A gold stater minted by Orontes during his time in Mysia, featuring his own portrait via Wikimedia

After years of quietly building up their strength, Ariobarzanes’ and Datames’ rebellion was out in the open, but unbeknownst to them, not all of their supposed allies were ready to abandon the Empire. Meanwhile, Greece and Egypt were both on the verge of war once again.
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A silver coin minted by Datames in Cilicia showing the rebel satrap with a faravahar (R) and the Cilician god Baaltars (L) via Wikimedia

As his generals struggled against Egypt, Artaxerxes dealt with their failures harshly – so harshly that his newest commander in the west rejected the Empire altogether. Fearing for his life whether he invaded Egypt or not, Datames quietly raised the rebel and tried to take all of Anatolia with him.
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89: Wars for the West

A statue of Pharaoh Nakhtneb via Wikimedia

With Greece and Cyprus again at peace, it was time for the Persian Empire to pursue its war against Egypt once more. A new pharaoh takes the throne. Iphikrates attempts to reinvent the Greek soldier. Datames is on the rise. Artaxerxes is ascendant, and the King’s Peace is left in the hands of his new Greek vassals.
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88: Peace At Last

A gold stater minted by Evagoras, depicting Herakles via Wikimedia Commons

In 386 BCE, The Greco-Persian Wars finally came to an end when Artaxerxes II settled the Corinthian War by forcing the Greeks to accept The Kings Peace. For Persia, that was just the tip of the iceberg. With Greece settled, the western Satraps turned their attention to Cyprus, bringing King Evagoras of Salamis to heal in preparation for the long awaited invasion of Egypt.
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83: Routine Maintenance

The golden tablet of Arsames’ inscription (AsH) found in Hamadan via Wikimedia

We follow the Spartan general, Clearchus, as he was taken into captivity in Babylon before following the royal court off to the building projects and border disputes of Artaxerxes II’s empire.
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74: The Temple of Yahweh

The Aramaic letter formally requesting funds to rebuild the Temple of Yaho in Elephantine

No, the other one. In Egypt. The best source of information on events Egypt under Darius II comes from the letters of the Jewish diaspora community in southern Egypt and their temple on the island of Elephantine. They also tell the story of a dramatic confrontation between the Jews and their Egyptian neighbors that ended in forced reconciliation.
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68: The Other Gods That Are

Cosmetic jar in the shape of the god Bes, from Achaemenid Egypt via Wikimedia

Any discussion of Achaemenid religion is bound to be fascinating, but that discussion isn’t bound to Zoroastrianism. This one’s abut all the other gods worshipped in Persia itself.
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64: Fight to the End

A cylinder seal depicting the Achaemenid King executing an Egyptian Pharaoh, usually identified with Cambyses, Artaxerxes I, or Artaxerxes III via Wikimedia

The city of Memphis spent almost five years under siege from 459-454 BCE, as the rebel Pharaoh Inaros tried to take the Egyptian capital and oust the Persian government with the aid of the Athenians. When Persian reinforcements arrived, the rebellion was swept aside with apparent ease. Inaros was captured and Athens was sent reeling, only to make one final attempt on Persian territory in Cyprus.
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63: The Little Pharaoh That Could(n’t)

After Artaxerxes I came to power in 465 BCE, a minor rebellion broke out in western Egypt led by the would-be Pharaoh Inaros II. Inaros quickly came to a stalemate with the local satrap, but in 460 BCE the Egyptian rebel reached out to Athens for aid. The Athenians came in force, broke the stalemate, killed the satrap (and Artaxerxes’ uncle), and joined Inaros as he marched on Memphis.
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