"to disembarking at Marathon where they were soundly defeated. Greek (Herodotus) and Persian sources (for instance see Dio Chrysostom XI 148) differ in terms of the significance of Marathon, great victory or minor skirmish. Greece was spared further invasions when an unplanned interbellum (490–480 BC) occurred due to an insurrection in Egypt in 486 BC and Darius' illness and death that year. By 480 BC, Darius' successor, his son Xerxes I (485–465 BC) had amassed a huge army, and marched into Europe by crossing the Hellespont by means of pontoon bridges, meeting and defeating the Greeks at the Battle of"
"he sent his son Cyrus to Asia Minor, to carry on the war with greater energy. Darius II died in 404 BC, in the nineteenth year of his reign, and was followed as Persian king by Artaxerxes II. Prior to his accession, Darius II was married to the daughter of Gobryas. With the daughter of Gobryas, Darius II had four sons, one of whom fathered Artabazanes, who served as King of Media Atropatene in the second half of the 3rd century BC. Darius II Darius II (Old Persian: ""Dārayavahuš""), was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 404"
"under Datis and Artaphernes in 490 BC, using Delos as an intermediate base at, successfully sacking Karystos and Eretria, before moving to attack Athens. However, at the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, resulting in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. Darius therefore began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece. However, he died before the invasion could begin. The throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I, who quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece, including building two pontoon bridges across the Hellespont. In"
"Darius I Darius I (Old Persian: , New Persian: ""Dāryuš""; ; c. 550–486 BCE) was the fourth king of the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Known as Darius the Great, he ruled the empire at its peak, when it included much of West Asia, the Caucasus, parts of the Balkans (Thrace-Macedonia and Paeonia), most of the Black Sea coastal regions, parts of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, as far as the Indus Valley in the far east and portions of north and northeast Africa including Egypt (Mudrâya), eastern Libya and coastal Sudan. Darius ascended the throne by overthrowing Gaumata, a usurper. The"
"in Old Persian cuneiform the extent of his Empire in broad geographical terms: Herodotus, a Greek historian and author of ""The Histories"", provided an account of many Persian kings and the Greco-Persian Wars. He wrote extensively on Darius, spanning half of Book 3 along with Books 4, 5 and 6. It begins with the removal of the alleged usurper Gaumata and continues to the end of Darius's reign. Darius was the eldest of five sons to Hystaspes and Rhodugune in 550 BCE. Hystaspes was a leading figure of authority in Persia, which was the homeland of the Persians. Darius's inscription"
"those who had recently revolted against the Persians. In 492 BC he was replaced in his satrapy by Mardonius (Herodotus V. 25, 30-32, 35, &c.; Diod. Sic. x. 25). His son of the same name was appointed, together with Datis, to take command of the expedition sent by Darius to punish Athens and Eretria for their roles in the Ionian revolt. Ten years later, he was in command of the Lydians and Mysians (Herod. vi. 94, 119; Vu. 4, sch. ""Persae"", 21). Aeschylus, in his list of Persian kings (""Persae"", 775 ff.), which is quite unhistorical, mentions two kings with"
"successfully sacking Naxos and Eretria, before moving to attack Athens. However, at the ensuing Battle of Marathon, the Athenians won a remarkable victory, which resulted in the withdrawal of the Persian army to Asia. Darius therefore began raising a huge new army with which he meant to completely subjugate Greece. However, he died before the invasion could begin. The throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I, who quickly resumed the preparations for the invasion of Greece, including building two pontoon bridges across the Hellespont. In 481 BC, Xerxes sent ambassadors around Greece asking for earth and water as"
"summary of Xenophon's ""Anabasis"" or ""The Expedition of Cyrus"". It is recently believed that the Gur-e-Dokhtar could be the tomb meant for Cyrus the Younger, after the iron clamps of the monument were studied. Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. His birth date is unknown, but he died in 401 BC after a failed battle to oust his brother, Artaxerxes II, from the Persian throne. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his ""Anabasis"". Another account, probably"
"and executed. Another of Darius' generals ingratiated himself to Alexander by giving the conqueror Darius' favored companion, Bagoas. Darius III Darius III (c. 380 – July 330 BC), originally named Artashata and called Codomannus by the Greeks, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, from 336 BC to 330 BC. Artashata adopted ""Darius"" as a dynastic name. His empire was unstable, with large portions governed by jealous and unreliable satraps and inhabited by disaffected and rebellious subjects. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great began his invasion of the Persian Empire and subsequently defeated the Persians in a"
"Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. His birth date is unknown, but he died in 401 BC after a failed battle to oust his brother, Artaxerxes II, from the Persian throne. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his ""Anabasis"". Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of Stymphalus, was used by Ephorus. Further information is contained in the excerpts from Artaxerxes II's physician, Ctesias, by Photius; ""Plutarch’s Lives"" of Artaxerxes II and Lysander; and Thucydides' ""History of Peloponnesian"
"Darius of Pontus Darius of Pontus (reigned 37-37/36 BC) was a monarch of Iranian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. He was the first child born to King Pharnaces II of Pontus and his Sarmatian wife. He had two younger siblings: a sister called Dynamis and a brother called Arsaces. His paternal grandparents were Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus and his first wife, his sister Laodice. Hardly anything is known about Darius. We only have a mention by Appian that he was appointed king of Pontus by Mark Antony. According to Appian, Mark Antony established client kings in the eastern areas"
"after which it wasn't part of the Persian empire anymore. Artaxerxes II of Persia Artaxerxes II Mnemon (, meaning ""whose reign is through truth"") was the Xšâyathiya Xšâyathiyânâm (""King of Kings"") of Persia from 404 BC until his death in 358 BC. He was a son of Darius II and Parysatis. Greek authors gave him the epithet ""Mnemon"" (Greek: ""mnḗmona"", in Old Persian: ""abiataka""), meaning ""remembering; having a good memory"". Darius II died in 404 BC, just before the final victory of the Egyptian general, Amyrtaeus, over the Persians in Egypt. His successor was his eldest son Arsames who was"
"but some historians consider that he probably did have some connection with the previous Babylonian royal family. He should not be confused with Nebuchadnezzar IV, who led a similar revolt against the Persians around a year later. Nebuchadnezzar III Nebuchadnezzar III ruled over Babylon (c. 522 BC). He claimed to be the second son of Nabonidus. He led a short-lived rebellion against Darius I of Persia, who routed his army in battle at the Tigris on December 13, 522 BC, and then at the Euphrates near Zazannu. Nebuchadnezzar III fled back to his capital with his remaining cavalry. Darius subsequently"
"530 BC, and that his son Cambyses II had become king. Cambyses continued his father's policy of expansion, and captured Egypt for the Empire, but soon died after only seven years of rule. He was succeeded either by Cyrus's other son Bardiya or an impostor posing as Bardiya, who became the sole ruler of Persia for seven months, until he was killed by Darius the Great. The translated ancient Roman and Greek accounts give a vivid description of the tomb both geometrically and aesthetically; the tomb's geometric shape has changed little over the years, still maintaining a large stone of"
"Darius III Darius III (c. 380 – July 330 BC), originally named Artashata and called Codomannus by the Greeks, was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, from 336 BC to 330 BC. Artashata adopted ""Darius"" as a dynastic name. His empire was unstable, with large portions governed by jealous and unreliable satraps and inhabited by disaffected and rebellious subjects. In 334 BC, Alexander the Great began his invasion of the Persian Empire and subsequently defeated the Persians in a number of battles before looting and destroying their capital, Persepolis, by fire in 330 BC. With the Persian"
"each New Year's Day. This sacrilege led the Babylonians to rebel in 484 BC and 482 BC, so that in contemporary Babylonian documents, Xerxes refused his father's title of King of Babylon, being named rather as King of Persia and Media, Great King, King of Kings (Shahanshah) and King of Nations (i.e., of the world). This comes from the Daiva Inscriptions of Xerxes, lines 6–13. Darius died while in the process of preparing a second army to invade the Greek mainland, leaving to his son the task of punishing the Athenians, Naxians, and Eretrians for their interference in the Ionian"
"empire are in works of Greek philosophers and historians, and since many of the original Persian documents are lost, not to mention being subject to varying scholarly views on their origin and possible motivations behind them, it is difficult to create a definitive and completely objective list. Nonetheless, it is clear that Cyrus and Darius were critical in the expansion of the empire. Cyrus is often believed to be the son of Cambyses I, grandson of Cyrus I, the father of Cambyses II, and a relative of Darius through a shared ancestor, Teispes. Cyrus the Great is also believed to"
"Artazostre Artazostre (or Artozostre) (Old Persian *""Arta-zausri"") was a Persian princess, daughter of king Darius the Great (521-485 BC) by Artystone, daughter of Cyrus the Great. According to the Greek historian Herodotus (VI, 43) Artazostre was given in marriage to Mardonius, young son of the noble Gobryas, not much before he took the command of the Persian army in Thrace and Macedon (c. 493/492 BC). Artazostre seems not to be mentioned by name in the Persepolis Fortification Tablets (administrative documents found at Persepolis), but there are references (in tablets dated on the year 498 BC) to a ""wife of Mardonius,"
"ability to defend his position on the throne ended the short power vacuum. From 412 BC Darius II, at the insistence of Tissaphernes, gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BC, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BC. In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. His death gave an Egyptian rebel named Amyrtaeus the opportunity to throw off Persian control over Egypt. At his death bed, Darius' Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with him to have"
"Mardonius (general) Mardonius ( ""Mardonios"", Old Persian: Marduniya, literally: ""the mild one""; died 479 BC) was a leading Persian military commander during the Persian Wars with Greece in the early 5th century BC who died at the Battle of Plataea. Mardonius was the son of Gobryas, a Persian nobleman who had assisted the Achaemenid prince Darius when he claimed the throne. The alliance between the new king and his friend was cemented by diplomatic marriages: Darius married Gobryas' daughter, and Gobryas married Darius' sister. Furthermore, Mardonius married Darius' daughter Artozostra. Thus Darius the Great was simultaneously Mardonius' uncle, father-in-law, and"
"Bardiya Bardiya ( ""Bardiya""), also known as Smerdis ( ""Smerdis"") (possibly died 522 BC), was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life. He either ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BC, or was impersonated by a magus called Gaumāta (). The prince's name is listed variously in the historical sources. In Darius the Great's Behistun inscription, his Persian name is Bardia or Bardiya. Herodotus calls him Smerdis, which is the prevalent Greek form of his name; the Persian name"
"which had become a Roman province, must have been assigned to several client kings who administered its various regions. We do not know whether Darius died and Arsaces was trying to succeed him or whether Arsaces was a usurper. Darius' reign must have lasted less that a year because Cassius Dio referred to Polemon as a king of Pontus when he was involved in Mark Antony's war against the Parthians in 36 BC. Darius of Pontus Darius of Pontus (reigned 37-37/36 BC) was a monarch of Iranian and Greek Macedonian ancestry. He was the first child born to King Pharnaces"
"by Achaemenid supreme generals, such as Cyrus the Younger."" In line with Achaemenid traditions, rock-relief images of Arsacid rulers were carved at Mount Behistun, where Darius I of Persia (r. 522–486 BC) made royal inscriptions. Moreover, the Arsacids claimed familial descent from Artaxerxes II of Persia (""r"". 404–358 BC) as a means to bolster their legitimacy in ruling over former Achaemenid territories, i.e. as being ""legitimate successors of glorious kings"" of ancient Iran. Artabanus III named one of his sons Darius and laid claim to Cyrus' heritage. The Arsacid kings chose typical Zoroastrian names for themselves and some from the"
"Johanan (High Priest) Johanan (Hebrew ""Yôḥānān""), son of Joiada, was the fifth high priest after the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem by the Jews who had returned from the Babylonian captivity. His reign is estimated to have been from c. 410–371 BCE; he was succeeded by his son Jaddua. The Bible gives no details about his life. Johanan lived during the reigns of king Darius II of Persia (423 BC - 405 or 404 BC) and his son Artaxerxes II (404 BC - 358 BC), whose empire included Judah as a province. Flavius Josephus records that Johanan's brother Jesus"
"states that his father was satrap of Bactria in 522 BCE. According to Herodotus, Hystaspes was the satrap of Persis, although most historians state that this is an error. Also according to Herodotus (III.139), Darius, prior to seizing power and ""of no consequence at the time"", had served as a spearman (""doryphoros"") in the Egyptian campaign (528–525 BCE) of Cambyses II, then the Persian Great King; this is often interpreted to mean he was the king's personal spear-carrier, an important role. Hystaspes was an officer in Cyrus' army and a noble of his court. Before Cyrus and his army crossed"
"drunk by Pharnacyas and Menostanes on Sogdianus' orders. Sogdianus apparently gained the support of his regions. He reigned for six months and fifteen days before being captured by his half-brother, Ochus, who rebelled against him. Sogdianus was executed by being suffocated in ash because Ochus had promised he would not die by the sword, by poison or by hunger. Ochus became Darius II; he was the sole ruler of the Persian Empire until 404 BC. Sogdianus of Persia Sogdianus ( or ) was king of Persia in 424–423 BC. He ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a short time, with little"
"his Egyptian subjects revolted, indefinitely postponing any Greek expedition. Darius then died whilst preparing to march on Egypt, and the throne of Persia passed to his son Xerxes I. Xerxes crushed the Egyptian revolt, and very quickly restarted the preparations for the invasion of Greece. The epic second Persian invasion of Greece finally began in 480 BC, and the Persians met with initial success at the battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium. However, defeat at the Battle of Salamis would be the turning point in the campaign, and the next year the expedition was ended by the decisive Greek victory at"
"must have suffered a partial setback, since we never hear their name in Herodotus or in Persian inscriptions in the lists of peoples and territories being part of the empire. In an unknown year they had been, it would seem, successfully submitted and probably added to the satrapy of Media or that of Hyrcania; this because it is told that in 406 BC Cyrus the Younger, a son of the High King Darius II (423–404 BC), had just led an expedition against the Cadusii in revolt. Cyrus' expedition was a success as three years later the Cadusii fought at Cunaxa"
"""the wisest, most powerful and bravest of Armenian kings."" From 553 BC to 521 BC, Armenia was a subject kingdom of the Achaemenid Empire, but when Darius I was king, he decided to conquer Armenia. He sent an Armenian named Dâdarši to stop a revolt against Persian rule, later replacing him with the Persian general, Vaumisa, who defeated the Armenians in 521 BC. Around the same time, another Armenian by the name of Arakha, son of Haldita, claimed to be the son of the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus, and renamed himself Nebuchadnezzar IV. His rebellion was short lived and"
"expedition, and Darius then died of old age. It was thus left to his son Xerxes I to lead the second Persian invasion of Greece, beginning in 480 BC. The main source for the Greco-Persian Wars is the Greek historian Herodotus. Herodotus, who has been called the 'Father of History', was born in 484 BC in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor (then under Persian overlordship). He wrote his 'Enquiries' (Greek—""Historia""; English—""(The) Histories"") around 440–430 BC, trying to trace the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars, which would still have been relatively recent history (the wars finally ending in 450 BC). Herodotus's approach was"
"Artaxerxes II of Persia Artaxerxes II Mnemon (, meaning ""whose reign is through truth"") was the Xšâyathiya Xšâyathiyânâm (""King of Kings"") of Persia from 404 BC until his death in 358 BC. He was a son of Darius II and Parysatis. Greek authors gave him the epithet ""Mnemon"" (Greek: ""mnḗmona"", in Old Persian: ""abiataka""), meaning ""remembering; having a good memory"". Darius II died in 404 BC, just before the final victory of the Egyptian general, Amyrtaeus, over the Persians in Egypt. His successor was his eldest son Arsames who was crowned as Artaxerxes II in Pasargadae. Even before his coronation,"
"but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support for the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all Greece. After having reconquered Ionia, the Persians began to plan their next moves of extinguishing the threat to their empire from Greece; and punishing Athens and Eretria. The resultant first Persian invasion of Greece consisted of two main campaigns. The first campaign, in 492 BC, was led by Darius's son-in-law Mardonius, who re-subjugated Thrace, which had nominally been"
"Ariabignes Ariabignes () was one of the sons of the Persian king Darius I and his mother was a daughter of Gobryas (). He participated in the Second Persian invasion of Greece, as one of the four admirals of the fleet of his brother Xerxes I, and was killed in the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC. Ariabignes was the commander of the Carian and Ionian forces. Plutarch calls him, Ariamenes (), and speaks of him as a brave man and the most just of the brothers of Xerxes. The same writer relates that this Ariamenes laid claim to the"