Artagerses - the leader of the Cadusii, the military leader of the Persian king

Artaxerxes II Arses (; 445 – 359/8 BC), known by his regnal name Artaxerxes II ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 405/4 BC to 358 BC. He was the son and successor of Darius II () and his mother was Parysatis. Soon after his accession, Ar ...

History

Artagerses according to

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

, was the leader of the Cadusii in the fight against the usurper

Cyrus Cyrus () is a Persian-language masculine given name. It is historically best known as the name of several List of monarchs of Iran, Persian kings, most notably including Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. It remains wid ...

. Perhaps in writing "''Arta-garša''" his name means "''one who practices justice, order, truth''". According to the testimony of ancient authors, Artagerses was one of the commanders in the army of Artaxerxes II during the

battle of Cunaxa The Battle of Cunaxa was fought in the late summer of 401 BC between the Persian king Artaxerxes II and his brother Cyrus the Younger for control of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid throne. The great battle of the revolt of Cyrus took place 70&nb ...

, which took place in 401 BC, when the king's younger brother

Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger ( ''Kūruš''; ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC in battle during a failed attempt to oust his ...

claimed the Persian throne. The leader of the cadusii , Artagerses, brought with him a detachment of horsemen from Elam. According to

Xenophon Xenophon of Athens (; ; 355/354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been ...

, Artagerses' horsemen lined up in front of Artaxerxes himself before the battle began. As

points out, Artagerses entered into an equestrian duel with

, during which he was killed. Before the start of the single combat, Artagerses accused the king of disgracing his name when he led the "villains of the Greeks" against the Persian ruler, who had "millions of slaves better and braver"

References

{{reflist Cadusii History of Talysh History of Gilan