"Tyranny of the Three Witches"
Antiquity has some of the best names for dark times.
Antiquity has some of the best names for dark times.
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Well, it was nice to have a new perspective on the empire.
Did the Achaemenids convert to Christianity eventually, or is the news that the Hagia Sophia became a church an indication that even Byzantion itself will fall?
Given the references to Zalmoxis in the Dalmatian account, was the Zoroastrianism practiced in Dacia different from that practiced by the Achaemenids? Did it syncretize with their native beliefs? If so, how much did they worship the (basically deified) Achaemenid rulers?
The Great Enslavement is going to lead to a bunch of revolts, isn't it? The factionalism isn't a good sign, either.
Did the Christians in the Achaemenid domain syncretize their faith with Zoroastrianism?
The Tyranny of the Three Witches... I wonder why they're called witches.
Did the Achaemenids convert to Christianity eventually, or is the news that the Hagia Sophia became a church an indication that even Byzantion itself will fall?
Given the references to Zalmoxis in the Dalmatian account, was the Zoroastrianism practiced in Dacia different from that practiced by the Achaemenids? Did it syncretize with their native beliefs? If so, how much did they worship the (basically deified) Achaemenid rulers?
The Great Enslavement is going to lead to a bunch of revolts, isn't it? The factionalism isn't a good sign, either.
Did the Christians in the Achaemenid domain syncretize their faith with Zoroastrianism?
The Tyranny of the Three Witches... I wonder why they're called witches.
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Corruption, factionalism, inflation, and tyranny are all very bad signs.
It's easy to blame the Achaemenid rulers and their inbred heirs, but these decisions are being made by the nobility.
It's easy to blame the Achaemenid rulers and their inbred heirs, but these decisions are being made by the nobility.
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The nadir is yet to be reached. Sisygambis is widely regarded as the worst ruler of the empire.
The Dacians never took completely to the ways of Zoroastrianism. They accepted the Achaemenid gods as part of their own Zalmoxian pantheon but never strayed too far from the tenets of their own faith. Paying religious homage to their overlords seemed to be part of the deal when you're a client state of the Achaemenids but here, just like in India, North Africa, Arabia and the Caucasus, the old gods held the most sway, at least till the coming of Christianity as a major religion in the 4th century.
Christianity will play an important role in the narrative later on so keep reading.
Historical cycles of rise and fall at work as we've seen in other empires across time. The failure state is reached when a cascade of systemic errors builds up.
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The Reign of the First Achaemenid Witch, Sisygambis (231 AD – 246 AD)
The Reign of the First Achaemenid Witch, Sisygambis (231 AD – 246 AD)
While this period is called the Tyranny of the Three Witches by contemporaries, historians today place most of the blame on the first of three queens, Sisygambis, oldest child of Tissaphernes. She was never meant to take the throne but the untimely death of her sister and crowned heir, Barsine, threw the succession into disarray. Tissaphernes already struck down with dysentery, collapsed at the news and could not be roused. He would pass away three months later without recovering consciousness. Amidst all this tragedy, Sisygambis was crowned Banbisnan Banbism and ruler of the great Achaemenid Empire.
Upon her ascension, her madness, once whispered of, was apparent to all. Of the few surviving sources about Sisygambis and her fifteen-year reign, most were written by members of the nobility and priesthood, who felt the brunt of her cruelty. They portray Sisygambis as an increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and insane tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god. There is a strain of revisionist scholarship that she was unfairly maligned and that many of the allegations against her are dismissed as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy but most historians accept the common perspective.
Within the capital, she would begin a witch hunt against those she felt wronged by or spoke ill of her. While her father and grandmother had supported the magi, she threw her lot in with the Spahbeds and the army. Since the magi had supported the coronation of her sister, they had to be the enemies of the throne and unworthy to advise Ahura Mazda’s Righteous Hand of Justice in the world. Evagoras Atropatid, now the ranking general, eagerly followed through on her commands. Within the court, many magi disappeared into the night or were killed in their own homes. The Mobadan Mobad, the highest-ranking member of the Zoroastrian priesthood, was leashed and forced to be a footstool for Sisygambis, while she replaced him with a fool. The first two years of her reign was marked by increasing indulgence within the court and the City. Grand parades were arranged to celebrate her divinity and the palace was full of sculptors and mural painters tasked with aggrandizing her rule. Traditionally, the Achaemenids would only deify their rulers on their death as they ascended to godhood and sit by the side of Ahura Mazda but there were none willing to challenge Sisygambis on this ‘innovation’. The people of the City did not trouble themselves overmuch on the semantics of religious doctrine and gladly availed themselves of the festivities and imperial largesse that Sisygambis encouraged. The decorations and artworks were all destroyed sometime after her death and we only have the written word to describe them.
As the demands of Achaemeniyya grew, the satraps and governors were increasingly challenged to meet expectations, In 232 AD with the support of Evagoras, now Chancellor and controller of imperial finances, she instituted a new policy of military oversight. Adjuncts personally chosen by Sisygambis and Evagoras were posted to each governor with a complement of imperial soldiers to ensure taxes and royal commands were faithfully followed. The governors were well aware of the dangers of failure, now with the sword of the adjuncts hanging over their necks.
Evagoras Atropatid and the military aristocracy now finally had the support to pursue their war with Rome. In 233 AD, the armies of Persia were mobilised and marched on Rome from Sicily and Illyrium. Another ruinous expense was forced on the provinces, still not restored to their pre-plague prosperity. The Persian army could put a million men into the field but the Spahbeds initially only brought in the five legions and Kava (levies) of the western provinces. The war with Rome would drag on for eight years and destroyed the mirage of Persian invincibility that had persisted since the great plague. Decades of poor funding and corruption within the officer corp led to a bogged-down and bloody campaign. Whereas the soldiers of Orodes II and Arbaces I had swept all before them in the East and West, Sisygambis’ legions were faced with poor logistical lines, impractical commands and strategies that sought to glorify the generals at the expense of practicality and dictums of the field of war. The Romans were better trained, and equipped and had the higher morale, defending their soil. The initial Persian campaign was pushed back into Illyria while Persian Sicily was an island under siege. Fighting raged through Illyria, Dacia and even as far east as Moesia inferior and Thrace. This set the alarm bells ringing for Evagoras and his cohort. These provinces had not seen war or battle for three centuries, yet here now, the Romans looked set to march on the City. The Immortals and other legions were pulled back to the Achaemenid heartlands to stop the progress and mount a counterattack. Only through the expenditure of thousands of Persian soldiers were the Romans stopped.
The Persians would win the war through sheer numbers but had to call up the armies from Mesopotamia and the eastern reaches of the empire. Six million men would perish in total, split roughly equal between the Romans and Persians. The Romans had the better of the Persians for most of the war but their reserves were not as limitless as their enemies and eventually numbers told. The Romans surrendered Bruttium, at the foot of Italy to the Persians while the Illyrians and Dacians and the people of Moesia, Macedonia and Thrace mourned their burnt homes and ravaged lands.
Sisygambis had Evagoras and his generals executed for this miserable and overdrawn war. Now, there was no one to countermand or control the Banbisn and she sunk even further into insanity. She had her siblings Artazostre and Datis executed. They had spent most of their life in a gilded prison since Sisygambis’ ascension but she feared that they would become points of resistance to her rule. Her consort, Pharasmenes Bagratids, was of weak character and sought to redirect her violent impulses to anyone but him. With him, Sisygambis would sire three daughters, Arystone, Barsine and Artanis. The latter two would make up the other two in the triumvirate dubbed the ‘tyranny of the three witches’.
Over the next seven years, the empire walked on eggshells, terrified of the woman who sat on the throne. Her court was filled with yes-men and flatterers and her debaucheries grew increasing rank. I will not list them out here but the modern image of the oriental decadence had ample fuel from the stories of Sisygambis and her tyrannical reign. Nobles prayed for Ahura Mazda to end the life of their goddess but none dared to pick up the knife. This all changed in 246 AD.
Despite the fear that gripped the court in Achaemeniyya, the oldest daughter, Arystone, grew up to be an assertive and daring woman. Aged just 20, she challenged her mother before the entire court and appealed to the queen’s better side to serve the people and remember the teachings of Zoroaster. Sisygambis screamed at this affront and snatched the sword from her bodyguard and cleaved her daughter’s head in twain. She then commanded her servitors to drain Arystone’s blood to make a bath for the goddess.
When word of this horrific tale escaped out to the provinces, only one man stepped up to do the right thing. Rhoisakes Hydarnid, Satrap of Syria went to the capital admitting to wrongdoing. He was promptly arrested by the palace guards and placed on trial for corruption and blasphemy. Rhoisakes knew Sisygambis loved to preside over show trials and that was his only chance to get close to her. On the day of the trial with loyal men located strategically in the audience, Rhoisakes made his move. He charged at Sisygambis and smashed her head with a sharp stone he had kept hidden. All stood in shock and none went to the aid of their god-queen as she pathetically called for help. She bled to death slowly in the Halls of Justice.
Her daughter Barsine was now Banbisnan Banbism but before any coronation could take place, Rhoisakes raised the flag of rebellion, denouncing the Achaemenids as a cursed line, long bereft of dignity and Ahura Mazda’s favour. Nearly half the legions and the provinces of Syria and Parthia sided with Rhoisakes. Thus, Barsine’s rule began with civil war.
Upon her ascension, her madness, once whispered of, was apparent to all. Of the few surviving sources about Sisygambis and her fifteen-year reign, most were written by members of the nobility and priesthood, who felt the brunt of her cruelty. They portray Sisygambis as an increasingly self-indulgent, cruel, sadistic, extravagant and insane tyrant who demanded and received worship as a living god. There is a strain of revisionist scholarship that she was unfairly maligned and that many of the allegations against her are dismissed as misunderstandings, exaggeration, mockery or malicious fantasy but most historians accept the common perspective.
Within the capital, she would begin a witch hunt against those she felt wronged by or spoke ill of her. While her father and grandmother had supported the magi, she threw her lot in with the Spahbeds and the army. Since the magi had supported the coronation of her sister, they had to be the enemies of the throne and unworthy to advise Ahura Mazda’s Righteous Hand of Justice in the world. Evagoras Atropatid, now the ranking general, eagerly followed through on her commands. Within the court, many magi disappeared into the night or were killed in their own homes. The Mobadan Mobad, the highest-ranking member of the Zoroastrian priesthood, was leashed and forced to be a footstool for Sisygambis, while she replaced him with a fool. The first two years of her reign was marked by increasing indulgence within the court and the City. Grand parades were arranged to celebrate her divinity and the palace was full of sculptors and mural painters tasked with aggrandizing her rule. Traditionally, the Achaemenids would only deify their rulers on their death as they ascended to godhood and sit by the side of Ahura Mazda but there were none willing to challenge Sisygambis on this ‘innovation’. The people of the City did not trouble themselves overmuch on the semantics of religious doctrine and gladly availed themselves of the festivities and imperial largesse that Sisygambis encouraged. The decorations and artworks were all destroyed sometime after her death and we only have the written word to describe them.
As the demands of Achaemeniyya grew, the satraps and governors were increasingly challenged to meet expectations, In 232 AD with the support of Evagoras, now Chancellor and controller of imperial finances, she instituted a new policy of military oversight. Adjuncts personally chosen by Sisygambis and Evagoras were posted to each governor with a complement of imperial soldiers to ensure taxes and royal commands were faithfully followed. The governors were well aware of the dangers of failure, now with the sword of the adjuncts hanging over their necks.
Evagoras Atropatid and the military aristocracy now finally had the support to pursue their war with Rome. In 233 AD, the armies of Persia were mobilised and marched on Rome from Sicily and Illyrium. Another ruinous expense was forced on the provinces, still not restored to their pre-plague prosperity. The Persian army could put a million men into the field but the Spahbeds initially only brought in the five legions and Kava (levies) of the western provinces. The war with Rome would drag on for eight years and destroyed the mirage of Persian invincibility that had persisted since the great plague. Decades of poor funding and corruption within the officer corp led to a bogged-down and bloody campaign. Whereas the soldiers of Orodes II and Arbaces I had swept all before them in the East and West, Sisygambis’ legions were faced with poor logistical lines, impractical commands and strategies that sought to glorify the generals at the expense of practicality and dictums of the field of war. The Romans were better trained, and equipped and had the higher morale, defending their soil. The initial Persian campaign was pushed back into Illyria while Persian Sicily was an island under siege. Fighting raged through Illyria, Dacia and even as far east as Moesia inferior and Thrace. This set the alarm bells ringing for Evagoras and his cohort. These provinces had not seen war or battle for three centuries, yet here now, the Romans looked set to march on the City. The Immortals and other legions were pulled back to the Achaemenid heartlands to stop the progress and mount a counterattack. Only through the expenditure of thousands of Persian soldiers were the Romans stopped.
The Persians would win the war through sheer numbers but had to call up the armies from Mesopotamia and the eastern reaches of the empire. Six million men would perish in total, split roughly equal between the Romans and Persians. The Romans had the better of the Persians for most of the war but their reserves were not as limitless as their enemies and eventually numbers told. The Romans surrendered Bruttium, at the foot of Italy to the Persians while the Illyrians and Dacians and the people of Moesia, Macedonia and Thrace mourned their burnt homes and ravaged lands.
Sisygambis had Evagoras and his generals executed for this miserable and overdrawn war. Now, there was no one to countermand or control the Banbisn and she sunk even further into insanity. She had her siblings Artazostre and Datis executed. They had spent most of their life in a gilded prison since Sisygambis’ ascension but she feared that they would become points of resistance to her rule. Her consort, Pharasmenes Bagratids, was of weak character and sought to redirect her violent impulses to anyone but him. With him, Sisygambis would sire three daughters, Arystone, Barsine and Artanis. The latter two would make up the other two in the triumvirate dubbed the ‘tyranny of the three witches’.
Over the next seven years, the empire walked on eggshells, terrified of the woman who sat on the throne. Her court was filled with yes-men and flatterers and her debaucheries grew increasing rank. I will not list them out here but the modern image of the oriental decadence had ample fuel from the stories of Sisygambis and her tyrannical reign. Nobles prayed for Ahura Mazda to end the life of their goddess but none dared to pick up the knife. This all changed in 246 AD.
Despite the fear that gripped the court in Achaemeniyya, the oldest daughter, Arystone, grew up to be an assertive and daring woman. Aged just 20, she challenged her mother before the entire court and appealed to the queen’s better side to serve the people and remember the teachings of Zoroaster. Sisygambis screamed at this affront and snatched the sword from her bodyguard and cleaved her daughter’s head in twain. She then commanded her servitors to drain Arystone’s blood to make a bath for the goddess.
When word of this horrific tale escaped out to the provinces, only one man stepped up to do the right thing. Rhoisakes Hydarnid, Satrap of Syria went to the capital admitting to wrongdoing. He was promptly arrested by the palace guards and placed on trial for corruption and blasphemy. Rhoisakes knew Sisygambis loved to preside over show trials and that was his only chance to get close to her. On the day of the trial with loyal men located strategically in the audience, Rhoisakes made his move. He charged at Sisygambis and smashed her head with a sharp stone he had kept hidden. All stood in shock and none went to the aid of their god-queen as she pathetically called for help. She bled to death slowly in the Halls of Justice.
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That is messed up. It sounds like a great scene for a play though, which I'm sure this period is the subject of many.The first of many. I'm surprised only half the country followed Rhoisakes. You'd think most of them would unite to depose, or at least limit, the new empress' power.
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A lot of deaths for one Roman province. Opposition is squelched. But Syria rises. How long before the Empire/Dynasty crumble? Thanks for the update.
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Just to let you know I started reading this; currently on page 2. I really like the history/reference book style with footnotes you chose when telling this AAR. It gives it an added level of detail and interest.
I see Smerdomenes claimed the Leontophoros, the ship originally built for Lysimachos in the real world. One of a kind, 8 men to an oar with 100 oars a side. Must have been a bitch to turn, though apparently it was manoeuvrable and even saw battle. I wonder how many oars they went through? 8 men pulling on an oar must have generated a lot of torque on the wood.
Anyway, still reading. Hopefully I can catch up in the next few days. Good work.
I see Smerdomenes claimed the Leontophoros, the ship originally built for Lysimachos in the real world. One of a kind, 8 men to an oar with 100 oars a side. Must have been a bitch to turn, though apparently it was manoeuvrable and even saw battle. I wonder how many oars they went through? 8 men pulling on an oar must have generated a lot of torque on the wood.
Anyway, still reading. Hopefully I can catch up in the next few days. Good work.
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The first of many. I'm surprised only half the country followed Rhoisakes. You'd think most of them would unite to depose, or at least limit, the new empress' power.
The saga of the Achaemenids has many such poignant scenes such as the downfall of Arbaces I, the end of the last of the three witches, and the betrayal of the Immortals. They would prove to be literary and theatrical fodder for later writers in the medieval and early modern period.
The Rhoisakes rebellion is simply the appetiser before the main course arrives.
Thank you and glad to have you on board the journey. The history is broken up between historical documents and narrative telling, depending on what sources I've been able to pull from.
Not for me to say on the torque. Engineering and physics are not my strongpoints but the Leontophoros would be the prototype of the latter-era mega-octeres built by the Achaemenids. At the height of their dominance, they fielded 50 of them in their fleets, acting like battleships of the early 20th century supported by larger numbers of hexares and triremes. The mega-octeres were primarily used for harbour-busting and intimidation, seeing notable action in the wars against Carthage and the Ptolemaic Egypt. Still the workhorses were hexares, who dominated in the naval battles against Rome and Carthage. The famous naval battle of Syracusa saw two hundred Persian vessels face off against three hundred Carthaginians. The Persians dominated as the smaller Carthaginian ships were not able to take boarding actions effectively or damage the hulls of the reinforced hexares and octeres with ballistas. Only 87 ships returned to Qardasht.
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You're doing a great job weaving the narrative from these sources. Makes me want to go to Wikipedia to read more
.My observation was rhetorical
. It was just something that interested me when I first read about the octareme years ago. All other '8s' typically had three banks of oars with rowers spaced 3/3/2.Did the Achaemenid navy ever adapt the Roman corvus?
Off topic time: There's a problem with signatures I've been trying to get looked at. Anyway, if you click on your My Inkwell link you'll notice it actually toggles the Toggle Signature function. A work around for the time being is to add a piece of text as the last line in your sig.
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Honestly, I'm with Rhoisakes here.
Sisygambis was horrifically cruel. Bathing in her own daughter's blood? Talk about extreme...
Why was she called a witch if she opposed the Magi? Irony? The fact that witches are generically associated with evil?
Sisygambis was horrifically cruel. Bathing in her own daughter's blood? Talk about extreme...
Why was she called a witch if she opposed the Magi? Irony? The fact that witches are generically associated with evil?
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You're doing a great job weaving the narrative from these sources. Makes me want to go to Wikipedia to read more
My observation was rhetorical
Did the Achaemenid navy ever adapt the Roman corvus?
Off topic time: There's a problem with signatures I've been trying to get looked at. Anyway, if you click on your My Inkwell link you'll notice it actually toggles the Toggle Signature function. A work around for the time being is to add a piece of text as the last line in your sig.
Thank you for the compliments.
The Achaemenids never adopted the corvus, seeing little need to fight in the Roman style. Unlike the Romans, they were able to recruit skilled sailors from Phoenicia and Cilicia to man their ships and could build them large enough to sit higher in the water than their enemies, giving them the advantage in boarding actions.
Noted on the sig. Will fix that soon. Thanks!
I would think almost every decent person would agree with you but this is a tale of empire not morality, so as historians we have to put our bias aside in the retelling.
Labelling her a witch alongside her daughters was good propaganda by the new regime and her enemies. There has always been a tradition of magic in the Middle East and Persia with a division of righteous magic provided by the gods and bad magic stolen by mortals for evil intents. Here, we see a combining of misanthropy and slander to put down the ills of the empire on three women who cursed the empire. The Magi of the 2nd Achaemenid Empire were the Zoroastrian priesthood and the title came from the root Persian 'magu' referring to the ancient tribe who were the hereditary priesthood during the time of Cyrus and Darius. By late antiquity, magi simply came to mean wise one and was also integrated into the Christian Orthodox tradition that blossomed in the Achaemenid Empire in the next century.
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The Tyranny of the Three Witches – the Reigns of Barsine and Artanis (246 AD – 257 AD)
The Tyranny of the Three Witches – the Reigns of Barsine and Artanis (246 AD – 257 AD)
The remaining eleven years of the period we call the Tyranny of the Three Witches were marked by the increasing control of the empire by the generals. It’s terribly unfair to blame the calamities on the two remaining daughters of Sisygambis. Kept sheltered and controlled by their minders, Barsine and Artanis II only played a limited role in the direction of the empire. At the same time, it’s a sad commentary on the misanthropy of history that they are the ones blamed for it when the men surrounding them deserved to be cursed by their contemporaries to a far larger degree. The irony is that the Achaemenids came back into prominence after Alexander’s conquest thanks to Amastris of Heraclea Pontike. However, the Persians had never fully accepted female rulers as we’ve seen time and time again with Artanis I, Orypetis and Anzaza. Each had been challenged in different ways on their fitness to sit the Achaemenid throne or undermined in the exercise of their powers. Many blame it on Zoroastrian tenets but Artanis I, firmly of the Hellenic dynasty had been mistrusted by her subjects.
Looking back with a clear eye, we can see that both Barsine and Artanis tried their best to play the game of politics with the bad hands they were dealt. Artanis II especially could have been the one to turn things around if she only lived long enough to see things through the currency collapse, the second plague and another Roman war. My heart goes out to her, betrayed by her own House and vow breakers.
The Reign of Barsine (246 AD – 248 AD)
Barsine’s reign began by picking up the pieces of the empire recently shattered by the insanity of her mother. Immediately she had the Rhoisakes’ rebellion to deal with. He had taken with him, half the legions, those located in the east and the satrapies of Syria and Parthia. The obedience of many of the other governors is puzzling but perhaps the residue of fear from the time of Sisygambis still persisted. She empowered Datis Achaemenid with the capture of Rhoisakes Hydarnid, members of his House and to put down the rebellion in the provinces. As the new ranking Spahbed, Datis demanded more troops and the naïve Barsine gave in to his demands.
The rebellion would last for three years but the limited support for Rhoisakes meant that he was on the backfoot from the start. After the defeat and capture of the Spahbed Phrasaortes Vivanid and his legion of Asia at the Battle of Ankyra, Rhoisakes’ days seemed to be numbered but he escaped to Greece and spurred local uprisings by playing on Hellenic patriotism and independence. His speeches became the spark for war and the old city states threw in their support for Rhoisakes.
Barsine was kept busy in the royal court, trying to rebuild the imperial system after the vacuum left by the tyranny of Sisygambis. Still only 19, she was the plaything of the royal council as the Databdara, the restored Mobadan Mobad, Argbadh and others pressed her for control. Many of the most important roles were filled by the House of Bagratid who also helped her choose an ‘auspicious’ match to wed, Artayntes Bragatid. Unfortunately for them and all the other schemers, Barsine died in childbirth along with her son Pharasmenes. Her rule had lasted a week shy of two years.
The Reign of Artanis II (248 AD – 257 AD)
Next in line, was the last of the sisters, Artanis II. She was only 14 when she took the throne but she had been by Barsine’s side during the two years and bore witness to the dangers of the court and military. She sought to make decisions independently but the machinery of government had become its own monster, advisors often tut-tutted the teenage ruler and suggested that the adults in the room were best placed to decide. Loyalty became a rare commodity and Artanis had to be careful on who she spoke with or who was around when she did speak. Slowly but surely, she did carve out a limited sphere of authority. When the general Sataspes Xerxid sacked Athens in his efforts to put down Rhoisakes’ rebellion, she had him remanded to Achaemeniyya and made him swear an oath of allegiance and a transfer of his booty from the sacking of that ancient city.
With the rebellion yet to be quelled, imperial finances were growing stretched and they were pulled even harder after an Arab uprising in Makarabah. The silver drachm had already been debased to only consist of forty percent silver by the time of Sisygambis to meet her decadent demands. Further debasements to afford the armies fighting the rebels had now rendered currency values wholly incoherent. The gold and silver mines of the empire had been drained dry of every last flake and the expenses kept growing.
Even worse was to follow the next year as the Witch Plague struck down the already moribund empire, devastating population centres and marching armies alike. Even more devastating than the first plague nearly a century ago, the Witch Plague would persist for fifteen years, destroying what little prosperity had been rebuilt since then. Nearly a third of the empire would perish from a mixture of disease, starvation and war. Once again, trade routes were curtailed and cities saw an exodus fleeing to the countryside. Emergency aid was needed to treat the ill but the treasury was empty. Many sought the aid of the god Christos from their ailments and converts flocked to the churches.
Borrowing from the playbook of Tissaphernes, the Great Enslaver, Artanis II chose to target the Jews of Judea. Hated by Zoroastrians and Christians (now a significant minority), they proved to be an easy target for harassment for their refusal to set aside the worship of their god. Artanis had the Temple closed and ransacked its holdings to feed the starving imperial treasury. The banning of Jewish worship would set off an insurgency in Judea for the next few decades that later rulers put down with great difficulty and would only end in the fifth century with the restoration of the nation of Jewish Samaria.
For now though, Artanis squeezed enough gold to keep the war effort going. Rhoisakes was eventually apprehended in Media, near Nehavand (Laodicea during the time of the Seleukids) where he was drawn and quartered along with other traitors. An exhausted peace settled on the deeply wounded empire. By now Artanis had reached adulthood and was technically free to rule without the need of a regent council but her ability to act was still stymied. What funds she could access, she put forth into building hospitals in major cities to treat the ill and she did her best to get the Zoroastrian and Christian priesthood to act on their precepts of good deeds and charity to do the same. Six years would pass before the Romans attacked, seizing on the opportunity to return the parts of Italia that the Persians held. They had not been as badly struck by the plague, with senators boasting of the superior Roman constitution and divine favour.
This time, Artanis would ride out into the field with her armies. She sought an escape from the dangers of court life and earn back prestige for the line of Achaemenes that had been eroded by the poor performance of the rulers of the last century. Marching at the head of forty thousand men to the defence of her territories, she must have cut a valorous figure. The Romans had launched a two-pronged attack, in Bruttium and in Illyria, the old battlefield of the great powers. She resolved to meet them at Dalmatia in Illyria. Across the Illyrian theatre, battles swung both ways but the mailed fist of the Roman legions were slowly but surely carving a path through the exhausted Persian levies. At Dalmatia, Artanis fought an inconclusive battle but the men were unhappy and blamed the poor result on the weakness of female leadership. Historians blame Menua Achaemenid, the Argbadh, for inciting the soldiers. Deep into the night after the battle, a half dozen of Artanis’ royal guard went into her tent and stabbed her thirty times. It’s said she wept piteously, wailing for them to stop and to think of the empire. Artanis died in her tent at 23 years old and had ruled for only nine years.
Interestingly, there is an apocryphal Christian tale of her passing. I reproduce it here for your reference:
The murder of Artanis II, Zagros 1653
Artanis was the first Christian. Each night she prayed to the lord to punish her for her transgressions and not to deprive her of the perfect reward. The angel of the lord came to Artanis the night she was to leave Achaemeniyya to battle the Romans. And the angel said to her “I can bear witness that you have sins that would deprive you of the highest degree. If you wish to keep your empire and the life of your unborn children for a long time, continue on your path. If you wish for a higher reward and punishment on earth, this is the punishment: you will lose your kingdom and your life to prepare the way for the one who is chosen. Choose what you wish. I will return in twenty days, and what you choose will happen to you.”
The queen was not deterred from choosing the better course in spite of all the disastrous events outlined to her by the angel, but her resolve was reaffirmed all the more to continue with her petition and wait until her prayer was answered.
After twenty days the angel appeared to Artanis as on the first occasion and asked the queen: “What is your choice? To spend the rest of your reign in peace and the rest of your days with sufferings, and afterwards accept a medium place in the new world? Or to take away this care that would keep you from all distress and, in this case, everything I told you on the first will happen to you?” The queen said: “I choose disgrace with suffering and death, and I will continue in the better course. Through all this, as a support, I will have the strength of Christ.” The angel departed.
Later that night, the Persian General Menua staged a coup against her, stirring up the Persians as follows: “Our queen is weak and soft. She does not know how to govern the empire. You have seen with your own eyes that the enemies have occupied many of our provinces because of her negligence and weakness. If we do not wake up and try to save ourselves, our only option is to perish totally. As long as Artanis is alive, the empire will be enfeebled and our enemies will continue to grow. If you are willing to listen to me, we will destroy her and she will be the last to die.” The Persians listened to him and said unanimously: “Do as you will. We are with you.”
The remaining eleven years of the period we call the Tyranny of the Three Witches were marked by the increasing control of the empire by the generals. It’s terribly unfair to blame the calamities on the two remaining daughters of Sisygambis. Kept sheltered and controlled by their minders, Barsine and Artanis II only played a limited role in the direction of the empire. At the same time, it’s a sad commentary on the misanthropy of history that they are the ones blamed for it when the men surrounding them deserved to be cursed by their contemporaries to a far larger degree. The irony is that the Achaemenids came back into prominence after Alexander’s conquest thanks to Amastris of Heraclea Pontike. However, the Persians had never fully accepted female rulers as we’ve seen time and time again with Artanis I, Orypetis and Anzaza. Each had been challenged in different ways on their fitness to sit the Achaemenid throne or undermined in the exercise of their powers. Many blame it on Zoroastrian tenets but Artanis I, firmly of the Hellenic dynasty had been mistrusted by her subjects.
Looking back with a clear eye, we can see that both Barsine and Artanis tried their best to play the game of politics with the bad hands they were dealt. Artanis II especially could have been the one to turn things around if she only lived long enough to see things through the currency collapse, the second plague and another Roman war. My heart goes out to her, betrayed by her own House and vow breakers.
The Reign of Barsine (246 AD – 248 AD)
The rebellion would last for three years but the limited support for Rhoisakes meant that he was on the backfoot from the start. After the defeat and capture of the Spahbed Phrasaortes Vivanid and his legion of Asia at the Battle of Ankyra, Rhoisakes’ days seemed to be numbered but he escaped to Greece and spurred local uprisings by playing on Hellenic patriotism and independence. His speeches became the spark for war and the old city states threw in their support for Rhoisakes.
Barsine was kept busy in the royal court, trying to rebuild the imperial system after the vacuum left by the tyranny of Sisygambis. Still only 19, she was the plaything of the royal council as the Databdara, the restored Mobadan Mobad, Argbadh and others pressed her for control. Many of the most important roles were filled by the House of Bagratid who also helped her choose an ‘auspicious’ match to wed, Artayntes Bragatid. Unfortunately for them and all the other schemers, Barsine died in childbirth along with her son Pharasmenes. Her rule had lasted a week shy of two years.
The Reign of Artanis II (248 AD – 257 AD)
With the rebellion yet to be quelled, imperial finances were growing stretched and they were pulled even harder after an Arab uprising in Makarabah. The silver drachm had already been debased to only consist of forty percent silver by the time of Sisygambis to meet her decadent demands. Further debasements to afford the armies fighting the rebels had now rendered currency values wholly incoherent. The gold and silver mines of the empire had been drained dry of every last flake and the expenses kept growing.
Borrowing from the playbook of Tissaphernes, the Great Enslaver, Artanis II chose to target the Jews of Judea. Hated by Zoroastrians and Christians (now a significant minority), they proved to be an easy target for harassment for their refusal to set aside the worship of their god. Artanis had the Temple closed and ransacked its holdings to feed the starving imperial treasury. The banning of Jewish worship would set off an insurgency in Judea for the next few decades that later rulers put down with great difficulty and would only end in the fifth century with the restoration of the nation of Jewish Samaria.
For now though, Artanis squeezed enough gold to keep the war effort going. Rhoisakes was eventually apprehended in Media, near Nehavand (Laodicea during the time of the Seleukids) where he was drawn and quartered along with other traitors. An exhausted peace settled on the deeply wounded empire. By now Artanis had reached adulthood and was technically free to rule without the need of a regent council but her ability to act was still stymied. What funds she could access, she put forth into building hospitals in major cities to treat the ill and she did her best to get the Zoroastrian and Christian priesthood to act on their precepts of good deeds and charity to do the same. Six years would pass before the Romans attacked, seizing on the opportunity to return the parts of Italia that the Persians held. They had not been as badly struck by the plague, with senators boasting of the superior Roman constitution and divine favour.
This time, Artanis would ride out into the field with her armies. She sought an escape from the dangers of court life and earn back prestige for the line of Achaemenes that had been eroded by the poor performance of the rulers of the last century. Marching at the head of forty thousand men to the defence of her territories, she must have cut a valorous figure. The Romans had launched a two-pronged attack, in Bruttium and in Illyria, the old battlefield of the great powers. She resolved to meet them at Dalmatia in Illyria. Across the Illyrian theatre, battles swung both ways but the mailed fist of the Roman legions were slowly but surely carving a path through the exhausted Persian levies. At Dalmatia, Artanis fought an inconclusive battle but the men were unhappy and blamed the poor result on the weakness of female leadership. Historians blame Menua Achaemenid, the Argbadh, for inciting the soldiers. Deep into the night after the battle, a half dozen of Artanis’ royal guard went into her tent and stabbed her thirty times. It’s said she wept piteously, wailing for them to stop and to think of the empire. Artanis died in her tent at 23 years old and had ruled for only nine years.
The murder of Artanis II, Zagros 1653
Artanis was the first Christian. Each night she prayed to the lord to punish her for her transgressions and not to deprive her of the perfect reward. The angel of the lord came to Artanis the night she was to leave Achaemeniyya to battle the Romans. And the angel said to her “I can bear witness that you have sins that would deprive you of the highest degree. If you wish to keep your empire and the life of your unborn children for a long time, continue on your path. If you wish for a higher reward and punishment on earth, this is the punishment: you will lose your kingdom and your life to prepare the way for the one who is chosen. Choose what you wish. I will return in twenty days, and what you choose will happen to you.”
The queen was not deterred from choosing the better course in spite of all the disastrous events outlined to her by the angel, but her resolve was reaffirmed all the more to continue with her petition and wait until her prayer was answered.
After twenty days the angel appeared to Artanis as on the first occasion and asked the queen: “What is your choice? To spend the rest of your reign in peace and the rest of your days with sufferings, and afterwards accept a medium place in the new world? Or to take away this care that would keep you from all distress and, in this case, everything I told you on the first will happen to you?” The queen said: “I choose disgrace with suffering and death, and I will continue in the better course. Through all this, as a support, I will have the strength of Christ.” The angel departed.
Later that night, the Persian General Menua staged a coup against her, stirring up the Persians as follows: “Our queen is weak and soft. She does not know how to govern the empire. You have seen with your own eyes that the enemies have occupied many of our provinces because of her negligence and weakness. If we do not wake up and try to save ourselves, our only option is to perish totally. As long as Artanis is alive, the empire will be enfeebled and our enemies will continue to grow. If you are willing to listen to me, we will destroy her and she will be the last to die.” The Persians listened to him and said unanimously: “Do as you will. We are with you.”
- 3
The "Tyranny of the Three Wishes" is such an overstatement, but I guess people love catchy titles. Sisygambis is the only true tyrant of the bunch, even if Artanis' treatment of minorities isn't commendable. Barsine didn't reign long enough to make a mark.
Will Menua face the same fate as Brutus and Cassius? With the current state of things, I don't think so.
Will Menua face the same fate as Brutus and Cassius? With the current state of things, I don't think so.
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Hopefully, Menua is sent to the Orient as an eunuch. Barsine and Artanis seemed to do the best that they could with the hands that they had been dealt. Thank you for the update.
These later two witches were much better rulers than Sisygambis. Unfortunately, loyalty is in short supply.
Has Rome won the war yet? The new empire needs to fall eventually.
Does that Christian tale imply that the Christians in the Middle East will view the Persians as an ethnicity badly?
Will Darius gain support due to his youth? One could think that a young ruler would be easy to manipulate...
Has Rome won the war yet? The new empire needs to fall eventually.
Does that Christian tale imply that the Christians in the Middle East will view the Persians as an ethnicity badly?
Will Darius gain support due to his youth? One could think that a young ruler would be easy to manipulate...
- 1
All caught up.
I imagine Rome wasn't too pleased to hear how so many of her citizens lost their rights, and in a lot of cases were reduced to slavery during The Great Enslavement.
The reign of Sisygambis had eerie parallels to Caligula and Elizabeth Bathory. A real piece of work, for sure.
I'm continuing to enjoy this. I may even pick up the title and give it a go. Need it on sale first...
I imagine Rome wasn't too pleased to hear how so many of her citizens lost their rights, and in a lot of cases were reduced to slavery during The Great Enslavement.
The reign of Sisygambis had eerie parallels to Caligula and Elizabeth Bathory. A real piece of work, for sure.
I'm continuing to enjoy this. I may even pick up the title and give it a go. Need it on sale first...
Back on track and I must say this is aging like fine wine! Really enjoyable.
- 1
Men will put blame on the quarter least able to refute them.
Unfortunately, fate wasn't so fair and Menua would go on to continue to serve in the regency council.
The war would carry on after the death of Artanis, now led by the regency council.
As mentioned, the tale is apocryphal and not well spread around. We'll discover how Christianity spread and gained strength in the West in the next century and the pivotal role Darius played in its ascendancy. For now, he's three years old and the regency council will be making most decisions on his behalf.
The idea of nationhood and the protection of citizens in foreign countries is a more modern concept. Similar to how the Romans struck back against Germanic raiders, vengeance or retaliation occurred because the foe had the temerity to take what is 'ours'. For the Roman Emperors, reclaiming Italia was far more important than the fate of Romanised Illyrians. Slavery in antiquity was also more nuanced than the early modern chattel slavery that was prevalent in the new world. Still, it did give Rome a casus belli to fight for the oppressed Romans in the Achaemenid empire.
Do try I:R if you do find it on sale. It's a little bare compared to better supported Paradox title but it did help me bridge the gap from modern titles like CK3 and Vic3 to get into EU4.
Glad to have you back again. We have another two centuries of political drama and instability to look forward to.
- 2
The Interregnum (257 AD – 270 AD)
The Interregnum (257 AD – 270 AD)
With the death of Amastris, the generals conspired on the selection of the next Shahanshah, eager to put someone pliable and malleable on the throne. They landed on Darius, great-grandson of the Shahanshah Tissaphernes through his daughter Amastris. His claim to the throne was strong yet he was young enough for the needs of the generals. Soldiers arrived at the estate of his father in Ionia demanding the three-year-old king-designate be handed over. Darius would not see his parents or older brother again until he was an adult and fully grown into his power. The toddler Darius screamed and resisted as the soldiers ordered the eunuch attendants to pick him up. Darius’ parents said nothing when they learned that they were losing their son. As Darius wept, screaming that he did not want to leave his parents, he was forced into a palanquin that took him back to Achaemeniyya. Tiena, Darius’ wet nurse, was the only person from Ionia allowed to go with him. Upon arriving at the palace in Achaemeniyya, he was placed on the throne in tears and invested with the power of the king of kings. A new sacred fire was lit to commemorate his reign and the attendants placed the ancient sheepskin that supposedly belonged to Cyrus the Great on his shoulders.
We refer to this period as the Interregnum because while there was technically a Shahanshah on the throne, he was not able to exercise his powers or make any decisions. Instead, the regent council took full control of the machinery of government. Menua Achaemenid, the architect of the coup against Artanis would not get to enjoy the fruits of his ploy. Played out by the other plotters, he was imprisoned for ‘crimes against the throne’ and died forgotten in a cell. The regent council, technically eight positions, were led by the Databdara (chancellor) Artaxerxes Vivanid and the Royal Physician Barsaintes Achaemenid, son of Menua. Together, they controlled access to the young Shahanshah and directed imperial policy. Some speculate that it was Barsaintes who betrayed his father for his own political gain.
Their immediate concern was the Roman war. Without a royal scapegoat to pin the blame of further military disasters on, the Regent Council sough a negotiated peace with the Roman Imperator Vibius Ulpius III. They would cede the strategically important provinces of Istria in Illyria and Bruttium in Italia and acknowledge Vibius as brother Emperor to Darius, not a subject king. For the first time in their history, the Achaemenids had to treat another nation as an equal. The Romans also moved for the return of their war prisoners and slaves taken in previous wars. Both sides were suffering from the effects of the plague and Rome was aware that the Achaemenids would only accept so much humiliation before walking away from talks. Sicily, the much-desired island would remain Persian.
The council, as much credit as can be given to them, chose to integrate the subject nation of Illyria into the empire proper. The Illyrians had offered limited resistance against the Romans and the weak defences in the western Balkans had always been overrun quickly. The Argbadh, Bagoas Bagritid, oversaw the erection of new frontier fortresses in Athyinites, Kroukion, Andautanion and Praitorion. Unfortunately, the royal treasury at this point was only able to afford limited garrisons and the border would persist as a continual weakpoint.
The plague continued to wreck the economy and manpower of the empire. At the height of the outbreak, 5,000 people a day were said to be dying in Achaemeniyya. One historian has calculated that the population of Alexandria dropped from 500,000 to 190,000 during the plague. Some of the decline in the city's population was probably due to people fleeing but it’s still a mark of the severity of the outbreak. Pontius of Qart Hadasht wrote of the plague:
“Afterwards there broke out a dreadful plague, and excessive destruction of a hateful disease invaded every house in succession of the trembling populace, carrying off day by day with abrupt attack numberless people, every one from his own house. All were shuddering, fleeing, shunning the contagion, impiously exposing their own friends, as if with the exclusion of the person who was sure to die of the plague, one could exclude death itself also. There lay about the meanwhile, over the whole city, no longer bodies, but the carcasses of many, and, by the contemplation of a lot which in their turn would be theirs, demanded the pity of the passers-by for themselves. No one regarded anything besides his cruel gains. No one trembled at the remembrance of a similar event. No one did to another what he himself wished to experience.”
With economic activities halted due to the plague, tax collection suffered and the royal treasury was unable to fund the activities of the government like in the past. Tax farming, the act of selling off tax collection rights in an auction with the winner getting the right to collect taxes on behalf of the government, led to even greater depredations on the peasant and freemen. The satraps themselves, aware of the splintering politics at the centre, increasingly ignored the demands of the council, as long as they had the favour of someone in high office to shield them. A system of patronage grew during the regency decade as each member of the council developed their own spheres of influence. Private armies were paid for and factions grew increasingly polarised. The empire was starting to carve itself up from within.
To make up for the budgetary shortfall, the royal mint in Amphipolis debased the currency even further, injecting coinage to balance the spending needs. The drachm was a bronze core with a thin coating of silver and the shine quickly wore off. These coins were so debased that no one respected their value, driving people to hoard the purer coins from earlier reigns and preferring to barter for exchanges of goods. These actions further hurt taxation as wealth was hidden from royal collectors and trade taxes decreased. The military aristocracy’s demands also grew as the currency was debased. They were aware of the need to keep the soldiers on their side but the poor currency affected the buying power of the troops and mutiny was an ever-growing threat. Soon, inflation took over what the poor-quality currency precipitated. Prices increased 500% across the empire and no more mines or conquered people to exploit, the council had dug itself into a hole it could not climb out of.
Hyperinflation, tax farming and worthless money created a trifecta that effectively destroyed the economy of the empire.
Within this gap, the provinces grew restive. Ariana in Eastern Persia was the first to seek to break free. Only the presence of the Legion of Persia prevented the governor from pursuing independence. In every province, the population threatened rebellion as the throne failed in its promise to provide peace and prosperity and the threat of further breakaway states grew increasingly perilous.
As the grip from the centre weakened, client states began to break off. Shachkra the steppe confederation in Central Asia was the first to fully take charge of its own affairs but many others including Dacia, Punic Hadrametum, Arabia and Kemitic Waset began to serve up their tribute irregularly, fully aware that reprisals would be limited thanks to the effects of plague and economic disaster.
The regent council would devolve into infighting amongst themselves, each eager to defend their little kingdoms of power and infringe on the other members’ domains. It seemed almost inevitable that the empire would collapse at this point but Aspastes Achaemenid then stepped up. As Governor of Phrygia, he held one of the richest provinces and together with the support of Artantyes Bagratid, the widower of Queen Barsine, who controlled the Legion of Immortals, he declared the council traitors of the people and marched on the capital. The citizens of the capital acclaimed him Shahanshah and opened the gates of the massive Walls of Orodes for their new ruler. Many members of the council abandoned their posts to escape and those who didn’t were put to death after public show trials.
What about Darius? The young legitimate Shahanshah was shepherded out of the city by none other than Barsaintes, the son of the queen-slayer and a small retinue of loyal palace guards. They made their way covertly to the city of Sestos at the western end of the Bosphorus and pleaded with the admiral of Nava Leontophoros, Zariadres Vivanid, for help. Zariadres would aid their escape and set the entire fleet to sail to Egypt where Darius, now 15, would form a court in exile from Alexandria.
With the death of Amastris, the generals conspired on the selection of the next Shahanshah, eager to put someone pliable and malleable on the throne. They landed on Darius, great-grandson of the Shahanshah Tissaphernes through his daughter Amastris. His claim to the throne was strong yet he was young enough for the needs of the generals. Soldiers arrived at the estate of his father in Ionia demanding the three-year-old king-designate be handed over. Darius would not see his parents or older brother again until he was an adult and fully grown into his power. The toddler Darius screamed and resisted as the soldiers ordered the eunuch attendants to pick him up. Darius’ parents said nothing when they learned that they were losing their son. As Darius wept, screaming that he did not want to leave his parents, he was forced into a palanquin that took him back to Achaemeniyya. Tiena, Darius’ wet nurse, was the only person from Ionia allowed to go with him. Upon arriving at the palace in Achaemeniyya, he was placed on the throne in tears and invested with the power of the king of kings. A new sacred fire was lit to commemorate his reign and the attendants placed the ancient sheepskin that supposedly belonged to Cyrus the Great on his shoulders.
We refer to this period as the Interregnum because while there was technically a Shahanshah on the throne, he was not able to exercise his powers or make any decisions. Instead, the regent council took full control of the machinery of government. Menua Achaemenid, the architect of the coup against Artanis would not get to enjoy the fruits of his ploy. Played out by the other plotters, he was imprisoned for ‘crimes against the throne’ and died forgotten in a cell. The regent council, technically eight positions, were led by the Databdara (chancellor) Artaxerxes Vivanid and the Royal Physician Barsaintes Achaemenid, son of Menua. Together, they controlled access to the young Shahanshah and directed imperial policy. Some speculate that it was Barsaintes who betrayed his father for his own political gain.
The council, as much credit as can be given to them, chose to integrate the subject nation of Illyria into the empire proper. The Illyrians had offered limited resistance against the Romans and the weak defences in the western Balkans had always been overrun quickly. The Argbadh, Bagoas Bagritid, oversaw the erection of new frontier fortresses in Athyinites, Kroukion, Andautanion and Praitorion. Unfortunately, the royal treasury at this point was only able to afford limited garrisons and the border would persist as a continual weakpoint.
The plague continued to wreck the economy and manpower of the empire. At the height of the outbreak, 5,000 people a day were said to be dying in Achaemeniyya. One historian has calculated that the population of Alexandria dropped from 500,000 to 190,000 during the plague. Some of the decline in the city's population was probably due to people fleeing but it’s still a mark of the severity of the outbreak. Pontius of Qart Hadasht wrote of the plague:
“Afterwards there broke out a dreadful plague, and excessive destruction of a hateful disease invaded every house in succession of the trembling populace, carrying off day by day with abrupt attack numberless people, every one from his own house. All were shuddering, fleeing, shunning the contagion, impiously exposing their own friends, as if with the exclusion of the person who was sure to die of the plague, one could exclude death itself also. There lay about the meanwhile, over the whole city, no longer bodies, but the carcasses of many, and, by the contemplation of a lot which in their turn would be theirs, demanded the pity of the passers-by for themselves. No one regarded anything besides his cruel gains. No one trembled at the remembrance of a similar event. No one did to another what he himself wished to experience.”
With economic activities halted due to the plague, tax collection suffered and the royal treasury was unable to fund the activities of the government like in the past. Tax farming, the act of selling off tax collection rights in an auction with the winner getting the right to collect taxes on behalf of the government, led to even greater depredations on the peasant and freemen. The satraps themselves, aware of the splintering politics at the centre, increasingly ignored the demands of the council, as long as they had the favour of someone in high office to shield them. A system of patronage grew during the regency decade as each member of the council developed their own spheres of influence. Private armies were paid for and factions grew increasingly polarised. The empire was starting to carve itself up from within.
To make up for the budgetary shortfall, the royal mint in Amphipolis debased the currency even further, injecting coinage to balance the spending needs. The drachm was a bronze core with a thin coating of silver and the shine quickly wore off. These coins were so debased that no one respected their value, driving people to hoard the purer coins from earlier reigns and preferring to barter for exchanges of goods. These actions further hurt taxation as wealth was hidden from royal collectors and trade taxes decreased. The military aristocracy’s demands also grew as the currency was debased. They were aware of the need to keep the soldiers on their side but the poor currency affected the buying power of the troops and mutiny was an ever-growing threat. Soon, inflation took over what the poor-quality currency precipitated. Prices increased 500% across the empire and no more mines or conquered people to exploit, the council had dug itself into a hole it could not climb out of.
Hyperinflation, tax farming and worthless money created a trifecta that effectively destroyed the economy of the empire.
Within this gap, the provinces grew restive. Ariana in Eastern Persia was the first to seek to break free. Only the presence of the Legion of Persia prevented the governor from pursuing independence. In every province, the population threatened rebellion as the throne failed in its promise to provide peace and prosperity and the threat of further breakaway states grew increasingly perilous.
As the grip from the centre weakened, client states began to break off. Shachkra the steppe confederation in Central Asia was the first to fully take charge of its own affairs but many others including Dacia, Punic Hadrametum, Arabia and Kemitic Waset began to serve up their tribute irregularly, fully aware that reprisals would be limited thanks to the effects of plague and economic disaster.
The regent council would devolve into infighting amongst themselves, each eager to defend their little kingdoms of power and infringe on the other members’ domains. It seemed almost inevitable that the empire would collapse at this point but Aspastes Achaemenid then stepped up. As Governor of Phrygia, he held one of the richest provinces and together with the support of Artantyes Bagratid, the widower of Queen Barsine, who controlled the Legion of Immortals, he declared the council traitors of the people and marched on the capital. The citizens of the capital acclaimed him Shahanshah and opened the gates of the massive Walls of Orodes for their new ruler. Many members of the council abandoned their posts to escape and those who didn’t were put to death after public show trials.
What about Darius? The young legitimate Shahanshah was shepherded out of the city by none other than Barsaintes, the son of the queen-slayer and a small retinue of loyal palace guards. They made their way covertly to the city of Sestos at the western end of the Bosphorus and pleaded with the admiral of Nava Leontophoros, Zariadres Vivanid, for help. Zariadres would aid their escape and set the entire fleet to sail to Egypt where Darius, now 15, would form a court in exile from Alexandria.
- 3
- 1