Artaxerxes II, also known as Artaxerxes Mnemon, ruled the Achaemenid Persian Empire from 404 to 359 or 358 BC. He defeated Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa and governed during a period of Greek and provincial pressure.
Achaemenid king of Persia (404-358 BC)
An illustrative reconstruction based on historical context. It is not a photograph or documentary likeness. Image policy
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Artaxerxes II, also known as Artaxerxes Mnemon, ruled the Achaemenid Persian Empire from 404 to 359 or 358 BC. He defeated Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa and governed during a period of Greek and provincial pressure.
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Artaxerxes II became king after Darius II, inheriting a large empire and a dangerous royal family.
Artaxerxes survived Cyrus the Younger's challenge at Cunaxa, where Cyrus was killed and the rebellion failed.
Artaxerxes faced revolts, Egyptian resistance, powerful satraps, and the constant challenge of holding a vast empire together.
Artaxerxes II left a long reign that preserved Achaemenid power while revealing the strains that later rulers faced.
Follow Artaxerxes II through Cunaxa, imperial endurance, Greek diplomacy, and late Achaemenid strain.
Artaxerxes II came to power at a moment when the Achaemenid Empire remained wealthy and prestigious but politically tense. Royal succession was never merely ceremonial. Brothers, court factions, satraps, and armies could become part of the struggle. His younger brother Cyrus held power in the west and would soon become the most serious threat to the new king.
The Battle of Cunaxa was decisive because Cyrus died. Artaxerxes did not simply defeat a provincial rebel; he survived a royal challenge that could have replaced him at the center of the empire. The Greek mercenaries in Cyrus's army became famous for their retreat, but Artaxerxes achieved the essential political result. The throne remained his, and the empire did not fracture around Cyrus's claim.
Artaxerxes II's reign shows that Persian influence in the Greek world did not end after the failed invasion of Xerxes. Persian money and diplomacy could shape rivalries among Greek city-states. The King could support one side, pressure another, and use Greek divisions to protect Persian interests in western Anatolia. This was not the spectacular invasion of 480 BC. It was quieter but often effective imperial politics.
The empire under Artaxerxes II was still formidable, but its pressures were visible. Egypt resisted Persian control for long periods, western satraps could become dangerously autonomous, and court politics remained intense. These problems did not mean immediate collapse. The Achaemenid state could still recover, negotiate, and project power. But the margin between imperial flexibility and imperial fragmentation was narrowing.
Artaxerxes II ruled for decades, an achievement in itself within a courtly world of rivalry and violence. He outlived Cyrus's revolt and kept the empire intact. Yet his reign also belongs to the story of gradual Achaemenid vulnerability: Greek military confidence, Egyptian resistance, satrapal power, and succession politics all mattered. His importance lies in that tension between endurance and strain.
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This profile is written for educational use and connects to related Stories of History pages. The main portrait is an AI-assisted historical reconstruction, included as an illustrative aid rather than documentary evidence. Image policy
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