Source: Herodotus, The History of Herodotus, Vol. 2, Books 5.52–53 and 8.98, translated by G. C. Macaulay (New York: Macmillan, 1890).
The First Suez Canal: An Inscription of Darius I at Suez
Saith Darius the King: I am a Persian; from Persia I seized Egypt; I gave order to dig this canal from a river by name Nile, which flows in Egypt, to the sea, which goes from Persia. Afterward this canal was dug thus as I had ordered, and ships went from Egypt through this canal to Persia thus as was my desire.
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 147. Reprinted with permission.
15. INSCRIPTION OF DARIUS I AT SUSA
Susa served as one of the capitals of the Persian Achaemenid dynasty (r. 550–330 BCE). The other capitals of the empire were Hagmatana (Greek: Ecbatana) and Persepolis. In Susa the Achaemenid kings built impressive palaces and monuments. The inscriptions excavated in Susa include one from Darius I, which provides a list of the raw materials used in constructing the Persian royal palaces and identifies the country that supplied each of them. The inscription highlights the important role played by the eastern provinces of the Persian Empire, particularly Sogdiana (Old Persian: Suguda), Bactria (Old Persian: Bakhtrish), and Chorasmia (Old Persian: Uvarazmiy). Sogdiana was the region lying north of the Amu Darya (Oxus River) and south of the Syr Darya (Jaxartes River) corresponding with present-day Tajikistan and eastern Uzbekistan, while Bactria was located south of the Oxus River in present-day northern Afghanistan. Ancient Chorasmia lay along the lower reaches of the Oxus River, south of the Aral Sea in present-day northwestern Uzbekistan and northern Turkmenistan.
Saith Darius the King: Ahuramazda, the greatest of the gods—he created me; he made me king; he bestowed upon me this kingdom, great, possessed of good horses, possessed of good men. …
By the favor of Ahuramazda my father Hystaspes and Arsames my grandfather—these both were living when Ahuramazda made me king in this earth. …
The gold was brought from Sardis [western Asia Minor, present-day Turkey] and from Bactria, which here was wrought. The precious stone lapis-lazuli and carnelian which was wrought here, this was brought from Sogdiana. The precious stone turquoise, this was brought from Chorasmia, which was wrought here.
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 142–144. Reprinted with permission.
16. INSCRIPTIONS OF XERXES AT PERSEPOLIS
After the death of the Achaemenid monarch Darius I in 486 BCE, his son Xerxes succeeded him on the throne. Xerxes ruled from 486 to 465 BCE. Before the death of Darius, Xerxes had served as the viceroy of Babylon. The first challenge confronting Xerxes was a rebellion in Egypt, which he suppressed quickly. Another rebellion erupted in Babylon, which was also put down by the Persian king. In the sixth year of his reign, Xerxes led his forces against Greece. After crossing the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits, a Persian army seized Thessaly, Macedonia, and northern Greece. Athens was divided between those who advocated negotiations with the Persian king and those who favored a confrontation. The prowar party triumphed and formed a league under the leadership of Sparta, which tried to halt the Persian advance at a mountain pass called Thermopylae. The Persians defeated the small Spartan force and advanced on Athens, which was seized with little resistance. The confrontation between the Persian army and a small band of Athenian fighters resulted in the burning and destruction of temples and homes on the Acropolis by the Persians. The next confrontation between the Persians and the Greeks took place at Salamis, where the Greek fleet destroyed the Persian naval forces. After this defeat, Xerxes did not remain in Greece. He returned to Asia and left an army under the command of one of his generals, Mardonius, in Greece. In 479 BCE, a year after Xerxes had departed mainland Greece, the Persians were back on the offensive, attacking Attica, which included Athens. The Greeks finally managed to organize an army, which fought the Persians on the Plain of Plataea. Mardonius made the fatal mistake of participating in the fighting. The Persian commander was killed on the battlefield, and his army was forced to accept defeat and withdraw. The Greeks scored another impressive victory against a Persian force under the command of Tigranes near Mount Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor. Xerxes spent the remainder of his reign on building projects, particularly at the palace complex of Persepolis in southern Iran. In the three short inscriptions from Persepolis in southern Iran, Xerxes spoke of his royal lineage, the countries he ruled, and the building projects he had initiated.
Text of the First Inscription of Xerxes in Persepolis
Saith Xerxes the Great King: What has been built by me here, and what has been built by me at a distance (from here), all that by the favor of Ahuramazda I built. Me may Ahuramazda together with the gods protect, and my kingdom, and what has been built by me.
Saith Xerxes the Great King: By the favor of Ahuramazda this palace Darius the King built, who was my father. Me may Ahuramazda together with the gods protect me, and what was built by me, and what was built by my father Darius the King, that also may Ahuramazda together with the gods protect.
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 148–149. Reprinted with permission.
Text of the Second Inscription of Xerxes in Persepolis
Saith Xerxes the King: My father was Darius; Darius’s father was Hystaspes [Vishtaspa] by name; Hystaspes’s father was Arsames [Arshama] by name. Both Hystaspes and Arsames were both living, at that time—thus unto Ahuramazda was the desire—Darius, who was my father, him he made king in this earth. When Darius became king, he built much excellent (construction).
Saith Xerxes the King: Other sons of Darius there were, (but)—thus unto Ahuramazda was the desire—Darius my father made me the greatest after himself. When my father Darius went away from the throne, by the will of Ahuramazda I became king on my father’s throne. When I became king, I built much excellent (construction). What had been built by my father, that I protected, and other building I added. What moreover I built, and what my father built, all that by the favor of Ahuramazda we built.
Saith Xerxes the Great King: By the favor of Ahuramazda, King Darius my father built and ordered (to be built) much good (construction). By the favor also of Ahuramazda I added to that construction and built further (buildings).
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 149–150. Reprinted with permission.
Text of the Third Inscription of Xerxes in Persepolis
Saith Xerxes the King: By the favor of Ahuramazda these are the countries of which I was king … ; Media, Elam, Arachosia, Armenia, Drangiana, Parthia, Aria, Bactria, Sogdians, Chorasmia, Babylonia, Assyria, Sattagydia, Sardis, Egypt, Ionians, those who dwell by the sea and those who dwell across the sea, men of Maka, Arabia, Gandara, Sind, Cappadocia, Dahae, Amyrgian Scythians, Pointed-Cap Scythians, Skudra, men of Akaufaka, Libyans, Carians, Ethiopians.
Saith Xerxes the King: When that I became king, there is among these countries which are inscribed above (one which) was in commotion. Afterwards Ahuramazda bore me aid; by the favor of Ahuramazda I smote that country and put it down in its place.
And among these countries there was (a place) where previously false gods were worshipped. Afterwards, by the favor of Ahuramazda, I destroyed that sanctuary of the demons, and I made proclamation, “The demons shall not be worshipped!” Where previously the demons were worshipped, there I worshipped Ahuramazda and Arta reverently. …
Thou who (shalt be) hereafter, if thou shalt think, “Happy may I be when living, and when dead may I be blessed,” have respect for that law which Ahuramazda has established; worship Ahuramazda and Arta reverently. The man who has respect for that law, which Ahuramazda has established, and worships Ahuramazda and Arta reverently, he both becomes happy while living, and becomes blessed when dead.
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persia
n: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 150–152. Reprinted with permission.
17. RELIGION OF THE ACHAEMENID KINGS FROM AN INSCRIPTION OF ARTAXERXES II
In his inscriptions in western and southern Iran, the Persian Achaemenid king Darius I (Darayavaush I) praised the great god Ahura Mazda, who had created Earth and the sky and had made Darius the king of many countries. In one of his inscriptions at Persepolis in southern Iran, Darius’s successor, the Persian Achaemenid king Xerxes (Khshayarsha), referred to Ahura Mazda as the supreme god but also mentioned “other gods.” No other gods were mentioned in the inscriptions of his father, Darius I. Another Achaemenid monarch, Artaxerxes II (Artakhshacha II), who ruled from 404 to 359 BCE, mentioned two other ancient Iranian gods, Anahita, the goddess of waters, and Mithra, the god of covenants and the sun. The mention of “other gods” in the inscription of Xerxes and the appearance of the two gods Anahita and Mithra in the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II has propelled a debate among scholars about the actual religion of Achaemenid kings. Were they followers of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra (Zoroaster), or did they follow a religion that shared the same god with Zoroastrianism (i.e., Ahura Mazda) but was not necessarily the same exact creed preached by Zarathustra? And were the Achaemenids followers of a monotheistic religion, which worshipped Ahura Mazda as the only god, or were they adherents of a polytheistic faith that allowed the worship of many gods and goddesses? The inscription of Artaxerxes II below clearly demonstrates that the Persian king worshipped not only Ahura Mazda but also other Iranian gods. One of the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II identifies these other gods as Anaitis and Mithras.
Saith Artaxerxes the Great King, King of Kings, King of Countries, King in this earth, son of Darius the King, of Darius (who was) son of Artaxerxes the King, of Artaxerxes (who was) son of Xerxes the King, of Xerxes (who was) son of Darius the King, of Darius (who was) son of Darius the King, of Darius (who was) son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenian: This palace Darius my great-great-grandfather built; under Artaxerxes my grandfather it was burned; by the favor of Ahuramazda, Anaitis [Anahita], and Mithras [Mithra], this palace I built. May Ahuramazda, Anaitis, and Mithras protect me from all evil, and that which I have built may they not shatter nor harm.
Saith Artaxerxes the King: By the favor of Ahuramazda this is the palace, which I built in my lifetime as a pleasant retreat. May Ahuramazda, Anaitis, and Mithras protect me from all evil, and my building.
Source: Roland G. Kent, Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1950), 154. Reprinted with permission.
18. PLUTARCH’S ACCOUNT OF THE BATTLE OF CUNAXA BETWEEN ARTAXERXES II AND CYRUS THE YOUNGER
The Persian Achaemenid king Darius II had two sons: Artaxerxes (Artakhshacha) and Cyrus (Kurush). The older son, Artaxerxes, ascended the Persian throne upon the death of Darius II in 404 BCE. Artaxerxes II was opposed by his younger brother Cyrus (i.e., Cyrus the Younger), who viewed himself as more deserving of kingship than his older brother. Before the two brothers could clash over the throne, their mother interceded with Artaxerxes and secured for Cyrus the governorship of Asia Minor.
Shortly after Artaxerxes II became king, Egypt broke away from the Achaemenid Empire and declared its independence. Persian authority would not be reestablished in Egypt until the reign of Artaxerxes III (r. 359–338 BCE). A year after Artaxerxes II had lost Egypt, his younger brother Cyrus revolted against him. Cyrus raised an army, which included a large unit of Greek mercenaries, and marched against his brother. When the two armies clashed in 401 BCE in the Battle of Cunaxa on the left bank of the Euphrates River north of Babylon in present-day Iraq, Cyrus the Younger was defeated and killed. The Greek biographer Plutarch described the confrontation between the two brothers in his short biography of Artaxerxes II, an excerpt of which appears below.
The first Artaxerxes, among all the kings of Persia the most remarkable for a gentle and noble spirit, was surnamed the Long-handed, his right hand being longer than his left, and was the son of Xerxes. The second, whose story I am now writing, who had the surname of the Mindful, was the grandson of the former, by his daughter Parysatis, who brought Darius four sons, the eldest Artaxerxes, the next Cyrus, and two younger than these, Ostanes and Oxathres. Cyrus took his name of the ancient Cyrus, as he, they say, had his from the sun, which, in the Persian language, is called Cyrus. Artaxerxes was at first called Arsicas; Dinon says Oarses; but it is utterly improbable that Ctesias (however otherwise he may have filled his books with a perfect farrago of incredible and senseless fables) should be ignorant of the name of the king with whom he lived as his physician, attending upon himself, his wife, his mother, and his children.
Cyrus, from his earliest youth, showed something of a headstrong and vehement character; Artaxerxes, on the other side, was gentler in everything, and of a nature more yielding and soft in its action. He married a beautiful and virtuous wife, at the desire of his parents, but kept her as expressly against their wishes. For king Darius, having put her brother to death, was purposing likewise to destroy her. But Arsicas, throwing himself at his mother’s feet, by many tears, at last, with much ado, persuaded her that they should neither put her to death nor divorce her from him. However, Cyrus was his mother’s favorite, and the son whom she most desired to settle in the throne. And therefore, his father Darius now lying ill, he, being sent for from the sea to the court, set out thence with full hopes that by her means he was to be declared the successor to the kingdom. For Parysatis had the specious plea in his behalf, which Xerxes on the advice of Demaratus had of old made use of, that she had borne him Arsicas when he was a subject, but Cyrus when a king. Notwithstanding, she prevailed not with Darius, but the eldest son Arsicas was proclaimed king, his name being changed into Artaxerxes; and Cyrus remained satrap of Lydia, and commander in the maritime provinces.
It was not long after the decease of Darius that the king, his successor, went to Pasargadae, to have the ceremony of his inauguration consummated by the Persian priests. There is a temple dedicated to a warlike goddess, whom one might liken to Minerva; into which when the royal person to be initiated has passed, he must strip himself of his own robe, and put on that which Cyrus the first wore before he was king; then, having devoured a frail of figs, he must eat turpentine, and drink a cup of sour milk. To which if they superadd any other rites, it is unknown to any but those that are present at them. Now Artaxerxes being about to address himself to this solemnity, Tisaphernes came to him, bringing a certain priest, who, having trained up Cyrus in his youth in the established discipline of Persia, and having taught him the Magian philosophy, was likely to be as much disappointed as any man that his pupil did not succeed to the throne. And for that reason his veracity was the less questioned when he charged Cyrus as though he had been about to lie in wait for the king in the temple, and to assault and assassinate him as he was putting off his garment. Some affirm that he was apprehended upon this impeachment, others that he had entered the temple and was pointed out there, as he lay lurking, by the priest. But as he was on the point of being put to death, his mother clasped him in her arms, and, entwining him with the tresses of her hair, joined his neck close to her own, and by her bitter lamentation and intercession to Artaxerxes for him, succeeded in saving his life; and sent him away again to the sea and to his former province. This, however, could no longer content him; nor did he so well remember his delivery as his arrest, his resentment for which made him more eagerly desirous of the kingdom than before.
Some say that he revolted from his brother, because he had not a revenue allowed him sufficient for his daily meals; but this is on the face of it absurd. For had he had nothing else, yet he had a mother ready to supply him with whatever he could desire out of her own means. But the great number of soldiers who were hired from all quarters and maintained, as Xenophon informs us, for his service, by his friends and connections, is in itself a sufficient proof of his riches. He did not assemble them together in a body, de
siring as yet to conceal his enterprise; but he had agents everywhere, enlisting foreign soldiers upon various pretenses; and, in the meantime, Parysatis, who was with the king, did her best to put aside all suspicions, and Cyrus himself always wrote in a humble and dutiful manner to him, sometimes soliciting favor, sometimes making countercharges against Tisaphernes, as if his jealousy and contest had been wholly with him. Moreover, there was a certain natural dilatoriness in the king, which was taken by many for clemency. And, indeed, in the beginning of his reign, he did seem really to emulate the gentleness of the first Artaxerxes, being very accessible in his person, and liberal to a fault in the distribution of honors and favors. Even in his punishments, no contumely or vindictive pleasure could be seen; and those who offered him presents were as much pleased with his manner of accepting, as were those who received gifts from him with his graciousness and amiability in giving them. Nor truly was there anything, however inconsiderable, given him, which he did not deign kindly to accept of; insomuch that when one Omises had presented him with a very large pomegranate, “By Mithras,” said he, “this man, were he entrusted with it, would turn a small city into a great one.”
Once when some were offering him one thing, some another, as he was on a progress, a certain poor laborer, having got nothing at hand to bring him, ran to the river side, and, taking up water in his hands, offered it to him; with which Artaxerxes was so well pleased that he sent him a goblet of gold and a thousand darics. To Euclidas, the Lacedaemonian, who had made a number of bold and arrogant speeches to him, he sent word by one of his officers, “You have leave to say what you please to me, and I, you should remember, may both say and do what I please to you.” Teribazus once, when they were hunting, came up and pointed out to the king that his royal robe was torn; the king asked him what he wished him to do; and when Teribazus replied “May it please you to put on another and give me that,” the king did so, saying withal, “I give it you, Teribazus, but I charge you not to wear it.” He, little regarding the injunction, being not a bad, but a light-headed, thoughtless man, immediately the king took it off, put it on, and bedecked himself further with royal golden necklaces and women’s ornaments, to the great scandal of everybody, the thing being quite unlawful. But the king laughed and told him, “You have my leave to wear the trinkets as a woman, and the robe of state as a fool.” And whereas none usually sat down to eat with the king besides his mother and his wedded wife, the former being placed above, the other below him, Artaxerxes invited also to his table his two younger brothers, Ostanes and Oxathres. But what was the most popular thing of all among the Persians was the sight of his wife Statira’s chariot, which always appeared with its curtains down, allowing her countrywomen to salute and approach her, which made the queen a great favorite with the people.
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