Editing Cambyses II (section)

== Administration ==
[[Image:KINGS of LYDIA. Time of Cyrus to Darios I. Circa 545-520 BC.jpg|thumb|Achaemenid [[Achaemenid coinage|coin]] minted at [[Sardis]], possibly under Cambyses II.]]
Although a tax system existed during the reigns of Cyrus and Cambyses, it was not a systematic one, and thus the subjects of the king were either obligated to give gifts, or pay taxes.{{sfn|Dandamayev|2000}} As was the case during his father's reign, Cambyses' [[satrap]]s were all of Persian stock: Gubaru in Babylonia-Trans-Euphrates: [[Aryandes]] in Egypt: [[Oroetes]] in Sardis, [[Mitrobates]] in [[Dascylium]], [[Dadarsi]] in [[Bactria]], and Vivana in [[Arachosia]]. Likewise, the imperial treasurer in Babylon, Mithradata, was also from a Persian family. Indeed, the senior officials and officers accompanying Cambyses in Egypt were composed solely of Persians.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=82}} The most notable of these Persians were relatives of the king, such as his cousin [[Darius the Great|Darius]], who occupied high offices under Cyrus and Cambyses, and serving as a spear-bearer under the latter.{{sfn|Briant|2002|pp=82, 771}} Darius' father, Hystaspes, served as the governor of [[Parthia]] and [[Hyrcania]], or at least held a prominent role there. Important offices centred around the king was also occupied by the Persians, as in the case of [[Prexaspes]], who served as the "message-bearer" of Cambyses, and [[Sisamnes]], who was the royal judge but later executed by Cambyses.{{sfn|Briant|2002|p=82}}