Artoxares (;

Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...

*''Artaxšara'') (c. 465 BC - after 419 BC) was a Paphlagonian

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

, who played a central role during the reigns of

Artaxerxes I Artaxerxes I (, ; ) was the fifth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, from 465 to December 424 BC. He was the third son of Xerxes I. In Greek sources he is also surnamed "Long-handed" ( ''Makrókheir''; ), allegedly because his ri ...

and

Darius II Darius II ( ; ), also known by his given name Ochus ( ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC. Following the death of Artaxerxes I, in 424 BC or 423 BC, there was a struggle for power between his sons. The vic ...

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. According to

Ctesias Ctesias ( ; ; ), also known as Ctesias of Cnidus, was a Greek physician and historian from the town of Cnidus in Caria, then part of the Achaemenid Empire. Historical events Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Acha ...

, when he was twenty years old, Artoxares participated in an embassy to the rebel satrap Megabyzus. King Artaxerxes I and the rebel

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

reconciled in around 445 BC. Nevertheless, Megabyzus fell again into disgrace and was exiled to a

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

town. Artoxares, who had helped Megabyzus to gain the favour of the Persian king, was expelled from the court to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. It has been argued that he actually was appointed as satrap of Armenia, but this is not explicitly stated by Ctesias. When Artaxerxes died (424 BC), his sons Xerxes II, Sogdianus and Darius II Ochus started a civil war against each other. Arbarius, a cavalry commander, Arsames, the satrap of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and Artoxares all decided to follow Darius. When Darius defeated his brothers, Artoxares became one of the most powerful members of the court. Nevertheless, after a short time he plotted against the new king and was executed on the orders of queen

Parysatis Parysatis (; , ; 5th-century BC) was a Persian queen, consort of Darius II and had a large influence during the reign of Artaxerxes II. Biography Parysatis was the daughter of King of Kings Artaxerxes I of Persia and Andria of Babylon. She wa ...

. Artoxares' plot took place just after the revolts of Arsites and

Artyphius Artyphius (Old Persian: ''Ardufya'') was a general of the Achaemenid Army during the Second Persian invasion of Greece (480-479 BCE). He was the son of Artabanus, grandson of Hystaspes, and therefore nephew of Darius the Great and first degre ...

, and of the satrap Pissuthnes. While plotting he attempted to acquire an artificial beard, being unable to grow one himself, for the purpose of creating a suitable impression. From the Murashu family archives from

Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...

, we know a certain Artahshar (''Artahŝar''), who has been identified with the Artoxares of the classical sources. According to this archives, the domains of ''Manuštånu'' (identified with Menostanes, a follower of Sogdianus) passed to ''Artahŝar'' after Darius' coronation. Artoxares could have inspired the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

playwright

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

for the Plaphagonian character in his play ''

The Knights ''The Knights'' ( ''Hippeîs''; Attic: ) was the fourth play written by Aristophanes, who is considered the master of Old Comedy. The play is a satire on the social and political life of classical Athens during the Peloponnesian War, and in thi ...

''.

References

*Bowie, ''Aristophanes: Myth, Ritual and Comedy'' (1995 993, Cambridge U. Press. *Clay, A.: ''The Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania. Series A: Cuneiform Texts'' vol. X, ''Business Documents of the Marashu Sons of Nippur'' (1904). * *{{cite encyclopedia , title = ARTOXARES, last = Dandamayev , first = M. , url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/artoxares , editor-first = , encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. II, Fasc. 6, pages = 664, location = , publisher = , year = 1986 , isbn = Iranian eunuchs 5th-century BC people People from the Achaemenid Empire Darius II Artaxerxes I Achaemenid satraps of Armenia Ancient slaves