Artaxerxes III.

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Artaxerxes III. (Ochos) ( Persian اردشیر Ardaschīr [ ærdæˈʃiːr ], Old Persian : Ŗtachschaçā ; * approx. 390 BC Chr .; † 338 BC BC ) was from 359 to 338 BC. King from the ancient Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids . He ascended the throne in a time of crisis in the empire that had been shaken by several uprisings. In the following years, however, he managed to restore central royal authority.

Regency

The first years

Artaxerxes III. first achieved as a general in the suppression of an uprising in the Persian areas west of the Euphrates between 368 and 358 BC. Historical significance and succeeded to the throne after 46 years of reign of his father Artaxerxes II . Before that he had his brothers killed. Artaxerxes III. can officially take the throne at the earliest December 359 BC based on the information in Babylonian tablets. And no later than April 358 BC Have climbed. From the sixth year of reign of Artaxerxes III. is for November 22nd, 353 BC. A lunar eclipse , which is why his first year of reign was not before December 359 BC. May have started.

At the beginning of his rule he first waged war against the Kadusians on the Caspian Sea . Diodor's chronology involves some problems, as his information in the 15th book is often imprecise and fluid. About the in the year 351 BC A planned attempt to invade Egypt in the 3rd century BC , no contemporary evidence is available. Aristotle reports that Alexander tried to divert a river after learning that "there were crocodiles in it". However, it remains unclear whether this information related to the Nile or the Indus . Danielle Bonneau considers the possibility that this statement was not from Alexander, but from Artaxerxes III. regarding his plans for Egypt.

The often postulated reaction that Phoenician satrap revolts followed shortly thereafter is an assumption that is not supported by contemporary sources. The rebellion of Tennes could also have been a result of the high tribute he paid to Artaxerxes III. had to do.

Satrap revolts (346 to 345 BC)

A fragment of the Babylonian Chronicle has been preserved as a further contemporary source . There reports on prisoners from Sidon :

"14. Year of reign of Ochos: In the month of Tašritu ( October 345 BC) the prisoners from Sidon were brought to Babylon and Susa . On the 16th day of that month some women from Sidon entered the king's palace. "

- Babylonian Chronicle

The revolts sparked against the Persians by Phenicia , Syria , Sidon and Cyprus certainly broke out a few months earlier, perhaps as early as 346 BC. Chr. Mazaeus and Belesys II. In this period were to take countermeasures, since the Persian Great King with the military preparations for future action against the order, Egypt was busy. Sidon played a particularly important strategic role. Dates that those satrap revolts lasted from 351 to 346 BC for several years. Are to be regarded as unlikely. A precise chronology of the events is not possible, but that of Diodorus is for the year 351 BC. Chr. Reported connection between the recently carried out Persian march against Egypt and the satrap revolts at that time with the revolts from 346 to 345 BC. Not durable; Neither is the time taken as a reaction to the start of the satrap uprisings and the termination of Isocrates , who had the unrest already for the year 347 BC. Mentioned.

Head of Nectanebo II.
The tomb of Artaxerxes III. in Persepolis

Attack on Egypt (342/341 BC)

Diodorus dated the attack on Egypt both in the 18th year of the reign of Artaxerxes III. as well as of Nectanebos II , based on one in 362/361 BC. Artaxerxes III came to power. On this basis, the campaign against Egypt was scheduled for the year 343 BC. From the demotic papyrus Traum des Nektanebos it emerges that the summer of the year 343 BC. Is to be equated with the 16th year of the reign of Nectanebo II. After the dates of Diodorus have been corrected, the attack on Egypt cannot take place before December 342 BC Began, especially since the flood of the Nile did not end until September or October.

Diodorus based his statements in a strongly abbreviated form on the 29-volume universal history of the fourth century BC. Living Greek historian Ephoros von Kyme , who incorporated his anti-Persian stance into his remarks. An analysis showed that Diodorus used the statements of Ephorus by Kyme repeatedly for his stories. The size information given by Diodorus in connection with the attack on Egypt with regard to the armies of Artaxerxes III. and Nectanebo II. striking parallels with the Diodorus figures from other battles.

In the army of Artaxerxes III. According to Diodor's statements, Greek mercenaries were integrated. Three regiments led the first attack, whereby Lakrates and Rhosakes are said to have advanced first with the cavalry units. Nikostratos and Aristazanes are said to have commanded 5,000 elite soldiers and 80  triremes who went on the offensive by sea . Mentor and Bagoas are said to have had the task of penetrating the delta with their ships on the Nile . A few years earlier, mentor was still an ally of Nectanebo II in connection with the Sidon uprising under Tennes , but ran to Artaxerxes III after the revolts were put down. over. According to Diodorus, the Egyptian army is said to have a total strength of 100,000 men: 20,000 Greeks, 20,000  Libyans and 60,000 Egyptians.

End of the reign

The suppression of the revolts led, among other things, to Greek policy towards Persia becoming extremely cautious. So trying Philip II. Of Macedon , father of Alexander the Great , to lean on Persia. Probably at the end of 338 BC Artaxerxes III. and his sons, except for Arses, were poisoned by the eunuch Bagoas and buried in the rock face of Persepolis .

literature

  • Pierre Briant : From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, Winona Lake 2002, ISBN 1-57506-031-0 .
  • Matt Waters: Ancient Persia. A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550-330 BCE. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2014, ISBN 978-0-521-25369-7 .

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Carsten Binder: Plutarch's Vita des Artaxerxes . Berlin 2008, p. 359.
  2. ^ Jona Lendering: Artaxerxes II Mnemon . In: Livius.org (English) dates from February to mid-March of the year 358 BC. Chr.
  3. ↑ Aristotle, De inundatione Nili § 6th
  4. ↑ Danielle Bonneau: La crue du Nil: Divinité Egyptienne à travers mille ans d'Histoire (332 av.-641 ap. J.-C.) d'après les auteurs Grecs et Latins, et les Documents des Epoques ptolémaïque, romaine et byzantine . Klincksieck, Paris 1964.
  5. ^ A b Pierre Briant: From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake 2002, p. 1004.
  6. ↑ Babylonian Chronicle .
  7. ↑ Pierre Briant: From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake 2002, p. 683.
  8. ↑ Friedhelm Hoffmann , Joachim Friedrich Quack : Anthology of demotic literature (= introductions and source texts for Egyptology. Volume 4). LIT, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-8258-0762-2 , p. 162.
  9. ↑ The eighth month of the Babylonian lunar calendar fell in the 17th year of the reign of Artaxerxes III. and lasted until December 5th ( dates of the Julian calendar ). The 18th year of reign can therefore be in December 342 BC at the earliest. Have begun; see also the reigns: Nectanebo II from 359 to 341 BC According to Madeleine DellaMonica: Les derniers pharaons: Les turbulents Ptolémées, d'Alexandre le Grand à Cléopâtre la Grande. Les temples ptolémaïques . Maisonneuve et Larose, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-7068-1272-9 , p. 6, Miriam Lichtheim : Ancient Egyptian Literature: A book of readings. Vol. 3: The late period . University of California Press, Berkeley 2006, ISBN 0-520-24844-9 , p. 41; and Jona Lendering: Nectanebo II . In: Livius.org (English): 359/358 to 342/341 BC. Chr.
  10. ↑ Hans Förster: The beginnings of Christmas and Epiphany - A request to the hypotheses of origin; Studies and texts on antiquity and Christianity. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2007, ISBN 3-16-149399-0 , pp. 117f.
  11. ↑ Pierre Briant: From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake 2002, p. 785.
  12. ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké Chapter 16.44
  13. ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké Chapter 16.42 and Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké Chapter 16.45 .
  14. ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké Chapter 16.47 .
  15. ↑ Pierre Briant: From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Winona Lake 2002, p. 784.
predecessor Office successor
Artaxerxes II. Persian king
358–338 BC Chr. 		Arses
personal data
SURNAME Artaxerxes III.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ardaschīr; Ŗtachschaçā
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Persian king, the tenth king from the ancient Persian dynasty of the Achaemenids
DATE OF BIRTH around 390 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 338 BC Chr.