Editing Artaxerxes II (section)

== Reign ==
=== Dynastic conflict with Cyrus the Younger (401 BC) ===
Tissaphernes noted that Cyrus the Younger's claims to be on a military expedition to attack the [[Pisidia]]ns had many flaws that led him to believe that Cyrus was planning to revolt. These claims became realized when Cyrus began to seek political support for his campaign. Cyrus found support from [[Sparta]], who sent soldiers to aid the campaign against Artaxerxes II. Notably, Cyrus found support from a Persian kingdom of [[Kingdom of Cilicia (ancient)|Cilicia]], who contributed to the effort through funds. During this time, due to Tissaphernes' reports, Artaxerxes II began to build up a force to contend with his younger brother's revolt.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.livius.org/articles/person/cyrus-the-younger/ | title=Cyrus the Younger - Livius | website=www.livius.org | access-date=2019-05-08}}</ref>

By the time of Darius II's death, Cyrus had already been successful in defeating the Syrians and Cilicians and was commanding a large army made up of his initial supporters plus those who had joined him in Phrygia and beyond. Upon hearing of his father's death, Cyrus the Younger declared his claim to the throne, based on the argument that he was born to Darius and Parysatis after Darius had ascended to the throne, while Artaxerxes was born prior to Darius II's gaining the throne.

[[File:Adrien Guignet - Retreat of the ten thousand.jpg|thumb|Retreat of the [[Ten Thousand]], at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]], Jean Adrien Guignet]]
Artaxerxes II initially wanted to resolve the conflict peacefully, but the negotiations fell through.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://iranologie.com/the-history-page/the-achaemenid-empire/ | title=The Achaemenid Empire | date=2014-04-25 | website=Iranologie.com | language=en | access-date=2019-04-30}}</ref> Cyrus also ran into issues with the locals, who were loyal to Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes defended his position against his brother Cyrus the Younger, who with the aid of a large army of Greek mercenaries called the "[[Ten Thousand]]", attempted to usurp the throne. Though Cyrus' mixed army fought to a tactical victory at the [[Battle of Cunaxa]] in Babylon (401 BC), Cyrus himself was killed in the exchange by Mithridates, rendering his victory irrelevant. The Greek historian [[Xenophon]], himself one of the leaders of the Greek troops, would later recount this battle in the ''[[Anabasis (Xenophon)|Anabasis]]'', focusing on the struggle of the now-stranded Greek mercenaries to return home.

===Conflict against Sparta (396-387 BC)===
[[File:Altikulac Sarcophagus Dynast of Hellespontine Phrygia attacking a Greek psiloi early 4th century BCE.jpg|thumb|Armoured cavalry of Achaemenid [[Hellespontine Phrygia]] attacking a Greek [[psiloi]] at the time of Artaxerxes II and his Satrap [[Pharnabazus II]], [[Altıkulaç Sarcophagus]], early fourth century BC]]
{{main|Corinthian War}}
Artaxerxes became involved in a war with Persia's erstwhile allies, the Spartans, during the [[Corinthian War]] (395-387 BC). The Spartans under their king [[Agesilaus II]] had started by invading Asia Minor in 396–395 BC. To redirect the Spartans' attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes subsidized their enemies through his envoy [[Timocrates of Rhodes]]; in particular, the [[Athens|Athenians]], [[Thebes, Greece|Thebans]], and [[Corinth]]ians received massives subsidies. Tens of thousands of [[darics]], the main currency in [[Achaemenid coinage]], were used to bribe the Greek states to start a war against Sparta.<ref name="CC">{{cite book | last1=Snodgrass | first1=Mary Ellen | title=Coins and Currency: An Historical Encyclopedia | date=2015 | publisher=McFarland | isbn=978-1-4766-1120-4 | page=125 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8xSBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA125 | language=en}}</ref> These subsidies helped to engage the Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War. According to [[Plutarch]], Agesilaus said upon leaving Asia Minor, "I have been driven out by 10,000 Persian archers", a reference to "Archers" (''[[Toxotai]]'') the Greek nickname for the darics from their obverse design, because that much money had been paid to politicians in Athens and Thebes  to start a war against Sparta.<ref>"Persian coins were stamped with the figure of an archer, and Agesilaus said, as he was breaking camp, that the King was driving him out of Asia with ten thousand "archers"; for so much money had been sent to Athens and Thebes and distributed among the popular leaders there, and as a consequence those people made war upon the Spartans" Plutarch 15-1-6 in {{cite book | title=Delphi Complete Works of Plutarch (Illustrated) | date=2013 | publisher=Delphi Classics | isbn=978-1-909496-62-0 | pages=1031, Plutarch 15-1-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmYbAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT1031 | language=en}}</ref><ref name="CC"/><ref>{{cite book | last1=Schwartzwald | first1=Jack L. | title=The Ancient Near East, Greece and Rome: A Brief History | date=2014 | publisher=McFarland | isbn=978-1-4766-1307-9 | page=73 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIcOAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 | language=en}}</ref>

The Achaemenids, allied with Athens, managed to utterly destroy the Spartan fleet at the [[Battle of Cnidus]] (394 BC). After that, the Achaemenid satrap of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], [[Pharnabazus II]], together with former Athenian admiral [[Conon]], raided the coasts of [[Peloponnesia]], putting increased pressure on the Spartans. This encouraged the resurgence of Athens, which started to bring back under her control the Greek cities of Asia Minor, thus worrying Artaxerxes II that his Athenian allies were becoming too powerful.

====Final agreement with Sparta (387 BC)====
[[File:King's Peace 387 BC.jpg|thumb|The [[Peace of Antalcidas|King's Peace]], promulgated by Artaxerxes II in 387 BC, put an end to the [[Corinthian War]] under the guarantee of the Achaemenid Empire.]]
In 386 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the [[Treaty of Antalcidas]], he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of [[Ionia]] and [[Aeolis]] on the Anatolian coast to the Persians, while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland. In 385 BC, he [[Artaxerxes' II Cadusian Campaign|campaigned against the Cadusians]].

===Egypt campaign (373 BC)===
Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes had more trouble with the [[Egypt]]ians, who had successfully revolted against him at the beginning of his reign. An attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC under the command of [[Pharnabazus II|Pharnabazus]], satrap of [[Hellespontine Phrygia]], was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years, the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer [[Phoenicia]].

====Unfolding of the Egyptian campaign====
In 377 BC, Pharnabazus was reassigned by Artaxerxes II to help command a military expedition into rebellious Egypt, having proven his ability against the Spartans.<ref>{{Cite book | title=Trouble in the West: Egypt and the Persian Empire, 525-332 BC | last=Ruzicka | first=Stephen | publisher=Oxford University Press | year=2012 | isbn=978-0-19-976662-8 | location=New York, NY | pages=55–62}}</ref>

[[File:Achaemenid campaign against Egypt 373 BCE.jpg|thumb|upright|Achaemenid campaign of Pharnabazus II against Egypt in 373 BC.]]
After four years of preparations in the Levant, Pharnabazus gathered an expeditionary force of 200,000 Persian troops, 300 triremes, 200 galleys, and 12,000 Greeks under [[Iphicrates]].<ref name="IG372">{{cite book | last1=Gershevitch | first1=I. | last2=Fisher | first2=William Bayne | last3=Boyle | first3=John Andrew | last4=Yarshater | first4=Ehsan | last5=Frye | first5=Richard Nelson | title=The Cambridge History of Iran | date=1985 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-20091-2 | page=372 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&pg=PA372 | language=en}}</ref> The Achaemenid Empire had also been applying pressure on Athens to recall the Greek general [[Chabrias]], who was in the service of the Egyptians, but in vain.{{sfn|Grimal|1992|pp=375–376}} The Egyptian ruler [[Nectanebo I]] was thus supported by Athenian General Chabrias and his mercenaries.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Ruzicka | first1=Stephen | title=Trouble in the West: Egypt and the Persian Empire, 525-332 BC | date=2012 | publisher=Oxford University Press | isbn=978-0-19-990877-6 | pages=99–105 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XVFpAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 | language=en}}</ref>

The Achaemenid force landed in Egypt with the Athenian general Iphicrates near [[Mendes]] in 373 BC.<ref name="IG373">{{cite book | last1=Gershevitch | first1=I. | last2=Fisher | first2=William Bayne | last3=Boyle | first3=John Andrew | last4=Yarshater | first4=Ehsan | last5=Frye | first5=Richard Nelson | title=The Cambridge History of Iran | date=1985 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-20091-2 | page=373 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&pg=PA373 | language=en}}</ref>  The expedition force was too slow, giving time to the Egyptians to strengthen defenses. Pharnabazus and Iphicrates appeared before [[Pelusium]], but retired without attacking it, [[Nectanebo I]], king of Egypt, having added to its former defences by laying the neighboring lands under water, and blocking up the navigable channels of the Nile by embankments. ([[Diodorus Siculus]] xv. 42; [[Cornelius Nepos]], ''[[Iphicrates]]'' c. 5.) Fortifications on the [[Pelusium|Pelusiac]] branch of the Nile ordered by Nectanebo forced the enemy fleet to seek another way to sail up the [[Nile]]. Eventually the fleet managed to find its way up the less-defended Mendesian branch.{{sfn|Grimal|1992|pp=375–376}} At this point, the mutual distrust that had arisen between Iphicrates and Pharnabazus prevented the enemy from reaching [[Memphis, Egypt|Memphis]]. Then, the annual [[Nile flood]] and the Egyptian defenders' resolve to defend their territory turned what had initially appeared as certain defeat for Nectanebo I and his troops into a complete victory.{{sfn|Lloyd|1994|p=348}}

After several weeks, the Persians and their Greek mercenaries under Iphicrates had to re-embark. The expedition against Egypt had failed.<ref name="IG373"/> It was the end of the career of Pharnabazus, who was now over 70 years old.<ref name="IG">{{cite book | last1=Gershevitch | first1=I. | last2=Fisher | first2=William Bayne | last3=Boyle | first3=John Andrew | last4=Yarshater | first4=Ehsan | last5=Frye | first5=Richard Nelson | title=The Cambridge History of Iran | date=1985 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-0-521-20091-2 | page=374 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&pg=PA374 | language=en}}</ref> Pharnabazus was replaced by [[Datames]] to lead a second expedition to Egypt, but he failed and then started the "Satraps' Revolt" against the Great King.<ref name="IG"/>

===Revolt of the Satraps (372-362 BC)===
{{main|Great Satraps' Revolt}}
The Achaemenid defeat in Egypt led to unrest among the Achaemenid nobility.  From 372 BC, many western satrapies of the Achaemenid Empire started to rebel against Artaxerxes II, in the [[Great Satraps' Revolt]], starting with the powerful satrap [[Datames]]. Following the failure of [[Pharnabazus II]] in Egypt, Datames had been entrusted by the Persian king with the chief command of a force designed for the recovery of [[History of ancient Egypt|Egypt]], but the machinations of his enemies at the Persian court, and the risks to which he was in consequence exposed, induced him to change his plan, and throw off his allegiance to the king. He withdrew with the troops under his command into [[Cappadocia]], and made common cause with the other satraps who were revolting from Persia.

The Pharaoh Nectanebo provided financial support to the rebelling satraps and re-established ties with both Sparta and Athens.{{sfn|Grimal|1992|p=377}} Artaxerxes II finally quashed the revolt of the satraps by 362 BC.

===Peace mediation in the Theban–Spartan War (368-366 BC)===
[[File:Double daric 330-300 obverse CdM Paris.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Daric]] of Artaxerxes II]]
Artaxerxes again attempted to mediate in conflicts between the Greek city-states at the time of the [[Theban hegemony]], especially the [[Theban–Spartan War]]. He sent [[Philiscus of Abydos]], a [[hyparch]] (vice-regent) and military commander of the Achaemenid satrap [[Ariobarzanes of Phrygia|Ariobarzanes]], to Delphi in order to help the Greek negotiate peace.<ref name="JH113"/><ref name="JH">{{cite book | last1=Heskel | first1=Julia | title=The North Aegean Wars, 371-360 B.C | date=1997 | publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag | isbn=978-3-515-06917-5 | page=96 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djGmzkjbyGUC&pg=PA96 | language=en}}</ref><ref name="JF">{{cite book | last1=Fine | first1=John Van Antwerp | title=The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History | date=1983 | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-03314-6 | page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john/page/584 584] | url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john | url-access=registration | language=en}}</ref> The objective of Philicus of Abydos was such to help broker a Common Peace between the Greek belligerents reunited at [[Delphi]].<ref name="JF"/> The negotiation collapsed when Thebes refused to return [[Messenia]] to the Spartans.<ref name="JF"/>

Before returning to Abydos, Philicus used Achaemenid funds to finance an army for the Spartans, suggesting that he was acting in support of the Spartans from the beginning.<ref name="JF"/> With the Achaemenid financing of a new army, Sparta was able to continue the war.<ref name="PS">{{cite book | last1=Souza | first1=Philip de | last2=France | first2=John | title=War and Peace in Ancient and Medieval History | date=2008 | publisher=Cambridge University Press | isbn=978-1-139-46948-7 | page=41 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9j7zoDeWTdwC&pg=PA41 | language=en}}</ref> Among the mercenaries whom he had recruited, Philiscus gave 2,000 to the Spartans.<ref name="JH113"/> He also probably provided funds to the Athenians and promised them, on behalf of the King, to help them recover the [[Thracian Chersonese|Chersonese]] militarily.<ref name="JH113">{{cite book | last1=Heskel | first1=Julia | title=The North Aegean Wars, 371-360 B.C | date=1997 | publisher=Franz Steiner Verlag | isbn=978-3-515-06917-5 | page=113 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djGmzkjbyGUC&pg=PA113 | language=en}}</ref> Both Philiscus and Ariobarzanes were made citizens of Athens, a remarkable honor suggesting important services rendered to the city-state.<ref name="JH113"/>

During autumn of 367 BCE, first the Spartans, soon followed by the Athenians, the Arcadians, the Argives, the Eleans, the Thebans, and other Greek city-states, sent envoys to Susa in attempts to obtain the support of Achaemenid king Artaxerxes II in the Greek conflict.<ref name="JF"/> The Achaemenid king proposed a new peace treaty, this time highly tilted in favour of Thebes, which required Messenia to remain independent and that the Athenian fleet to be dismantled. This Peace proposal was rejected by most Greek parties except Thebes.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Fine | first1=John Van Antwerp | title=The Ancient Greeks: A Critical History | date=1983 | publisher=Harvard University Press | isbn=978-0-674-03314-6 | page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john/page/585 585] | url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreeks00john | url-access=registration | language=en}}</ref><ref name="PS"/>

Sparta and Athens, dissatisfied with the Persian king's support of [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], decided to provide careful military support to the opponents of the Achaemenid king. Athens and Sparta provided support for the revolted satraps, in particular [[Ariobarzanes of Phrygia|Ariobarzanes]]. Sparta sent a force to Ariobarzanes under an aging [[Agesilaus II]], while Athens sent a force under [[Timotheus (general)|Timotheus]], which was however diverted when it became obvious that Ariobarzanes had entered frontal conflict with the Achaemenid king.<ref name="PS"/><ref name="JH"/> An Athenian mercenary force under [[Chabrias]] was also sent to the Egyptian Pharaoh [[Teos of Egypt|Tachos]], who was also fighting against the Achaemenid king.<ref name="PS"/>