Editing Megabyzus (section)

===Siege of Memphis (459–455 BCE)===
The Athenians and Egyptians had settled down to besiege the local Persian troops in Egypt, at the White Castle. The siege evidently did not progress well, and probably lasted for at least four years, since Thucydides says that their whole expedition lasted 6 years,<ref name = TI110>Thucydides [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200;query=chapter%3D%23110;layout=;loc=1.109.1 I, 110]</ref> and of this time the final 18 months was occupied with the siege of Prosoptis.<ref name = TI109>Thucydides [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0200;query=chapter%3D%23109;layout=;loc=1.110.1 I, 109]</ref>

According to Thucydides, at first Artaxerxes sent [[Megabazus]] to try and bribe the Spartans into invading [[Attica]], to draw off the Athenian forces from Egypt. When this failed, he instead assembled a large army under Megabyzus, and dispatched it to Egypt.<ref name = TI109/> Diodorus has more or less the same story, with more detail; after the attempt at bribery failed, Artaxerxes put Megabyzus and Artabazus in charge of 300,000 men, with instructions to quell the revolt. They went first from Persia to [[Cilicia]] and gathered a fleet of 300 triremes from the Cilicians, [[Phoenicia]]ns and Cypriots, and spent a year training their men. Then they finally headed to Egypt.<ref>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23151;layout=;loc=11.74.1 XI, 74&ndash;75]</ref> Modern estimates, however, place the number of Persian troops at the considerably lower figure of 25,000 men given that it would have been highly impractical to deprive the already strained satrapies of any more man power than that.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Land Battles in 5th Century BC Greece: A History and Analysis of 173 Engagements|last=Ray|first=Fred|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|year=1949|pages=109–110}}</ref> Thucydides does not mention [[Artabazos I of Phrygia|Artabazus]], who is reported by Herodotus to have taken part in the second Persian invasion; Diodorus may be mistaken about his presence in this campaign.<ref>Herodotus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0126;query=chapter%3D%231435;layout=;loc=8.127.1 VIII, 126]</ref> It is clearly possible that the Persian forces did spend some prolonged time in training, since it took four years for them to respond to the Egyptian [[Battle of Papremis|victory at Papremis]]. Although neither author gives many details, it is clear that when Megabyzus finally arrived in Egypt, he was able to quickly lift the siege of Memphis, defeating the Egyptians in battle, and driving the Athenians from Memphis.<ref name = TI109/><ref name = DSXI77>Diodorus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084;query=chapter%3D%23153;layout=;loc=11.76.1 XI, 77]</ref>