95: The Holy Trinity

A column base from Hamadan (Ecbatana) where Artaxerxes II invokes Ahura Mazda, Mithra, and Anahita via Livius.org

As we approach the end of Artaxerxes II, it’s time to talk about his gods. All of a sudden, Anahita and Mithra began appearing alongside Ahura Mazda in royal inscriptions, but it turns out it may not have been so sudden after all.
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2022 Holiday Special: Mithra and Mehregan

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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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87: The Third Invasion

Rebuilding the walls of Athens as ordered by Satrap Pharnabazus – Earnest Dudley Heath, 1915

In 393 BCE, a Persian army landed in Greece and captured territory, marking the most successful invasion of Greek territory in a century. From there, the Aegean erupted into a quagmire of competing allegiances and revolts.
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86: Old Enemies, New Friends

Agesilaus meets with Pharnabazus, Edmund Ollier 1882

The Spartan Invasion of Anatolia continues. The incompetent Thibron was replaced first by Derkylidas, then by the Spartan King Agesilaus himself. Agesilaus’ successes led to the final downfall of Tissaphernes, only to be completely undone with the arrival of Persia’s newest ally: Athens.
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84: The 10,000 (aka Armenia III)

The 10,000 see the Black Sea for the first time, The Return of the Ten Thousand under Xenophon by Herman Vogel, 19th Century

The long awaited march of the 10,000 Greek mercenaries from Cyrus the Younger’s forces back toward Greece has begun.
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