Artoxares (; Old Persian *''Artaxšara'') (c. 465 BC - after 419 BC) was a

Paphlagonian Paphlagonia (; el, Παφλαγονία, Paphlagonía, modern translit. ''Paflagonía''; tr, Paflagonya) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north-central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and s ...

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been 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 2nd millenni ...

, who played a central role during the reigns of Artaxerxes I and Darius II of

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. According to

Ctesias Ctesias (; grc-gre, Κτησίας; fl. fifth century BC), 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 fi ...

, when he was twenty years old, Artoxares participated in an embassy to the rebel satrap

Megabyzus Megabyzus ( grc, Μεγάβυζος, a folk-etymological alteration of Old Persian Bagabuxša, meaning "God saved") was an Achaemenid Persian general, son of Zopyrus, satrap of Babylonia, and grandson of Megabyzus I, one of the seven conspirato ...

. King Artaxerxes I and the rebel satrap reconciled in around 445 BC. Nevertheless, Megabyzus fell again into disgrace and was exiled to a

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

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

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

. 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 Arsames ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠𐎶 Aršāma, modern Persian:،آرسام، آرشام‎ Arshām, Greek: ) was the son of Ariaramnes and the grandfather of Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been king of Persia during the ...

, the satrap of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

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

Pissuthnes Pissuthnes, also known as Pissouthnes, (Old Persian: ; Ancient Greek: ) was an Achaemenid satrap of Lydia, which included Ionia, circa 440–415 BCE. His capital was Sardis. He was the son of Hystaspes, probably himself the son of Darius I, whi ...

. 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, 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: Greece 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 ...

playwright

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

for the Plaphagonian character in his play '' The Knights''.

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