Ancient Persia People
Achaemenid Kings

Achaemenes
|
Teispes
_______________|_______________
|                                                            |
Cyrus I                                            Ariaramnes
|                                                            |
Cambyses I                                             Arsames
|                                                            |
|                                   ____________ |
|                                   |                        |
Cyrus the Great             Pharnaces       Hystaspes
|____________                                    |
|                       |                                    |
Cambyses II        Smerdis               Darius I the Great
                                                             |
                                                              Xerxes I
                                                             |
                                                              Artaxerxes I
_______________________________|
|                                |                            |
Sogdianus                  Xerxes II                Darius II
                                                               |
_______________________________ |
|                                  |                           |
Artaxerxes II                 Cyrus                     Ostanes
|                                                              |
Artaxerxes III                                             Arsanes
|                                                              |
Artaxerxes IV                                             Darius III



Achaemenes (7th century BC)
Achaemenes, also known by the Persian name (Hakhamanish) was of the tribe of Pasargadae and the clan of the Achaemenians. He is referred to as the ancestral King of Achaemenian Dynasty.



Artaxerxes II (404-358 B.C.)
Born 436 BC. Son and successor of Darius II & Parysatis
Artaxerxes II, the mindful (Mnemon), was the eldest of four brothers. (Cyrus, the younger, Ostanes and Oxathres). Artaxerxes II is known for defeating his brother Cyrus' rebellion at the battle of Cunaxa (401 B.C.).His loss of Egypt and the following revolt of the satraps. He also ended the war with the Greeks with the King's Peace of 387-6 BC.



Artaxerxes III (358-338 B.C.)
Artaxerxes III succeeded his father in 358 and strengthened the central organization of the empire in part by executing all of his brothers. In 343 he was at last able to reclaim the satrapy of Egypt, but he could not enjoy the victory for long. The vizier, Bagoas, had the king poisoned in 338 BC



Cambyses II (530 to 522 B.C.)
Cambyses II, (Kambujiya) was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great
Died in 522 BC in Syria returning from his Egyptian conquest, apparently by accident. Cambyses ruled only for a brief period of 8 years but managed to conquer Egypt. However Herodotus protrays him as half mad.




Cyrus the Great (555 - 529 B.C.)

Cyrus II was born in 580 BC, Son of Cambyses I & Mandane, (the daughter of the Median King Astyages)

Died in battle fighting against a nomadic tribe called the Massagetes. Cyrus II, king of Anshan, founder of the Achaemenid empire, "ruler of the world". After succeeding his father, he had within 5 years, united the three main Persians tribes (the Pasargadae, the Maraphians and the Maspians) and led them in a successful revolt against the Medes. After conquering the Median empire, Cyrus went on to conquer the Lydian and Babylonian empires. Creating one of the world's greatest empires. Cyrus is remembered as a liberator rather than a conqueror because he respected the customs and religions and the people he conquered.


Cyrus the Younger(424 - 401 B.C.)
Cyrus the Younger was the second son of Darius II. Governor of the western provinces of Asia Minor. After unsuccessfully plotting against his elder brother, Artaxerxes, he raised a large army, including a bout 12,000 Greek soldiers, with which he marched against him. but he was defeated and slain at Cunaxa in 401 B.C.


Darius I ( 521 - 486 B.C.)
Darius I (Darayavahush), was born about 550 B.C., the son of Hystaspes, married to Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great.

Darius The Great, came to power after the death of Cambyses II in 522 BC. Darius I spent much of his first years in power suppressing rebellions, then after securing his empire he extended the its borders into India and Europe. He began instituting major internal organizational reforms like:
  • Established a tax-collection system.
  • Allowed locals to keep customs and religions.
  • Divided his empire into districts known as Satrapies
  • Built a system of roads still used today.
  • Established a complex postal system.
  • Established a network of spies he called the 'Eyes and ears of the King'.
  • Built two new capital cities, one at Susa and one at Persepolis.
All of his reforms were aimed at promoting commerce and economic growth. Darius' expansions of the empire lead it into direct conflict with Greece. He died in 486 B.C. at the age of 64. He was succeeded by his son Xerxes.

Darius III (336-330 BC)
Darius III (Codomannus) was born 381 BC. He was the nephew of Artaxerxes II.

Darius III was the final Achaemenid King. He was described as a tall and handsome man. Darius was not in direct line to ascend the throne until he was 45 when all other family members had been assassinated. Darius reigns for 6 short turbulent years and although his military skills are overshadowed by the genius of Alexander, he reconquested Egypt in 334 BC. Darius was defeated by Alexander at the Battle of Issus (333), where his family was taken captive, then at Gaugamela (331 BC). Assassinated by Bessus, the satrap of Bactria in 330 BC.



Xerxes I (486 - 465 BC)
Born after 520 B.C., to Darius I, and Queen Atossa.

Xerxes is the Greek name for Kshayarsha which meant `ruling over heroes'. He continued with his father's preparations for the invasion of Greece and building works at Persepolis. Xerxes lead the invasion of Greece, defeating the Spartans at Thermopylai and sacking Athens.His life was to inspire Handel's 1738 opera, 'Xerxes'. He was assassinated in 465 BC.
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Ardashir (180 - 239 AD)
Ardashir overthrew the Parthian monarchy and established the Sassanian Kingdom.
He was a descendant of Sassan. His father, Papak, was a vassal of the chief petty king in Persis, Gochihr. Papak killed Gochihr and took the title of king and Ardashir succeeded him to the throne in 208.

Ardashir defeated the Parthian army and entered the capital of Ctesiphon where he was crowned with the imperial title 'king of kings'. His Sassaninian Empire was called neo-Persian because of his appeal to Persia's past. One important link to the past was the recall of the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, which became the new state religion. His move against Mesopotamia, Armenia, and Cappadocia caused the Roman emperor Alexander Severus to campaign against him.

Zarathushtra
Zarathushtra was the founder of the first religion on record. He was the first to preach Monotheism. He was the first to proclaim a message for ALL mortals - a universal message. He was the first to preach equality of all regardless of race, gender, class or nationality. At a time when mankind was barely out of the Stone Age, when might was right, he proclaimed that a leader must be "chosen" thereby for the very first time in history, sowing the seeds of democracy.
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