Notes for Darius II Ochus ACHAEMENID


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This article is about the ancient king of the Achaemenid Empire. For other
uses, see Darius II (disambiguation).
Darius II
๐Žญ๐Ž ๐Žผ๐Žน๐Žบ๐Žข๐
King of Kings
Great King
King of Persia
Pharaoh of Egypt
King of Countries
Darius II.jpg
Darius II as depicted on his tomb in Naqsh-e Rostam
King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire
Reign	423-404 BC
Predecessor	Sogdianus
Successor	Artaxerxes II
Died	404 BC
Spouse	Parysatis
Issue	Artaxerxes II
Cyrus the Younger
Ostanes
House	Achaemenid
Father	Artaxerxes I
Mother	Cosmartidene of Babylon
Religion	Zoroastrianism

Soldiers of the Empire, on the tomb of Darius II.

Location of Darius II in the Achaemenid family tree.
Darius II (Old Persian: ๐Žญ๐Ž ๐Žผ๐Žน๐Žบ๐Žข๐, romanized:
Dฤrayavahuลก), also called Darius II Nothus or Darius II Ochus, was King of
Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405[1] or 404 BC.[2]

Artaxerxes I, who died in 424 BC, was followed by his son Xerxes II. After a
month and half Xerxes II was murdered by his brother Sogdianus. His
illegitimate brother, Ochus, satrap of Hyrcania, rebelled against Sogdianus,
and after a short fight killed him, and suppressed by treachery the attempt of
his own brother Arsites to imitate his example. Ochus adopted the name Darius
(Greek sources often call him Darius Nothos, "Bastard"). Neither the names
Xerxes II nor Sogdianus occur in the dates of the numerous Babylonian tablets
from Nippur; here effectively the reign of Darius II follows immediately after
that of Artaxerxes I.[2]

Prospective tomb of Darius II in Naqsh-e Rostam
Historians know little about Darius II's reign. A rebellion by the Medes in
409 BC is mentioned by Xenophon. It does seem that Darius II was quite
dependent on his wife Parysatis. In excerpts from Ctesias some harem intrigues
are recorded, in which he played a disreputable part.[2] The Elephantine
papyri mention Darius II as a contemporary of the high priest Johanan of Ezra
10:6.[3][4]

Contents
1	Conflict with Athens
2	Issue
3	See also
4	References
Conflict with Athens
As long as the power of Athens remained intact he did not meddle in Greek
affairs. When in 413 BC, Athens supported the rebel Amorges in Caria, Darius
II would not have responded had not the Athenian power been broken in the same
year at Syracuse. As a result of that event, Darius II gave orders to his
satraps in Asia Minor, Tissaphernes and Pharnabazus, to send in the overdue
tribute of the Greek towns and to begin a war with Athens. To support the war
with Athens, the Persian satraps entered into an alliance with Sparta. In 408
BC he sent his son Cyrus to Asia Minor, to carry on the war with greater
energy.

Darius II may have expelled various Greek dynasts who had been ruling cities
in Ionia: Pausanias wrote that the sons of Themistocles, which include
Archeptolis, Governor of Magnesia, "appear to have returned to Athens", and
that they dedicated a painting of Themistocles in the Parthenon and erected a
bronze statue to Artemis Leucophryene, the goddess of Magnesia, on the
Acropolis.[5][6][7] They may have returned from Asia Minor in old age, after
412 BC, when the Achaemenids took again firm control of the Greek cities of
Asia, and they may have been expelled by the Achaemenid satrap Tissaphernes
sometime between 412 and 399 BC.[5] In effect, from 414 BC, Darius II had
started to resent increasing Athenian power in the Aegean and had Tissaphernes
enter into an alliance with Sparta against Athens, which in 412 BC led to the
Persian conquest of the greater part of Ionia.[8]

Darius is said to have received the visit of Greek athlete and Olympic
champion Polydamas of Skotoussa, who made a demonstration of his strength by
killing three Immortals in front of the Persian ruler.[9][10] A sculpture
representing the scene is visible in the Museum of the History of the Olympic
Games of antiquity.[11]

Darius II died in 404 BC, in the nineteenth year of his reign, and was
followed as Persian king by Artaxerxes II.[2]

Issue
Prior to his accession, Darius II was married to the daughter of Gobryas. With
the daughter of Gobryas, Darius II had four sons, one of whom fathered
Artabazanes, who served as King of Media Atropatene in the second half of the
3rd century BC.[12][13][14]

By Parysatis (his half-sister)
Artaxerxes II
Cyrus the Younger
Oxathres or Oxendares or Oxendras
Artoxexes
Ostanes
Amestris wife of Teritouchmes & then Artaxerxes II
& seven other unnamed children
By other wives
Artostes
The unnamed satrap of Media at 401 B.C.
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Notes for Marcus ACTIUS


History of Christian Names. By the Author of the Heir of Redclyffe, 1884
Date: 1884
Publication place:  Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Text: "...was sometimes the name of mediaeval Roman dames. The genealogists of
the house of Este say that Marcus Actius married Julia, sister of the great
Caesar, and trace their line downwards till modernized pronunciation..."
About this source:
Title: History of Christian Names. By the Author of the Heir of Redclyffe,
1884
Description: Book digitized by Google and uploaded to the Internet Archive by
user tpb
Author: Charlotte Mary Yonge
Sponsor: Google
Tags: europeanlibraries
Contributor: Oxford University
Return to Marcus ACTIUS