Latest / The Achaemenid Empire: Persia's Golden Age of Power — Fexingo History / Artaxerxes II and the Revolt of Cyrus the Younger
Transcript
- Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you'll remember we've talked a lot about Darius I and Xerxes. But today we're jumping forward nearly a century to a civil war that nearly tore the Achaemenid Empire apart: the revolt of Cyrus the Younger against his older brother, King Artaxerxes II. Luna: Cyrus the Younger — that's the one who hired those Greek mercenaries, right? Lucas: Exactly. And that decision would produce one of the most famous military narratives from the ancient world. But let's set the stage. Artaxerxes II came to the throne in 404 BCE after the death of his father, Darius II. It wasn't a smooth succession. Cyrus, who was the younger son, had been appointed satrap of Lydia, Phrygia, and Cappadocia — basically the entire western flank of the empire. And he was ambitious. Lucas: Cyrus started secretly assembling an army. He knew he couldn't match the Persian king's levies head-on, so he turned to the best infantry in the Aegean: Greek hoplites. Sparta had just won the Peloponnesian War and had plenty of unemployed soldiers. Cyrus reached out to Clearchus, a Spartan commander, and began recruiting. He claimed the campaign was against the Pisidians, a troublesome tribe in Anatolia. Nobody knew the real target until they were deep into Mesopotamia. Luna: So he lied to his own army about who they were marching to fight. Lucas: Pretty much. By the time they reached the Euphrates, the Greek commanders figured it out. But they were already in too deep — and Cyrus was paying well. So they pressed on. In September 401 BCE, the two armies met at Cunaxa, about 60 kilometres north of Babylon. Artaxerxes had a massive army, but the Greeks — about 13,000 hoplites — held their formation and pushed back the Persian left wing. Lucas: The battle seemed to be going Cyrus's way. He saw an opening to strike his brother personally and led a charge of his cavalry guard straight at Artaxerxes. He managed to wound the king, but in the melee, Cyrus was killed by a javelin. With Cyrus dead, his Persian troops scattered. The Greeks had won their part of the battle, but the war was lost. Luna: So the Ten Thousand — that's what they call the mercenaries — were suddenly stranded in the middle of the Persian Empire, no employer, no supplies, surrounded by hostile forces. Lucas: Exactly. And that's where Xenophon picks up the story. He was a young Athenian who joined the expedition as a friend of Cyrus, not as a commander. After Cyrus's death and the betrayal of the Greek generals by the satrap Tissaphernes — who lured them to a parley and executed them — Xenophon emerged as one of the leaders who helped march the remaining 10,000 Greeks north through hostile territory to the Black Sea. Luna: That march is legendary. Mountains, snow, constant attacks — it's like a survival epic. Lucas: It really is. Xenophon's account, the Anabasis, is one of the great adventure stories of antiquity. But let's step back to the empire. Artaxerxes II had won, but his problems were far from over. The revolt exposed the weaknesses in the Achaemenid system — reliance on mercenaries, satrapal disloyalty, and the perennial problem of royal succession. Lucas: After Cunaxa, Artaxerxes spent years trying to consolidate his authority. He faced revolts in Egypt, which regained independence under Amyrtaeus, and ongoing trouble with the Greek city-states. The satraps in western Anatolia became increasingly independent, playing Sparta and Athens against each other. It's the period of the Corinthian War and the so-called King's Peace, or Peace of Antalcidas, in 387 BCE, which Artaxerxes dictated to the Greeks. Luna: The King's Peace — that's when Persia basically said, 'You Greeks stop fighting each other, or we'll come over there.' And everyone listened. Lucas: More or less. It gave Artaxerxes control over the Greek cities of Asia Minor in exchange for leaving the mainland alone. But the real power broker in that peace was the satrap Pharnabazus, who knew how to manipulate Greek alliances. The empire was still vast and rich, but the cracks were showing. Lucas: Artaxerxes II reigned for 45 years, the longest of any Achaemenid king. He built extensively at Susa and Ecbatana. His tomb at Persepolis — or maybe at Naqsh-e Rostam, scholars aren't sure — bears an inscription that calls him 'great king, king of kings, king of countries.' But the empire he left his son, Artaxerxes III, was a more fragile place than the one he'd inherited. Luna: It's interesting how we so often focus on the founders — Cyrus, Darius — but the later kings had to manage a harder game. Lucas: Absolutely. And one thing that makes this period fascinating is the cultural exchange. The Anabasis introduced Greek readers to the inner workings of the Persian court and army. Xenophon's descriptions of Persian customs, like the use of eunuchs or the elaborate court protocol, shaped Greek — and later Western — perceptions of Persia for centuries. Lucas: Artaxerxes II himself is a complex figure. He wasn't a warrior king like his ancestors, but he was a survivor. He outlived his brothers, his rebellious son, and most of his enemies. And he did something no other Achaemenid king did: he married his own daughter, Atossa, which scandalised even the Persian court. The sources say he loved her deeply. Luna: That's... a lot. But it also shows how the royal family operated completely outside normal norms. Lucas: Right. And speaking of norms, one of the reasons we can talk about this without commercial interruption is that we keep the show ad-free by choice. If you value that, you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's a simple way to keep these conversations going. Luna: Yeah, it really helps us stay independent and focused on the history, not the ads. Lucas: So back to Artaxerxes. One of his lasting legacies was the revival of Zoroastrian orthodoxy. He promoted the cult of Anahita and Mithra alongside Ahura Mazda, which later influenced Mithraism in the Roman world. His reign also saw the beginning of the Persian version of the Avesta being compiled. It was a period of religious consolidation as much as political management. Luna: So he's not just a politician — he's also shaping religion for centuries to come. Lucas: Exactly. And the art from his reign reflects that — the reliefs at Persepolis show a more rigid, hierarchical court than under Darius. Everything becomes more formalised. The empire was still grand, but the dynamism was fading. Within seventy years, Alexander would march through the same gates. Lucas: If you want to dig deeper into the Ten Thousand, Xenophon's Anabasis is surprisingly readable — it's a firsthand account, full of details about Persian villages, mountain tribes, and the sheer grit of the march. It's one of those texts that brings the ancient world to life. Luna: I've always meant to read that. Maybe this is the push I needed. Lucas: And next time we'll look at what happened when that kind of Greek military power met the Persian heartland head-on — the arrival of Alexander. But for now, I think we've covered the tangled story of Artaxerxes II, his brother, and the mercenaries who walked into history.