Achaemenid dynasty

|+Achaemenid rulers

|Cyrus I

|late 7th century BC

|King of the city of Anshan in PersiaCyrus 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

|early 6th century–559 BC

|Vassal of Astyages, king of the Medes (r. 584-550), and married to his daughter Mandane.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.

|559–530 BC

|Conquered the Mede empire c. 550, thus founding the Persian Empire;Herodotos related how Cyrus eventually fulfilled the prophecy (prior note) and conquered the Medes in i.123-130. conquered Lydia in 547, which already controlled several Hellenic cities on the Anatolian coast; soon extended his control to include them; conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539, freeing the Hebrews enslaved by the Babylonians.

|530–522 BC

|Focused his efforts on conquering Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia.Herod., iii.1-38.

|522 BC

|There is some confusion about this person. He was either Cambyses II's brother or an imposter - a Mede priest (Magus) pretending to be the brother.^[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).

|522–486 BC

|Cousin and brother-in-law of Cambyses II; succeeded to the throne as the result of a coup that ousted Bardiya;Herod., iii.70-79, 85-87. continued the expansion of the Persian Empire into western Anatolia and Thrace; made war on the Scythians;Herod., book iv. invaded mainland Greece in 490 to punish Athens for helping the Ionian city-states revolt in 499. This effort ended with the Athenian victory at the battle of Marathon.Herod., vi.95-116.

|486–465 BC

|Quelled a revolt in Egypt,Herod., vii.7. then invaded Greece in 480 to finish what his father had started; ravaged Athens after the populace had abandoned the city, but lost sea and land battles at Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale and was forced to withdraw from both the Greek mainland and Anatolian Greece.Herod., books vii-ix. He probably signed a peace treaty with Athens in 469 after the Battle of Eurymedon (Peace of Callias).There are any number of sources for the treaty. For this as the possible date, see Plato, Menexenus, 241d-242a.

|465–424 BC

|Came to the throne after a series of palace murders;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. defeated an Athenian force in 454 that was aiding an Egyptian revolt (which began in 460);Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, i.104, 109-10. granted asylum to Themistocles;Thuc., i.137.3-138.2. signed a second peace with Athens in 449 after losing a naval battle to Cimon’s fleet off Cyprus.Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, xii.4.4-6.

|424 BC

|First in line for the throne; murdered after 45 days by Sogdianus.{{Cite web |title=Photius' Excerpt of Ctesias' Persica - Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/ctesias-overview-of-the-works/photius-excerpt-of-ctesias-persica/ |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=www.livius.org}}

|424–423 BC

|Bastard son of Artaxerxes I; murdered Xerxes II; murdered in turn by his half brother Ochus seven months later.Ctesias, §49-52; Diodorus, xii.71. See also Briant, 588-91.

|423–404 BC

|Entered into an alliance with Sparta after Athens’ losses during the Sicily campaign in 412.Thuc., viii.17-18, 58.

|404–358 BC

|Was the target of Cyrus the Younger’s “anabasis” – his ill-fated march “up country” to usurp the throne from his brother;Related in Xenophon's Anabasis. supported Athens in the Corinthian War (supplying Conan with a fleet of ships),Xenophon, Hellenica, iv.3.11, 8.1-2, 8.6-10; Diodorus, xiv.39.1-3. then switched sides to support Sparta; was eventually able to dictate terms to both sides, imposing the “King’s Peace” in 387, which permanently ceded all the Anatolia cities to Persia.Xen., v.1.25-36. Had to put down repeated revolts in Egypt, during which he hired out-of-work Athenian strategoi.Diodorus, xv.29; Demosthenes, Against Timotheus, xlix.3; Plutarch, Life of Artaxerxes, §24. Endured a series of satrap revolts in the later years of his reign.Diodorus, xv.90.

|358–338 BC

|Also came to the throne as a result of a series of palace murders;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. revolt of Artabazus in Phrygia;Diodorus, xvi.21-22.1-2. additional revolts in Egypt, Phoenicia and Cyprus;See Briant, 682-85 for discussion and sources. gave modest help to the Greeks’ attempt to rein in Philip II’s increasing power in Macedon (siege of Perinthus in 340).Diodorus, xvi.75.1.

|338–336 BC

|Placed on the throne as an adolescent by Bagoas, advisor to the King, after Bagoas had poisoned Artaxerxes III; poisoned by Bagoas when he threatened to punish him for his crimes.Diodorus, xvii.5.3-5.

|336–330 BC

|Placed on the throne by Bagoas; poisoned Bagoas when he learned of a plot to kill him.Diodorus, xvii.5.6. Spent most of his reign fighting Alexander III of Macedon; captured and killed by the Bactrian satrap Bessos after Alexander's conquest was complete.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

|330–329 BC

|Satrap of Bactria; assumed title of "King" after death of Darius III; tried to resist Alexander, but was betrayed by his generals and killed by Darius' brother, Oxathres.Curtius, vii.5.20-22; Justin, xii.5; Diodorus Siculus, xvii.83.7.