bgr_301675 - PERSIA - ACHAEMENID KINGDOM - ARTAXERXES II MNEMON Sicle

PERSIA - ACHAEMENID KINGDOM - ARTAXERXES II MNEMON

(405-359 BC)

Artaxerxes II Mnemon (who has memory) has the longest reign in Achaemenid history. He succeeds his father Darius II in 405 and must first fight against his half-brother, Cyrus the Younger who is finally eliminated after the retreat of the "ten thousand" immortalized by Xenophon. His reign marks the beginning of the long decline of the Persian Empire with the loss of Egypt. However, the great King held the role of arbiter between Athens and Sparta and recovered the cities of Asia Minor after the peace of Antalcidas in 386 BC. Artaxerxes saw the last twenty years of his reign darkened by sordid family histories and the widespread revolt of the Satraps of Asia Minor who obtained autonomy for their territories such as Mausole and his successors in Caria, Datames, Tiribaz and Mazaios in Cilicia. Artaxerxes dies in 359 BC leaving an open succession and an empire in crisis.