Surnamed Mnemon (Μνήμων) from his
good memory, succeeded his father, Dareius II., as king of Persia, and reigned from B. C. 405 to B. C. 362. (Diod. 13.104, 108.) Cyrus, the younger brother of
Artaxerxes, was the favourite of his mother Parysatis, and she endeavoured to obtain the
throne for him; but Dareius gave to Cyrus only the satrapy of western Asia, and Artaxerxes on
his accession confirmed his brother in his satrapy, on the request of Parysatis, although he
suspected him. (Xenoph. Anab. 1.1.3 ; Plut. Art.
3.) Cyrus, however, revolted against his brother, and supported by Greek mercenaries
invaded Upper Asia. In the neighbourhood of Cunaxa, Cyrus gained a great victory over the far
more numerous army of his brother, B. C. 400], but was slain in the
battle. [CYRUS.] Tissaphernes was appointed satrap of western Asia
in the place of Cyrus (Xenoph. Hellen. 3.1.3), and was actively engaged
in wars with the Greeks. [THIMBRON; DERCYLLIDAS; AGESILAUS.]
Notwithstanding these perpetual conflicts with the Greeks, the Persian empire maintained
itself by the disunion among the Greeks themselves, which was fomented and kept up by Persian
money. The peace of Antalcidas, in B. C. 388, gave the Persians even
greater power and influence than they had possessed before. [ANTALCIDAS.] But the empire was suffering from internal disturbances and confusion :
Artaxerxes himself was a weak man; his mother, Parysatis, carried on her horrors at the court
with truly oriental cruelty; and slaves and eunuchs wielded the reins of government. Tributary
countries and satraps endeavoured, under such circumstances, to make themselves independent,
and the exertions which it was necessary to make against the rebels exhausted the strength of
the empire. Artaxerxes thus had to maintain a long struggle against Evagoras of Cyprus, from
B. C. 385 to B. C. 376, and yet all he
could gain was to confine Evagoras to his original possession, the town of Salamis and its
vicinity, and to compel him to pay a moderate tribute. (Diod.
15.9.) At the same time he had to carry on war against the Cardusians, on the shores of the Caspian sea; and after his numerous army was with great difficulty
saved from total destruction, he concluded a peace without gaining any advantages. (Diod. 15.9, 10; Plut. Art. 24.) His attempts to recover Egypt were unsuccessful, and the general
insurrection of his subjects in Asia Minor failed only through treachery among the insurgents
themselves. (Diod. 15.90, &c.) When Artaxerxes felt that the
end of his life was approaching, he endeavoured to prevent all quarrels respecting the
succession by fixing upon Dareius, the eldest of his three legitimate sons (by his concubines
he had no less than 115 sons, Just. 10.1), as his successor, and
granted to him all the outward distinctions of royalty. But Dareius soon after fell out with
his father about Aspasia, and formed a plot to assassinate him. But the plot was betrayed, and
Dareius was put to death with many of his accomplices. (Plut. Art.
26, &c.; Justin. l.c.) Of the two remaining legitimate sons,
Ochus and Ariaspes, the former now hoped to succeed his father; but as Ariaspes was beloved by
the Persians on account of his gentle and amiable character, and as the aged Artaxerxes
appeared to prefer Arsames, the son of one of his concubines, Ochus contrived by intrigues to
drive Ariaspes to despair and suicide, and had Arsames assassinated. Artaxerxes died of grief
at these horrors in B. C. 362, and was succeeded by Ochus, who
ascended the throne under the name of Artaxerxes III. (Plut. Life of
Artaxerxes ;Diod. 15.93; Phot. Bibl. pp. 42-44, ed.
Bekker; Clinton, Fast. Hellen. ii. p. 381, &c.)