Artaxerxes I.

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Artaxerxes I.

Artaxerxes I. ( Old Persian Rtachschaçā [ ɔːrtæxˈʃæçɔː ], Persian اردشیر Ardaschīr [ ærdæˈʃiːr ]; ancient Greek Ἀρταξέρξης Artaxerxes , later nicknamed Μακρόχειρ Makrocheir "long hand") was v of 465th Until his death in December 424 BC. Chr. Persian Great King . The end of his year of accession began on 1  Nisannu 464 BC. Automatically his first year of reign.

Life

Artaxerxes was the son and successor Xerxes I . After internal turmoil, he was murdered by his Guard Commander Artabanos . Artabanos drew suspicion on Darius , the eldest son of Xerxes I. In anger, the younger brother Artaxerxes killed the alleged patricide and ascended the throne himself.

Shortly after Artaxerxes' assumption of government, there was an uprising in Bactria in 463 under the leadership of the satrap Artapanos in the far east of the Persian Empire , which was soon followed by an uprising in Egypt under the Libyan Inaros . In this conflict , the Attic League, led by Kimons , intervened with 200 of its own and allied ships. The background was the strengthening of Athens after the Persian Wars : the resources of the Sea League now enabled the Greeks to proceed more expansively .

At first, the combined Libyan-Egyptian force with Greek naval support was successful, defeating the Persian governor in Egypt and closing a siege ring around the Persian garrison in Memphis . Artaxerxes' general Megabyzos the Younger blew up this ring in 456 BC. At the Battle of Papremis and destroyed an Attic relief fleet. Thucydides (I 109) reports that

Megabyzos [...] came with a huge army . After his arrival he defeated the Egyptians and their allies in a land battle, drove the Greeks out of Memphis and finally locked them up on the island of Prosopitis . There he besieged her for a year and six months.

Ktesias of Knidos reports 50 lost ships and 6,000 fallen on the Greek side. This was followed by eventful fights, including 450 a Greek victory at Salamis.

Since both Greeks and Persians were heavily burdened by the tough fighting, negotiations took place in 449/448. The Persian Wars were formally ended in the so-called Callias Peace . The Greek cities in Asia Minor and Cyprus remained nominally part of the Persian Empire, but Artaxerxes had to recognize their autonomy. In the ensuing conflicts between Athens and Sparta , both sides tried to win the Persian king as an ally, but this failed when Artaxerxes died.

meaning

Artaxerxes I appears as a kind-hearted king in the light of history. He generously granted asylum to Themistocles , the victor of the Battle of Salamis, after his exile . During his reign the "Hall of 100 Columns" was also built in the Palace of Persepolis . Artaxerxes, who also pursued a tolerant religious policy, had his deeds recorded for posterity on inscriptions .

Mentions in the Bible

Artaxerxes is mentioned several times in the two history books Esra and Nehemia of the Old Testament .

According to Esr 4,7 et seq.  EU , King Artaxerxes forbids the building activities to fortify Jerusalem after the local population complained about the Israelites returning from Babylonian exile .

In the 7th year of Artaxerxes (457 BC) the prophet Ezra was allowed to travel to Jerusalem with a "number of Israelites, priests, Levites , singers, gatekeepers and temple servants". His mission is to beautify the house of God and to set up the sacrificial service again ( Esr 7.7ff  EU ).

Neh 2,1  EU reports on Nehemiah , who was the king's cupbearer in the 20th year of King Artaxerxes (445 BC). Sadly about the poor condition of the now partially rebuilt city of Jerusalem, he asked Artaxerxes to push the construction forward. Then Nehemiah became the governor of the Jews. In the 32nd year of the king's reign (432 BC) he returned to the royal court for a short time ( Neh 13.6  EU ).

progeny

Artaxerxes' I. only wife was Damasipa and consequently their son was his only legitimately born child. He also had seventeen illegitimate children from various concubinates, although not all of them are known by name.

From the marriage with Damasipa:

From the cohabitation with the Babylonian Alogyne:

From the cohabitation with the Babylonian Kosmartidene:

From the cohabitation with the Babylonian Andia:

  • Bagapaios.
  • Parysatis , wife of her half-brother Darius II.

See also

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Thucydides : The Peloponnesian War. I, 104, translated and edited by Helmut Vretska and Werner Rinner. Reclam, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 978-3-15-001808-8 .
  2. ↑ Ingomar Weiler, Heribert Aigner: Fundamentals of the political history of antiquity. 2nd edition, Böhlau, Vienna 1995, p. 60.
  3. ^ Siegfried H. Horn, Lynn H. Wood: Die Chronologie von Esra 7. 2nd corrected edition, Wegweiser Verlag, Vienna, 2004, p. 122. (PDF document; 1.93 MB)
  4. ↑ Ktesias von Knidos : Persika , in: The Fragments of the Greek Historians No. 688, Frag. 15, 47 [based on the edition by Dominique Lenfant ].
predecessor Office successor
Xerxes I. Persian king
465–424 BC Chr. 		Xerxes II.
predecessor Office successor
Xerxes I. Pharaoh of Egypt
27th Dynasty 		Xerxes II.
personal data
SURNAME Artaxerxes I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Artaxerxes I. Macrocheir
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Persian great king
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH December 424 BC Chr.