Achaemenid dynasty

Origins

The history of the Achaemenid dynasty is mainly known through Greek historians, such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Additional sources include the Hebrew Bible, other Jewish religious texts, and native Iranian sources. According to Herodotus, the Achaemenids were a clan of the Pasargadae tribe:These were the leading tribes, on which all the other Persians were dependent, namely the Pasargadae, Maraphians, and Maspioi. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most noble and include the family of Achaemenids, the Kings of Persia, who are descendants of Perseus.Darius the Great, in an effort to establish his legitimacy, later traced his genealogy to Achaemenes, Persian peo. His son was given as Teispes, and from him came in turn Ariaramnes, Arsames, and Hystaspes. However, there is no historical evidence for any of these.

Dynasty

The Persian Empire was a hereditary monarchy, though the spirit of eldest son succession was often violated through palace intrigues. The historical kings as given in Greek sources are:

References

Sources

• Briant, Pierre, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire (2002). Translated by Peter T. Daniels. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. ISBN 1-57506-031-0.

References

1. "ACHAEMENID DYNASTY". www.iranicaonline.org.
2. {{cite encyclopedia. (1998). link. Bresciani. Edda
3. Eusebius. "Chronicle".
4. Herodotus, ''The Histories'', i.126.3. The Greeks believed that the Persians were descend from the hero Perseus. See vii.61.
5. "Behistun (3) - Livius".
6. "ACHAEMENID DYNASTY – Encyclopaedia Iranica".
7. Cyrus II had his genealogy inscribed on a fired clay cylinder found in the foundations of the ancient city of Babylon.  It reads, in part: “I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, ki[ng of the ci]ty of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of Anshan, the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel and Nabu love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern themselves.” Now in the British Museum, which has a translation of the text on its website: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1880-0617-1941
8. The story of how Astyages dreamed that he would be supplanted by the son of his daughter, sent Cyrus away to be exposed on a mountainside, later met him as a young boy, relented his desire to kill him, and sent him to live with his parents was related in great detail by Herodotos, i.95-122.
9. Herodotos related how Cyrus eventually fulfilled the prophecy (prior note) and conquered the Medes in i.123-130.
10. Herod., iii.1-38.
11. ^[1] The brother and the Magus were called by other names in various ancient sources.  According to Herod. (iii.61 ff.) both brother and Magus were named Smerdis; according to Ctesias of Cnidos (''Persika'', xii, translated by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones and James Robson, ''Ctesias’ History of Persia: Tales of the Orient'', London: Routledge, 2010, 177 ff.) the brother was Tanyoxarces, the Magus, Sphandadates; according to the  ''Behiston Inscription'' (Persian text, cited above), the brother was Smerdis, the Magus, Gaumâta; in the Elamite text of the inscription, the Brother was Bardiya, the Magus, Orospastes. (https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bardiya-son-of-cyrus).
12. Herod., iii.70-79, 85-87.
13. Herod., book iv.
14. Herod., vi.95-116.
15. Herod., vii.7.
16. Herod., books vii-ix.
17. There are any number of sources for the treaty. For this as the possible date, see Plato, ''Menexenus'', 241d-242a.
18. Ancient sources describing these events include, Diodorus Siculus, Ctesias, Justin, Aelian, and Aristotle. Their various version have points of agreement and divergence. See Pierre Briant, ''From Cyrus to Alexander'', 563-567 for a review and summary.
19. Thucydides, ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', i.104, 109-10.
20. Thuc., i.137.3-138.2.
21. Diodorus Siculus, ''Library of History,'' xii.4.4-6.
22. "Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' Persica - Livius".
23. Ctesias, §49-52; Diodorus, xii.71. See also Briant, 588-91.
24. Thuc., viii.17-18, 58.
25. Related in Xenophon's ''Anabasis''.
26. Xenophon, ''Hellenica'', iv.3.11, 8.1-2, 8.6-10; Diodorus, xiv.39.1-3.
27. Xen., v.1.25-36.
28. Diodorus, xv.29; Demosthenes, ''Against Timotheus'', xlix.3; Plutarch, ''Life of'' ''Artaxerxes'', §24.
29. Diodorus, xv.90.
30. Plutarch, ''Life of Artaxerxes'', §26-30; Justin, x.1-3; Aeolian, ''Varieties of History'', ix.42; Valerius Maximus, ''Facta et dicta memorabilia'', ix.2.7.
31. Diodorus, xvi.21-22.1-2.
32. See Briant, 682-85 for discussion and sources.
33. Diodorus, xvi.75.1.
34. Diodorus, xvii.5.3-5.
35. Diodorus, xvii.5.6.
36. Curtius, ''History of the Life and Reign of Alexander the Great'', v.8.35; Justin, ''Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus'', xi.15; Diodorus Siculus, xvii.73
37. Curtius, vii.5.20-22; Justin, xii.5; Diodorus Siculus, xvii.83.7.