Artaxerxes ii biography

King of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 to 359/8 BC

Arses (Ancient Greek: Ἄρσης; c. 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂Artaxšaçāʰ; Ancient Greek: Ἀρταξέρξης), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC.

He was the son and successor of Darius II (r. 423 – 405/4 BC) and his mother was Parysatis.

Artaxerxes ii biography

Soon after his accession, Artaxerxes II faced opposition from his younger brother Cyrus the Younger, who assembled an army composed of troops from his Lydian and Ionian satrapies as well as Greek mercenaries in his bid for the throne.

The forces of the brothers clashed at Cunaxa in 401 BC, which resulted in the defeat and death of Cyrus. Following this, Artaxerxes II had to contend with several other revolts; a revolt by Evagoras I (r. 411–374 BC) in Cyprus between 391–380 BC, by the Phoenicians in c. 380 BC, and most importantly, the revolts by the western satra