and the peace treaty was broken as Sparta began to champion their cause. Thus Sparta started the war on Achaemenid ground in Asia Minor. This war, which lasted from 400 B.C to 394 B.C, was yet again unsuccessful, as the Corinthian War broke loose between the Spartans themselves, and the efforts of the King to build a new fleet in Cyprus paid off. Yet again after more then eighty years the Achaemenid fleet ruled the Aegean and entire Mediterranean Sea. (Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume 11 fascicle 3, Schmidt)

The Return of the 10,000 under Xenophon.

Victory of Alexander the Great on the Granicus.

However when Sparta withdrew from Asia Minor, another peace treaty was conceived, the King Peace, or the Peace of Antalcidas in 387 B.C. This peace treaty was more or less dictated by Artaxerxes II, so the Greeks thought. The terms of this treaty were as follows: “ the cities in Asia should belong to him [Artaxerxes II] just as the islands of Clazomenae and Cyprus, whereas the other Greek cities, both small and great, should remain autonomous, except for Lemnos, Imbros, and Skyros, which should belong to the Athenians just as before.” (Ibid) The war with west ended for a period, however the war within the Achaemenid court had just started.

When Artaxerxes II died in 359, his son Ochus was crowned as Artaxerxes III and assumed the throne. Becoming king one of his first actions was to remove any of his relations who could lay claim to the throne. There after he faced some serious revolts in the west, but the empire survived them, and he even managed to recapture the satrapy of Egypt. (Ibid: 214)


Five years within his rule his chief eunuch and the commander of the Achaemenid forces in Egypt, Bagoas, murdered him and made his son Arses king. However he only ruled for a year. (337-336 B.C) He tried to remove Bagoas, but was himself poisoned. Bagoas then made Darius, a second cousin of Arses king. The new and the last king of the Achaemenid dynasty, forced Bagoas to drink his own poison, and so ended the life of Bagoas the “King maker”. (Ibid)


After removing Bagoas, Darius III set out to restore his empire. In his first year he invaded Egypt, as Egypt had again rebelled after the death of Artaxerxes III, but it was already to late. In 334 B.C Alexander entered the scene as the king of Macedonia, and led his army against a tired and worn out empire. (Ibid)


As Alexander led his armies through the vast Achaemenid Empire, Darius III’s army faced defeat after defeat. Three major battles ended in defeat, at Granicus in 334 B.C, the following year at Issus and after the Macedonian invasion of Egypt, at Gaugamela, near ancient Nineveh in 331 B.C. (Ibid)

Scene drawn from the famous "The Alexander Mosaic, dating from circa 100 BC, is a famous Roman floor mosaic originally from the House of the Faun inPompeii. It depicts a battle between the armies of Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia and measures 5.82 x 3.13m (19 ft x 10 ft 3in). The original is preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Mosaic) Showing the Battle of Issus

In the battle of Gaugemela, Darius retreated with his personal bodyguards, but to no avail, as the Achaemenid army was destroyed by the Macedonian hoards. This left Alexander the conqueror of the Achaemenid Empire complete with its palaces and treasuries. (Ibid)

Alexander is shown the slain body of Darius the III.

The last Achaemenid king, Darius III, was betrayed by his bodyguards and murdered. The final end of the vast empire came with the burning of Persepolis by Alexander. (Ibid)









An empire was burned and became dust, however it left behind a vast legacy in culture, law, literature if not by the Persians, the Greeks were immensely inspired by the Persians and their way and view of life.

Bilbliography:

Roaf, M:“ Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia”, New York: Facts on File, c1990

VOLUME 11 FASCICLE 3: R. Schmitt, “I.Greco-Persian Political Relations” in “Greece”, “Relations with Persian Empire”, “Encyclopædia Iranica”. http://www.iranica.com/articlenavigation/index.html

All images are from: http://karenswhimsy.com/persian-army.shtm