Achaemenids
Xerxes II
خشایارشای دوم
- Reign
- 424/423 BCE, 45 days (per Ctesias)
- Dynasty
- Achaemenids
- Persian page
- فارسی
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Xerxes II: forty-five days
The only legitimate son of Artaxerxes I by Queen Damaspia, who took the throne on his father’s death and, according to Ctesias, after 45 days was killed drunk in the palace by his half-brother Sogdianus. No Babylonian or Iranian document of him survives; the whole story is from Ctesias and is flagged as such.
- days of reign (Ctesias)
- 45
- Babylonian documents in his name
- 0
Map: the succession of 424 BCE
Administration & economywinter 424/423 BCE1 of 2
The queen’s son on the throne
Artaxerxes I and Queen Damaspia died on the same day and Xerxes, the only legitimate son, became king (Ctesias). His parents’ bodies were taken to Persis.
Certainty: DisputedCtesias is almost the only source and no Babylonian document knows either king; the order and length of the reigns come from him.
Sources: Ctesias of Cnidus (via Photius’ epitome), c. 390 BCE; tr. J. H. Freese 1920 · H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Encyclopaedia Iranica, 1994
BattleCampaignBuildingAdministration & economyReligionArrow keys, Home/End and Space work.
Three separate layers
Each section has three layers: “Historical evidence” is only what the sources say; “Philosophical interpretation” is our reading by the standard of property and liberty; “Modern cultural meaning”. Quotations come only from published translations, with references.
Historical evidencePhilosophical interpretationModern cultural meaning
Dossier · 1
A king the documents do not know
Ctesias says Xerxes II reigned 45 days, Diodorus one year. But in Babylon’s business documents, which dated every contract by the king’s year, Darius II follows Artaxerxes I directly (Stolper 1983; Iranica, “Darius II”). Either his reign was never recognised in Babylonia, or the struggle took place in Darius’ first months.
When the contract-dating knows only one king, the registry is better evidence of real power than the court story.
A legal system that dates contracts by a steady calendar carries on through political turmoil; the security of property need not depend on the stability of the palace.
Sources: Ctesias of Cnidus (via Photius’ epitome) · Diodorus Siculus, tr. C. H. Oldfather / C. B. Welles · M. W. Stolper · H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Encyclopaedia Iranica
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Succession without a rule
Artaxerxes I had one son by the queen and at least seventeen by other women (Ctesias). Three of them, Xerxes, Sogdianus and Ochus (Darius II), fought over the throne within less than a year.
Power held as personal property is not inherited but seized.
A constitution that fixes the succession in advance protects everyone’s life and property, not only the princes’.
Sources: Ctesias of Cnidus (via Photius’ epitome) · P. Briant
Synthesis
Xerxes II is less a king than a name in Ctesias’ story. What is secure is that the throne changed hands in 424–423 and Babylon’s documents either did not know or chose not to record it.
Bibliography
- Ctesias of Cnidus (via Photius’ epitome), Persica, §§ 44–64 (c. 390 BCE; tr. J. H. Freese 1920). A Greek physician at the court of Artaxerxes II; full of court romance and unreliable, but almost the only source for the successions of 424–423.
- Diodorus Siculus, tr. C. H. Oldfather / C. B. Welles, Library of History, books 12–17 (Loeb) (1946–1963). A 1st-century BCE historian; his dates are sometimes displaced.
- M. W. Stolper, The death of Artaxerxes I, Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran 16 (1983).
- H. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, Encyclopaedia Iranica, Darius iv. Darius II (1994). https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/darius-iv/
- P. Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire (2002).
- A. Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period (2007).
Artaxerxes I, his fatherSogdianus, his killerDarius IIThe Achaemenid dynasty