(), a Persian, who was high in favour with king
Cambyses, and acted as his messenger. By his means Cambyses had his brother Smerdis
assassinated. In one of his fits of madness, Cambyses shot the son of Praxaspes with an arrow
through the heart, in the presence of his father. When the news of the usurpation of Smerdis
reached Cambyses, he naturally suspected Praxaspes of not having fulfilled his directions. The
latter, however, succeeded in clearing himself. After the death of Cambyses, the Magians
deemed it advisable to endeavour to secure the co-operation of Praxaspes, as he was the only
person who could certify the death of Smerdis, having murdered him with his own hands. He at
first assented to their proposals, but having been directed by them to proclaim to the
assembled Persians that the pretender was really the son of Cyrus, he, on the contrary,
declared the stratagem that was being practised, and then threw himself headlong from the
tower on which he was standing, and so perished. (