Clearchus of Soli ( Greek : Kλέαρχoς ὁ Σολεύς , Klearkhos ho Soleus ) was a Greek philosopher of the 4th–3rd century BCE, belonging to Aristotle 's Peripatetic school . He was born in Soli in Cyprus .
138-573: He wrote extensively on eastern cultures, and is thought to have traveled to the Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum (Alexandria on the Oxus) in modern Afghanistan . Clearchus wrote extensively around 320 BCE on Oriental cultures, from Israel to Persia to India , and several fragments from him are known. His book "Of Education" (Greek: Περὶ παιδείας , Peri paideiās ) was cited by Diogenes Laërtius . Clearchus in particular expressed several theories on
276-619: A 'crusade against the barbarians' but there was not enough strength left in any of the Greek city-states to answer his call. Although there were no rebellions in the Persian Empire itself, the growing power and territory of Philip II of Macedon in Macedon (against which Demosthenes was in vain warning the Athenians) attracted the attention of Artaxerxes. In response, he ordered that Persian influence
414-574: A Persian from Balkh known as Saman Khuda left Zoroastrianism for Islam while living under the Umayyads. His children founded the Samanid Empire (875–999 AD). Persian became the official language and had a higher status than Bactrian, because it was the language of Muslim rulers. It eventually replaced the latter as the common language due to the preferential treatment as well as colonization. Several important trade routes from India and China (including
552-406: A force of 14,000 Greeks furnished by the Greek cities of Asia Minor: 4,000 under Mentor , consisting of the troops that he had brought to the aid of Tennes from Egypt; 3,000 sent by Argos; and 1,000 from Thebes. He divided these troops into three bodies, and placed at the head of each a Persian and a Greek. The Greek commanders were Lacrates of Thebes, Mentor of Rhodes and Nicostratus of Argos while
690-610: A language known later as Bactrian – an Iranian language . (The Tokhari and their language should not be confused with the Tocharian people who lived in the Tarim Basin between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD, or the Tocharian languages that form another branch of Indo-European languages .) The name Daxia was used in the Shiji ("Records of the Grand Historian") by Sima Qian . Based on
828-517: A large army, including a contingent of Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries , and made his way deeper into Persia. The army of Cyrus was stopped by the royal Persian army of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa in 401 BC, where Cyrus was killed. The Ten Thousand Greek Mercenaries including Xenophon were now deep in Persian territory and were at risk of attack. So they searched for others to offer their services to but eventually had to return to Greece. Artaxerxes II
966-580: A large, professional army . Its advancements inspired the implementation of similar styles of governance by a variety of later empires. By 330 BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great , an ardent admirer of Cyrus; the conquest marked a key achievement in the then-ongoing campaign of his Macedonian Empire . Alexander's death marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period , when most of
1104-625: A major role in Central Asian history. At certain times the political limits of Bactria stretched far beyond the geographic frame of the Bactrian plain. The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC, also known as the "Oxus civilization") is the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age archaeological culture of Central Asia , dated to c. 2200 –1700 BC, located in present-day eastern Turkmenistan , northern Afghanistan , southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan , centred on
1242-587: A one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or another source of income. Artaxerxes II became involved in a war with Persia's erstwhile allies, the Spartans , who, under Agesilaus II , invaded Asia Minor . To redirect the Spartans' attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes II subsidized their enemies: in particular the Athenians , Thebans and Corinthians . These subsidies helped to engage
1380-464: A peace which required the city's forces to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies. Artaxerxes started a campaign against the rebellious Cadusians , but he managed to appease both of the Cadusian kings. One individual who successfully emerged from this campaign was Darius Codomannus, who later occupied the Persian throne as Darius III . Artaxerxes III then ordered
1518-509: A prolonged, if not even a successful resistance. However, he lacked good generals, and, over-confident in his own powers of command, he was out-maneuvered by the Greek mercenary generals, and his forces were eventually defeated by the combined Persian armies. After his defeat, Nectanebo hastily fled to Memphis , leaving the fortified towns to be defended by their garrisons. These garrisons consisted of partly Greek and partly Egyptian troops; between whom jealousies and suspicions were easily sown by
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#17328732721371656-598: A result, the Persian forces were driven out of Phoenicia . After this, Artaxerxes personally led an army of 330,000 men against Sidon . Artaxerxes' army comprised 300,000-foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry , 300 triremes, and 500 transports or provision ships. After gathering this army, he sought assistance from the Greeks. Though refused aid by Athens and Sparta , he succeeded in obtaining a thousand Theban heavy-armed hoplites under Lacrates, three thousand Argives under Nicostratus, and six thousand Æolians, Ionians , and Dorians from
1794-530: Is considered, in the Zoroastrian faith, to be one of the " sixteen perfect Iranian lands " that the supreme deity, Ahura Mazda , had created. It was once a small and independent kingdom struggling to exist against nomadic Turanians . One of the early centres of Zoroastrianism, and capital of the legendary Kayanian dynasty , Bactria is mentioned in the Behistun Inscription of Darius the Great as one of
1932-463: Is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III , a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously the Satrap of Armenia , personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BC, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor . Alexander
2070-461: Is reported to have had a number of wives. His main wife was Stateira , until she was poisoned by Artaxerxes II's mother Parysatis in about 400 BC. Another chief wife was a Greek woman of Phocaea named Aspasia (not the same as the concubine of Pericles ). Artaxerxes II is said to have had more than 115 sons from 350 wives. In 358 BC Artaxerxes II died and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes III . In 355 BC, Artaxerxes III forced Athens to conclude
2208-408: Is the earliest, and although the later historians all agree on the key details of the story, that a magus impersonated Bardiya and took the throne, this may have been a story created by Darius to justify his own usurpation. Iranologist Pierre Briant hypothesises that Bardiya was not killed by Cambyses, but waited until his death in the summer of 522 BC to claim his legitimate right to the throne as he
2346-570: The Amu Darya (ancient Oxus River) to the north and the Hindu Kush mountain range to the south and east. On its western side, the region was bordered by the great Carmanian desert and the plain of Margiana . The Amu Darya and smaller rivers such as (from west to east) the Shirin Tagab River , Sari Pul River , Balkh River and Kunduz River have been used for irrigation for millennia. The land
2484-441: The Bactrian city of Ai-Khanoum , near the border with India, Greek verses, brought to city by Clearchus from Delphi , were dedicated to the founder of the city named Kineas. On a Herôon (funerary monument), identified in Greek as the tomb of Kineas (also described as the oikistes (founder) of the Greek settlement) and dated to 300-250 BC, the inscription says: As children, learn good manners. As young men, learn to control
2622-729: The Balkans and Egypt in the west, West Asia as the base, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley to the southeast. Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of the Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians . From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire , marking
2760-507: The Greek language for administrative purposes, and the local Bactrian language was also Hellenized, as suggested by its adoption of the Greek alphabet and Greek loanwords. The Bactrian king Euthydemus I and his son Demetrius I crossed the Hindu Kush mountains and began the conquest of the Indus valley . For a short time, they wielded great power: a great Greek empire seemed to have arisen far in
2898-570: The Persian Empire or First Persian Empire ( / ə ˈ k iː m ə n ɪ d / ; Old Persian : 𐎧𐏁𐏂 , Xšāça , lit. 'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom' ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC . Based in modern-day Iran , it was the largest empire by that point in history , spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles). The empire spanned from
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#17328732721373036-510: The Seleucid Empire and founded a number of Greek towns . The Greek language became dominant for some time there. The paradox that Greek presence was more prominent in Bactria than in areas far closer to Greece can possibly be explained by past deportations of Greeks to Bactria. When Alexander's troops entered Bactria they discovered communities of Greeks who appeared to have been deported to
3174-569: The Silk Road ) passed through Bactria and, as early as the Bronze Age , this had allowed the accumulation of vast amounts of wealth by the mostly nomadic population. The first proto-urban civilization in the area arose during the 2nd millennium BC . Control of these lucrative trade routes, however, attracted foreign interest, and in the 6th century BC the Bactrians were conquered by the Persians , and in
3312-640: The Silk Roads . Kujula Kadphises , the xihou (prince) of the Yuezhi, united the region in the early 1st century and laid the foundations for the powerful, but short-lived, Kushan Empire . In the 3rd century AD, Tukhara was under the rule of the Kushanshas (Indo-Sasanians). The form Tokharistan – the suffix -stan means "place of" in Persian – appeared for the first time in the 4th century, in Buddhist texts, such as
3450-639: The Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War . In 387 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the Treaty of Antalcidas he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland. In 385 BC he campaigned against
3588-552: The UAE . The Ionian Revolt in 499 BC, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus, and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras . In 499 BC,
3726-792: The Vibhasa-sastra . Tokhara was known in Chinese sources as Tuhuluo (吐呼羅) which is first mentioned during the Northern Wei era. In the Tang dynasty, the name is transcribed as Tuhuoluo (土豁羅). Other Chinese names are Doushaluo 兜沙羅, Douquluo 兜佉羅 or Duhuoluo 覩貨羅. During the 5th century AD, Bactria was controlled by the Xionites and the Hephthalites , but was subsequently reconquered by the Sassanid Empire. By
3864-566: The revolting Ionians and send them to Bactria. Persia subsequently conscripted Greek men from these settlements in Bactria into their military, as did Alexander later. Alexander conquered Sogdiana . In the south, beyond the Oxus, he met strong resistance, but ultimately conquered the region through both military force and diplomacy, marrying Roxana , daughter of the defeated Satrap of Bactria, Oxyartes . He founded two Greek cities in Bactria, including his easternmost, Alexandria Eschate (Alexandria
4002-532: The satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire ; it was a special satrapy, ruled by a crown prince or an intended heir. Bactria was the centre of Iranian resistance against the Greek Macedonian invaders after the fall of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century BC, but eventually fell to Alexander the Great . After the death of Alexander, Bactria was annexed by his general, Seleucus I . The Seleucids lost
4140-521: The 10 years that Persia controlled Egypt, believers in the native religion were persecuted and sacred books were stolen. Before Artaxerxes returned to Persia, he appointed Pherendares as satrap of Egypt . With the wealth gained from his reconquering Egypt, Artaxerxes was able to amply reward his mercenaries. He then returned to his capital having successfully completed his invasion of Egypt. After his success in Egypt, Artaxerxes returned to Persia and spent
4278-632: The 1st century BC, when Strabo described how "the Asii, Pasiani, Tokhari, and Sakarauli" had taken part in the "destruction of the Greco-Bactrian kingdom". Ptolemy subsequently mentioned the central role of the Tokhari among other tribes in Bactria. As Tukhara or Tokhara it included areas that were later part of Surxondaryo Region in Uzbekistan, southern Tajikistan and northern Afghanistan. The Tokhari spoke
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4416-486: The 4th century BC by Alexander the Great . These conquests marked the end of Bactrian independence. From around 304 BC the area formed part of the Seleucid Empire , and from around 250 BC it was the centre of a Greco-Bactrian kingdom , ruled by the descendants of Greeks who had settled there following the conquest of Alexander the Great . The Greco-Bactrians, also known in Sanskrit as Yavanas , worked in cooperation with
4554-491: The 7th century. The capital city of Bactra was centre of an Iranian Renaissance in the 8th and 9th centuries, and New Persian as an independent literary language first emerged in this region. The Samanid Empire was formed in Eastern Iran by the descendants of Saman Khuda , a Persian from Bactria, beginning the spread of the Persian language in the region and the decline of the Bactrian language. The modern English name of
4692-700: The Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus . After Cimon 's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens , Argos and Persia in 449 BC. Artaxerxes offered asylum to Themistocles , who
4830-535: The Babylonians at Opis , then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner. Upon taking control of the city, Cyrus depicted himself in propaganda as restoring the divine order which had been disrupted by Nabonidus , who had promoted the cult of Sin rather than Marduk , and he also portrayed himself as restoring
4968-622: The Cadusians . Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes II had more trouble with the Egyptians , who had successfully revolted against him at the beginning of his reign. An attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer Phoenicia . He quashed the Revolt of the Satraps in 372–362 BC. He
5106-532: The East. But this empire was torn by internal dissension and continual usurpations. When Demetrius advanced far east of the Indus River, one of his generals, Eucratides , made himself king of Bactria, and soon in every province there arose new usurpers, who proclaimed themselves kings and fought against each other. For example Eucratides is known to have battled another king named Demetrius of India, probably Demetrius II ,
5244-691: The European part of the Black Sea , such as parts of modern Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , and Russia , before it returned to Asia Minor . Darius left in Europe one of his commanders named Megabazus whose task was to accomplish conquests in the Balkans. The Persian troops subjugated gold-rich Thrace , the coastal Greek cities, and defeated and conquered the powerful Paeonians . Finally, Megabazus sent envoys to Amyntas, demanding acceptance of Persian domination, which
5382-693: The Furthest). After Alexander's death, Diodorus Siculus tells us that Philip received dominion over Bactria, but Justin names Amyntas to that role. At the Treaty of Triparadisus , both Diodorus Siculus and Arrian agree that the satrap Stasanor gained control over Bactria. Eventually, Alexander's empire was divided up among the generals in Alexander's army. Bactria became a part of the Seleucid Empire , named after its founder, Seleucus I . The Macedonians , especially Seleucus I and his son Antiochus I , established
5520-520: The Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BC), followed by Issus (333 BC), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BC). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BC. From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae , where he visited the tomb of Cyrus , the man whom he had heard of from the Cyropaedia . In the ensuing chaos created by Alexander's invasion of Persia, Cyrus's tomb
5658-491: The Great , claims that Teispes was the son of Achaemenes and that Darius is also descended from Teispes through a different line, but no earlier texts mention Achaemenes. In Herodotus ' Histories , he writes that Cyrus the Great was the son of Cambyses I and Mandane of Media , the daughter of Astyages , the king of the Median Empire. Cyrus revolted against the Median Empire in 553 BC, and in 550 BC succeeded in defeating
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5796-454: The Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana , where Darius III had sought refuge. Darius III was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in
5934-494: The Great. The Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BC on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Asia Minor had been brought back into
6072-778: The Great. The Persian invasion led indirectly to Macedonia's rise in power and Persia had some common interests in the Balkans; with Persian aid, the Macedonians stood to gain much at the expense of some Balkan tribes such as the Paeonians and Greeks. All in all, the Macedonians were "willing and useful Persian allies. Macedonian soldiers fought against Athens and Sparta in Xerxes I's army. The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna (" Ionians ", their term for "Greeks"), and to Macedonians specifically as Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", possibly referring to
6210-592: The Greek account. According to some writers, Bactria was the homeland ( Airyanem Vaejah ) of Indo-Iranians who moved south-west into Iran and the north-west of the South Asian subcontinent around 2500–2000 BC. Later, it became the northern province of the Achaemenid Empire in Central Asia . It was in these regions, where the fertile soil of the mountainous country is surrounded by the Turan Depression , that
6348-497: The Greek cities of Asia Minor. This Greek support was numerically small, amounting to no more than 10,000 men, but it formed, together with the Greek mercenaries from Egypt who went over to him afterward, the force on which he placed his chief reliance, and to which the ultimate success of his expedition was mainly due. The approach of Artaxerxes sufficiently weakened the resolution of Tennes that he endeavoured to purchase his own pardon by delivering up 100 principal citizens of Sidon into
6486-515: The Greek minority. In the Indus valley , this went even further. The Indo-Greek king Menander I (known as Milinda in South Asia ), recognized as a great conqueror, converted to Buddhism . His successors managed to cling to power until the last known Indo-Greek ruler, a king named Strato II , who ruled in the Punjab region until around 55 BC. Other sources, however, place the end of Strato II's reign as late as 10 AD. Daxia , Ta-Hsia , or Ta-Hia ( Chinese : 大夏 ; pinyin : Dàxià )
6624-473: The Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis . The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BC at the Battle of Plataea . The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and the Persians lost all of their territories in Europe with Macedonia once again becoming independent. Artabanus ,
6762-402: The Indians Calami, and by the Syrians Judaei, and took their name from the country they inhabit, which is called Judea; but for the name of their city, it is a very awkward one, for they call it Jerusalem. His works included also: There is some question as to whether the work on military tactics cited by Aelianus Tacticus should be ascribed to Clearchus of Soli or Clearchus of Heraclea . In
6900-530: The Ionian Revolt. In 492 BC, the Persian general Mardonius re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedonia a fully subordinate part of the empire; it had been a vassal as early as the late 6th century BC but retained a great deal of autonomy. However, in 490 BC the Persian forces were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon and Darius I would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece. Xerxes I (485–465 BC, Old Persian Xšayārša "Hero Among Kings"), son of Darius I , vowed to complete
7038-427: The Kushan Empire in the 3rd century, and the Kushano-Sasanian Kingdom was formed. The Sasanians lost Bactria in the 4th century, but reconquered it in the 6th century. Bactrian (natively known as ariao , 'Iranian'), an Eastern Iranian language , was the common language of Bactria and surroundings areas in ancient and early medieval times. The Islamization of Bactria began with the Muslim conquest of Iran in
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#17328732721377176-432: The Kushāns and Hepthalites in the 1st–6th centuries AD. Over the course of time, the eastern Iranian dialect that was used by the ancient Tajiks eventually gave way to Persian, a western dialect spoken in Iran and Afghanistan. 36°45′29″N 66°53′56″E / 36.7581°N 66.8989°E / 36.7581; 66.8989 Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire , also known as
7314-513: The Macedonian kausia hat. By the 5th century BC, the Kings of Persia were either ruling over or had subordinated territories encompassing not just all of the Persian Plateau and all of the territories formerly held by the Assyrian Empire ( Mesopotamia , the Levant , Cyprus and Egypt ), but beyond this, all of Anatolia and Armenia , as well as the Southern Caucasus and parts of the North Caucasus , Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Bulgaria , Paeonia , Thrace and Macedonia to
7452-411: The Macedonians did. The Balkans provided many soldiers for the multi-ethnic Achaemenid army. Many of the Macedonian and Persian elite intermarried, such as the Persian official Bubares who married Amyntas' daughter, Gygaea. Family ties that the Macedonian rulers Amyntas and Alexander enjoyed with Bubares ensured them good relations with the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes I , who was also known as Xerxes
7590-400: The Medes, capturing Astyages and taking the Median capital city of Ecbatana . Once in control of Ecbatana, Cyrus styled himself as the successor to Astyages and assumed control of the entire empire. By inheriting Astyages' empire, he also inherited the territorial conflicts the Medes had with both Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire . King Croesus of Lydia sought to take advantage of
7728-487: The Median general Mazares to deal with the rebellion, and Pactyes was captured. Mazares, and after his death Harpagus , set about reducing all the cities which had taken part in the rebellion. The subjugation of Lydia took about four years in total. When the power in Ecbatana changed hands from the Medes to the Persians, many tributaries to the Median Empire believed their situation had changed and revolted against Cyrus. This forced Cyrus to fight wars against Bactria and
7866-535: The Persian capital with Artaxerxes, where he took a leading role in the internal administration of the Empire and maintained tranquillity throughout the rest of the Empire. During the last six years of the reign of Artaxerxes III, the Persian Empire was governed by a vigorous and successful government. The Persian forces in Ionia and Lycia regained control of the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea and took over much of Athens ' former island empire. In response, Isocrates of Athens started giving speeches calling for
8004-447: The Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support of the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. The first campaign of the invasion was to bring the territories in the Balkan peninsula back within the empire. The Persian grip over these territories had loosened following
8142-443: The Persian leaders. As a result, the Persians were able to rapidly reduce numerous towns across Lower Egypt and were advancing upon Memphis when Nectanebo decided to quit the country and flee southwards to Ethiopia . The Persian army completely routed the Egyptians and occupied the Lower Delta of the Nile. Following Nectanebo fleeing to Ethiopia, all of Egypt submitted to Artaxerxes. The Jews in Egypt were sent either to Babylon or to
8280-465: The Persians in about 512–511, Macedonians and Persians were strangers no more as well. The subjugation of Macedonia was part of Persian military operations initiated by Darius the Great (521–486) in 513—after immense preparations—a huge Achaemenid army invaded the Balkans and tried to defeat the European Scythians roaming to the north of the Danube river. Darius' army subjugated several Thracian people , and virtually all other regions that touch
8418-425: The Persians were led by Rhossaces, Aristazanes, and Bagoas , the chief of the eunuchs. Nectanebo II resisted with an army of 100,000 of whom 20,000 were Greek mercenaries. Nectanebo II occupied the Nile and its various branches with his large navy. The character of the country, intersected by numerous canals and full of strongly fortified towns, was in his favour and Nectanebo II might have been expected to offer
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#17328732721378556-449: The Persians. Psamtik positioned his army at Pelusium in the Nile Delta . He was soundly defeated by the Persians in the Battle of Pelusium before fleeing to Memphis , where the Persians defeated him and took him prisoner. After attempting a failed revolt, Psamtik III promptly committed suicide. Herodotus depicts Cambyses as openly antagonistic to the Egyptian people and their gods, cults, temples, and priests, in particular stressing
8694-466: The Seleucids—particularly from Antiochus III the Great , who was ultimately defeated by the Romans (190 BC). The Greco-Bactrians were so powerful that they were able to expand their territory as far as South Asia : As for Bactria, a part of it lies alongside Aria towards the north, though most of it lies above Aria and to the east of it. And much of it produces everything except oil. The Greeks who caused Bactria to revolt grew so powerful on account of
8832-464: The Sogdians and Bactrians did not differ much from the nomads in their modes of life and customs, although the Bactrians were a little more civilised; however, of these, as of the others, Onesicritus does not report their best traits, saying, for instance, that those who have become helpless because of old age or sickness are thrown out alive as prey to dogs kept expressly for this purpose, which in their native tongue are called "undertakers," and that while
8970-418: The Zoroastrian shrines can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism spread from Armenia throughout Asia Minor and the Levant . The construction of temples, though serving a religious purpose, was not a purely selfless act, as they also served as an important source of income. From the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids adopted the concept of a mandatory temple tax,
9108-423: The ancestor of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire, Achaemenes . The term Achaemenid means "of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes" ( Old Persian : 𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁 , romanized: Haxāmaniš ; a bahuvrihi compound translating to "having a friend's mind"). Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria . Around 850 BC
9246-406: The attempt. By the last year of Artaxerxes' rule, Philip II already had plans in place for an invasion of the Persian Empire, which would crown his career, but the Greeks would not unite with him. In 338 BC Artaxerxes was poisoned by Bagoas with the assistance of a physician. Artaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses , who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas
9384-420: The authority of Ctesias ) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus assembled
9522-484: The capital of which was Merv , in today's Turkmenistan. The early Greek historian Ctesias , c. 400 BC (followed by Diodorus Siculus ), alleged that the legendary Assyrian king Ninus had defeated a Bactrian king named Oxyartes in c. 2140 BC , or some 1000 years before the Trojan War . Since the decipherment of cuneiform script in the 19th century, however, which enabled actual Assyrian records to be read, historians have ascribed little value to
9660-423: The combined forces managed to defeat the forces sent by Artaxerxes III in 354 BC. However, in 353 BC, they were defeated by Artaxerxes III's army and were disbanded. Orontes was pardoned by the king, while Artabazos fled to the safety of the court of Philip II of Macedon . In c. 351 BC , Artaxerxes embarked on a campaign to recover Egypt, which had revolted under his father, Artaxerxes II. At
9798-446: The commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch , Aspamitres. The exact year and date of Xerxes' assassination is disputed among historians. After Xerxes I was assassinated, he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son Artaxerxes I . It was during his reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It
9936-576: The connection between western and eastern religions. In "Of Education", he wrote that "the gymnosophists are descendants of the Magi ". In another text, Josephus the first-century Romano-Jewish scholar claimed that Clearchus has reported a dialogue with Aristotle, where the philosopher states that the Hebrews were descendants of the Indian philosophers: Jews are derived from the Indian philosophers; they are named by
10074-594: The direct descendants of the Iranian peoples whose continuous presence in Central Asia and northern Afghanistan is attested from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. The ancestors of the Tajiks constituted the core of the ancient population of Khwārezm (Khorezm) and Bactria, which formed part of Transoxania (Sogdiana). They were included in the empires of Persia and Alexander the Great, and they intermingled with such later invaders as
10212-423: The disbanding of all the satrapal armies of Asia Minor, as he felt that they could no longer guarantee peace in the west and was concerned that these armies equipped the western satraps with the means to revolt. The order was however ignored by Artabazos II of Phrygia , who asked for the help of Athens in a rebellion against the king. Athens sent assistance to Sardis . Orontes of Mysia also supported Artabazos and
10350-513: The earlier Elamite title "King of Susa and Anshan". There are conflicting accounts of the identities of the earliest Kings of Anshan. According to the Cyrus Cylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of the Achaemenids) the kings of Anshan were Teispes , Cyrus I , Cambyses I and Cyrus II , also known as Cyrus the Great, who founded the empire. The later Behistun Inscription , written by Darius
10488-624: The elder Evagoras , the Cypriot monarch. Idrieus succeeded in reducing Cyprus. Artaxerxes initiated a counter-offensive against Sidon by commanding Belesys , satrap of Syria, and Mazaeus , satrap of Cilicia , to invade the city and to keep the Phoenicians in check. Both satraps suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Tennes, the Sidonese king, who was aided by 40,000 Greek mercenaries sent to him by Nectanebo II and commanded by Mentor of Rhodes . As
10626-467: The epitaph of Apis from 524 BC shows that Cambyses participated in the funeral rites of Apis styling himself as pharaoh. Following the conquest of Egypt, the Libyans and the Greeks of Cyrene and Barca in present-day eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) surrendered to Cambyses and sent tribute without a fight. Cambyses then planned invasions of Carthage , the oasis of Ammon and Ethiopia . Herodotus claims that
10764-458: The establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty . In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized bureaucratic administration, its multicultural policy, building complex infrastructure such as road systems and an organized postal system , the use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of
10902-680: The expedition was not a failure, and a fortress at the Second Cataract of the Nile , on the border between Egypt and Kush, remained in use throughout the Achaemenid period. The events surrounding Cambyses's death and Bardiya's succession are greatly debated as there are many conflicting accounts. According to Herodotus, as Bardiya's assassination had been committed in secret, the majority of Persians still believed him to be alive. This allowed two Magi to rise up against Cambyses, with one of them sitting on
11040-656: The fallen Achaemenid Empire's territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire , both of which had emerged as successors to the Macedonian Empire following the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC. Hellenistic rule remained in place for almost a century before the Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire . The Achaemenid Empire borrows its name from
11178-471: The fertility of the country that they became masters, not only of Bactria and beyond, but also of India, as Apollodorus of Artemita says: and more tribes were subdued by them than by Alexander...." The last Greco-Bactrian king Heliocles I lost control of Bactria to nomadic invaders near the end of the 2nd century BC, at which point Greek political power ceased in Bactria, but Greek cultural influence continued for many more centuries. The Greco-Bactrians used
11316-505: The good", also known as Darayarahush ). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis ( Gaumata ), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis ( Vahyazdāta ) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed. Herodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the empire. Ever since the Macedonian king Amyntas I surrendered his country to
11454-458: The hands of the Persian king and then admitting Artaxerxes within the defences of the town. Artaxerxes had the 100 citizens transfixed with javelins, and when 500 more came out as supplicants to seek his mercy, Artaxerxes consigned them to the same fate. Sidon was then burnt to the ground, either by Artaxerxes or by the Sidonian citizens. Forty thousand people died in the conflagration. Artaxerxes sold
11592-601: The heritage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by comparing himself to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal . The Hebrew Bible also unreservedly praises Cyrus for his actions in the conquest of Babylon, referring to him as Yahweh 's anointed . He is credited with freeing the people of Judah from their exile and with authorizing the reconstruction of much of Jerusalem , including the Second Temple . In 530 BC, Cyrus died and
11730-812: The insistence of Tissaphernes , gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BC, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BC. In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. His death gave an Egyptian rebel named Amyrtaeus the opportunity to throw off Persian control over Egypt . At his death bed, Darius' Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with him to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused. Queen Parysatis favoured Cyrus more than her eldest son Artaxerxes II . Plutarch relates (probably on
11868-400: The job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece . His army entered Greece from the north in the spring of 480 BC, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly , but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae . A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle
12006-505: The land outside the walls of the metropolis of the Bactrians looks clean, yet most of the land inside the walls is full of human bones; but that Alexander broke up the custom." The Bactrians spoke Bactrian , a north-eastern Iranian language. Bactrian became extinct, replaced by north-eastern Iranian languages such as Munji , Yidgha , Ishkashimi , and Pashto . The Encyclopaedia Iranica states: Bactrian thus occupies an intermediary position between Pashto and Yidgha - Munji on
12144-549: The latter ultimately being defeated according to the historian Justin . Most of them we know only by their coins, a great many of which are found in Afghanistan . By these wars, the dominant position of the Greeks was undermined even more quickly than would otherwise have been the case. After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings abandoned the Attic standard of coinage and introduced a native standard, no doubt to gain support from outside
12282-857: The mid-7th century AD, Islam under the Rashidun Caliphate had come to rule much of the Middle East and western areas of Central Asia. In 663 AD, the Umayyad Caliphate attacked the Buddhist Shahi dynasty ruling in Tokharistan. The Umayyad forces captured the area around Balkh , including the Buddhist monastery at Nava Vihara , causing the Shahis to retreat to the Kabul Valley. In the 8th century AD,
12420-408: The murder of the sacred bull Apis . He says that these actions led to a madness that caused him to kill his brother Bardiya (who Herodotus says was killed in secret), his own sister-wife and Croesus of Lydia. He then concludes that Cambyses completely lost his mind, and all later classical authors repeat the themes of Cambyses' impiety and madness. However, this is based on spurious information, as
12558-510: The native Bactrian aristocracy. By the early 2nd century BC the Greco-Bactrians had created an impressive empire that stretched southwards to include north-west India. By about 135 BC, however, this kingdom had been overrun by invading Yuezhi tribes, an invasion that later brought about the rise of the powerful Kushan Empire . Bactrians were recorded in Strabo's Geography : "Now in early times
12696-650: The naval invasion of Carthage was canceled because the Phoenicians, who made up a large part of Cambyses' fleet, refused to take up arms against their own people, but modern historians doubt whether an invasion of Carthage was ever planned at all. However, Cambyses dedicated his efforts to the other two campaigns, aiming to improve the Empire's strategic position in Africa by conquering the Kingdom of Meroë and taking strategic positions in
12834-582: The new international situation by advancing into what had previously been Median territory in Asia Minor. Cyrus led a counterattack which not only fought off Croesus' armies, but also led to the capture of Sardis and the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. Cyrus placed Pactyes in charge of collecting tribute in Lydia and left, but once Cyrus had left Pactyes instigated a rebellion against Cyrus. Cyrus sent
12972-399: The next few years effectively quelling insurrections in various parts of the Empire so that a few years after his conquest of Egypt, the Persian Empire was firmly under his control. Egypt remained a part of the Persian Empire from then until Alexander the Great 's conquest of Egypt. After the conquest of Egypt, there were no more revolts or rebellions against Artaxerxes. Mentor and Bagoas ,
13110-508: The nomadic Saka in Central Asia. During these wars, Cyrus established several garrison towns in Central Asia, including the Cyropolis . Nothing is known of Persia–Babylon relations between 547 and 539 BC, but it is likely that there were hostilities between the two empires for several years leading up to the war of 540–539 BC and the Fall of Babylon . In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against
13248-513: The north and west, most of the Black Sea coastal regions, parts of Central Asia as far as the Aral Sea , the Oxus and Jaxartes to the north and north-east, the Hindu Kush and the western Indus basin (corresponding to modern Afghanistan and Pakistan ) to the far east, parts of northern Arabia to the south, and parts of eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) to the south-west, and parts of Oman , China, and
13386-661: The north of modern Afghanistan . Bactria was strategically located south of Sogdia and the western part of the Pamir Mountains . The extensive mountain ranges acted as protective "walls" on three sides, with the Pamir on the north and the Hindu Kush on south forming a junction with the Karakoram range towards the east. Called "beautiful Bactria, crowned with flags" by the Avesta , the region
13524-550: The north, beginning with the Sakas (160 BC). The Sakas were overthrown in turn by the Da Yuezhi ("Greater Yuezhi") during subsequent decades. The Yuezhi had conquered Bactria by the time of the visit of the Chinese envoy Zhang Qian (circa 127 BC), who had been sent by the Han emperor to investigate lands to the west of China. The first mention of these events in European literature appeared in
13662-635: The one hand, Sogdian , Choresmian , and Parthian on the other: it is thus in its natural and rightful place in Bactria. The principal religions of the area before the Islamic invasion were Zoroastrianism and Buddhism . Contemporary Tajiks are the descendants of ancient Eastern Iranian inhabitants of Central Asia, in particular, the Sogdians and the Bactrians, and possibly other groups, with an admixture of Western Iranian Persians and non-Iranian peoples. The Encyclopædia Britannica states: The Tajiks are
13800-496: The original nomadic people who began the empire called themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua , for the most part localized around Persis. The name "Persia" is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the native word referring to the country of the people originating from Persis ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 , romanized: Pārsa ). The Persian term 𐎧𐏁𐏂 Xšāça , literally meaning "The Kingdom",
13938-407: The passions. In middle age, be just. In old age, give good advice. Then die, without regret. The precepts were placed by a Greek named Clearchus, thought to be Clearchus of Soli, who had copied them from Delphi : Whence Klearchos, having copied them carefully, set them up, shining from afar, in the sanctuary of Kineas Clearchus of Soli was a contemporary and compatriot of Stasanor (born in
14076-408: The possessions of Daxia and Anxi Parthia are large countries, full of rare things, with a population living in fixed abodes and given to occupations somewhat identical with those of the people of Han , but with weak armies, and placing great value on the rich produce of China. These contacts immediately led to the dispatch of multiple embassies from the Chinese, which helped to develop trade along
14214-686: The prophet Zoroaster was said to have been born and gained his first adherents. Avestan , the language of the oldest portions of the Zoroastrian Avesta , was one of the Old Iranian languages , and is the oldest attested member of the Eastern Iranian languages . Ernst Herzfeld suggested that Bactria belonged to the Medes before its annexation to the Achaemenid Empire by Cyrus the Great in sixth century BC , after which it and Margiana formed
14352-656: The region after the declaration of independence by the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I ; thus began the history of the Greco-Bactrian , and later the Indo-Greek , Kingdoms. By the second century BC, Bactria was conquered by the Parthian Empire , and, in the early first century, the Kushan Empire was formed by the Yuezhi within Bactrian territories. Shapur I , the second Sasanian King of Kings of Iran , conquered western parts of
14490-526: The region by the Persians in previous centuries. Considerable difficulties faced by the Seleucid kings and the attacks of Pharaoh Ptolemy II Philadelphus gave the satrap of Bactria, Diodotus I , the opportunity to declare independence about 245 BC and conquer Sogdia . He was the founder of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . Diodotus and his successors were able to maintain themselves against the attacks of
14628-882: The region is Bactria. Historically, the region was first mentioned in Avestan as Bakhdi in Old Persian . This later developed into Bāxtriš in Middle Persian and Baxl in New Persian . The modern name is derived from the Ancient Greek : Βακτριανή ( Romanized Greek term: Baktrianē ), which is the Hellenized version of the Bactrian endonym . Other cognates include βαχλο ( Romanized : Bakhlo ). بلخ ( Romanized : Balx ), Chinese 大夏 ( pinyin : Dàxià ), Latin Bactriana. The region
14766-471: The reign of Darius I , the inhabitants of the Greek city of Barca , in Cyrenaica , were deported to Bactria for refusing to surrender assassins. In addition, Xerxes also settled the "Branchidae" in Bactria; they were the descendants of Greek priests who had once lived near Didyma (western Asia Minor) and betrayed the temple to him. Herodotus also records a Persian commander threatening to enslave daughters of
14904-454: The reports of Zhang Qian, the Shiji describe Daxia as an important urban civilization of about one million people, living in walled cities under small city kings or magistrates. Daxia was an affluent country with rich markets, trading in an incredible variety of objects, coming from as far as Southern China. By the time Zhang Qian visited, there was no longer a major king, and the Bactrians were under
15042-425: The road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honourable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in
15180-507: The ruins at a high price to speculators, who calculated on reimbursing themselves by the treasures which they hoped to dig out from among the ashes. Tennes was later put to death by Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes later sent Jews who supported the revolt to Hyrcania on the south coast of the Caspian Sea . The reduction of Sidon was followed closely by the invasion of Egypt. In 343 BC, Artaxerxes III, in addition to his 330,000 Persians, had now
15318-527: The same city of Soli, in Cyprus), who was a general of Alexander the Great and later satrap of Bactria and Sogdiana . Bactria Bactria ( / ˈ b æ k t r i ə / ; Bactrian : βαχλο , Bakhlo ), or Bactriana , was an ancient Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya ) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush , an area within
15456-470: The same time, a rebellion had broken out in Asia Minor, which, being supported by Thebes , threatened to become serious. Levying a vast army, Artaxerxes invaded Egypt and engaged in fighting with Nectanebo II . After a year of fighting the Egyptian Pharaoh , Nectanebo inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians with the support of mercenaries led by the Greek generals Diophantus and Lamius. Artaxerxes
15594-513: The soil, the remainder—the Dai , Mardi , Dropici , Sagarti , being nomadic . The Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians . The Persians were Iranian people who arrived in what is today Iran c. 1000 BC and settled a region including north-western Iran, the Zagros Mountains and Persis alongside the native Elamites . The Persians were originally nomadic pastoralists in
15732-541: The south coast of the Caspian Sea , the same location that the Jews of Phoenicia had earlier been sent. After this victory over the Egyptians, Artaxerxes had the city walls destroyed, started a reign of terror, and set about looting all the temples. Persia gained a significant amount of wealth from this looting. Artaxerxes also raised high taxes and attempted to weaken Egypt enough that it could never revolt against Persia. For
15870-450: The support of his regions. Sogdianus reigned for six months and fifteen days before being captured by his half-brother, Ochus , who had rebelled against him. Sogdianus was executed by being suffocated in ash because Ochus had promised he would not die by the sword, by poison or by hunger. Ochus then took the royal name Darius II. Darius' ability to defend his position on the throne ended the short power vacuum. From 412 BC Darius II , at
16008-423: The suzerainty of the Yuezhi. Zhang Qian depicted a rather sophisticated but demoralised people who were afraid of war. Following these reports, the Chinese emperor Wu Di was informed of the level of sophistication of the urban civilizations of Ferghana , Bactria and Parthia , and became interested in developing commercial relationship with them: The Son of Heaven on hearing all this reasoned thus: Dayuan and
16146-473: The then-tyrant of Miletus , Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos , in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus, both financially and in terms of prestige. The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as a tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king, Darius I, who was commonly known as Darius
16284-451: The throne able to impersonate Bardiya because of their remarkable physical resemblance and shared name (Smerdis in Herodotus's accounts ). Ctesias writes that when Cambyses had Bardiya killed he immediately put the magus Sphendadates in his place as satrap of Bactria due to a remarkable physical resemblance. Two of Cambyses' confidants then conspired to usurp Cambyses and put Sphendadates on
16422-563: The throne under the guise of Bardiya. According to the Behistun Inscription , written by the following king Darius the Great , a magus named Gaumata impersonated Bardiya and incited a revolution in Persia. Whatever the exact circumstances of the revolt, Cambyses heard news of it in the summer of 522 BC and began to return from Egypt, but he was wounded in the thigh in Syria and died of gangrene, so Bardiya's impersonator became king. The account of Darius
16560-508: The tomb already built for him in the Naqsh-e Rustam Necropolis. It was Persian tradition that kings begin constructing their own tombs while they were still alive. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest and only legitimate son, Xerxes II . However, after a few days on the throne, he was assassinated while drunk by Pharnacyas and Menostanes on the orders of his illegitimate brother Sogdianus , who apparently had gained
16698-402: The twelfth satrapy of Persia. After Darius III had been defeated by Alexander the Great , the satrap of Bactria, Bessus , attempted to organize a national resistance but was captured by other warlords and delivered to Alexander. He was then tortured and killed. Under Persian rule, many Greeks were deported to Bactria, so that their communities and language became common in the area. During
16836-535: The two generals who had most distinguished themselves in the Egyptian campaign, were advanced to posts of the highest importance. Mentor, who was governor of the entire Asiatic seaboard, was successful in reducing to subjection many of the chiefs who during the recent troubles had rebelled against Persian rule. In the course of a few years, Mentor and his forces were able to bring the whole Asian Mediterranean coast into complete submission and dependence. Bagoas went back to
16974-533: The upper Amu Darya (known to the ancient Greeks as the Oxus River), an area covering ancient Bactria. Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for Old Persian Bāxtriš (from native * Bāxçiš ) (named for its capital Bactra, modern Balkh ), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Margu ,
17112-507: The western Iranian Plateau. The Achaemenid Empire may not have been the first Iranian empire, as the Medes , another group of Iranian people, possibly established a short-lived empire when they played a major role in overthrowing the Assyrians. The Achaemenids were initially rulers of the Elamite city of Anshan near the modern city of Marvdasht ; the title "King of Anshan" was an adaptation of
17250-414: The western oases. To this end, he established a garrison at Elephantine consisting mainly of Jewish soldiers, who remained stationed at Elephantine throughout Cambyses' reign. The invasions of Ammon and Ethiopia themselves were failures. Herodotus claims that the invasion of Ethiopia was a failure due to the madness of Cambyses and the lack of supplies for his men, but archaeological evidence suggests that
17388-447: Was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which it had been treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them on trial. By some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more an attempt to undermine their influence and display his own power than a show of concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander
17526-504: Was compelled to retreat and postpone his plans to reconquer Egypt. Soon after this defeat, there were rebellions in Phoenicia , Asia Minor and Cyprus . In 343 BC, Artaxerxes committed responsibility for the suppression of the Cyprian rebels to Idrieus , prince of Caria , who employed 8,000 Greek mercenaries and forty triremes , commanded by Phocion the Athenian, and Evagoras, son of
17664-470: Was mentioned in ancient Sanskrit texts as बाह्लीक or Bāhlīka . Wilhelm Eilers proposed that the region was named after the Balkh River (in Greek transliteration Βάκτρος ) from underlying Bāxtri- , itself meaning 'she who divides', from the Proto-Indo-European root * bhag- 'to divide' (whence also Avestan bag- and Old Indic bháj- ). Bactria is the geographic location Bactrian camels are named after. The Bactrian plain lay between
17802-444: Was noted for its fertility and its ability to produce most ancient Greek agricultural products, with the notable exception of olives. According to Pierre Leriche: Bactria, the territory of which Bactra was the capital, originally consisted of the area south of the Āmū Daryā with its string of agricultural oases dependent on water taken from the rivers of Balḵ (Bactra), Tashkurgan, Kondūz, Sar-e Pol, and Šīrīn Tagāō. This region played
17940-471: Was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de facto religion of the empire. After Persia had been defeated at the Battle of Eurymedon (469 or 466 BC ), military action between Greece and Persia was halted. When Artaxerxes I took power, he introduced a new Persian strategy of weakening the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused
18078-421: Was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a tactical victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea. Following his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae , Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf . In 480 BC
18216-412: Was succeeded by his eldest son Cambyses II , while his younger son Bardiya received a large territory in Central Asia. By 525 BC, Cambyses had successfully subjugated Phoenicia and Cyprus and was making preparations to invade Egypt with the newly created Persian navy. Pharaoh Amasis II had died in 526, and had been succeeded by Psamtik III , resulting in the defection of key Egyptian allies to
18354-403: Was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis , which he greatly extended. Also, the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper. The extraordinary innovation of
18492-443: Was the name given in antiquity by the Han Chinese to Tukhara or Tokhara : the central part of Bactria. The name "Daxia" appears in Chinese from the 3rd century BC to designate a little-known kingdom located somewhere west of China. This was possibly a consequence of the first contacts between China and the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom . During the 2nd century BC, the Greco-Bactrians were conquered by nomadic Indo-European tribes from
18630-402: Was the winner of the Battle of Salamis , after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens . Also, Artaxerxes gave him Magnesia , Myus , and Lampsacus to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine. In addition, Artaxerxes I gave him Palaescepsis to provide him with clothes, and he also gave him Percote with bedding for his house. When Artaxerxes died in 424 BC at Susa , his body was taken to
18768-421: Was then the only male descendant of the royal family. Briant says that although the hypothesis of a deception by Darius is generally accepted today, "nothing has been established with certainty at the present time, given the available evidence". According to the Behistun inscription , Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BC by Darius the Great (Old Persian Dāryavuš , "who holds firm
18906-404: Was to be used to check and constrain the rising power and influence of the Macedonian kingdom. In 340 BC, a Persian force was dispatched to assist the Thracian prince , Cersobleptes , to maintain his independence. Sufficient effective aid was given to the city of Perinthus that the numerous and well-appointed army with which Philip had commenced his siege of the city was compelled to give up
19044-458: Was used to refer to the Empire formed by their multinational state. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here. ... : the Pasargadae , Maraphii , and Maspii , upon which all the other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii , all of which are attached to
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