Jump to bottom

Parysatis (Ancient GreekΠαρύσατις) was the 5th-century BCE illegitimate daughter of Artaxerxes I, Emperor of Persia and Andia of Babylon.

She was the half-sister of Xerxes II, Sogdianus and Darius II. She married her half-brother Darius[1] and had four sons, Artaxerxes II, Cyrus the Younger, Ostanes and Oxathres.[2] Her favorite was Cyrus and it was on account of her influence that the then teenager was given supreme command in western Anatolia in around 407 BCE[3]. When her husband died, she supported her younger son Cyrus. When Cyrus was defeated in the Battle of Cunaxa she blamed the satrap Tissaphernes for the death of her son. She later had Tissaphernes assassinated.

Notes

  1. ^ Agesilaos , P Cartledge p186
  2. ^ Plutarch, Lives, Life of Artaxerxes
  3. ^ Agesilaos , P Cartledge p186
This Ancient Near East biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.