Thus Persia in a few years seemed to regain the widespread power which she had lost since the accession of Artaxerxes II, and Ochus ranked as high in the minds of his contemporaries as her great conquerors, Cyrus, Cambyses, and Darius. But Ochus himself was only an oriental despot of the common type. His empire still had the appearance of strength, but the races, strangers to each other, and with difficulty suppressed by the satraps, inclined more and more to detachment from him, and already some of the governments of the previous century only existed in name. In the north towards the sources of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Halys, there was nothing but a confused mass of kingdoms and tribes, of which some like the Armenians still recognised the suzerainty of the Persians, and others, like the Chalybes and the Tibareni retained their independence. The kings of Bithynia, Paphlagonia, and Pontus still paid tribute in an intermittent fashion; but the Mysians, Pisidians, Lycaonians, had ceased payment. The countries beyond the Tigris were in the same disorder. The Cadusians, the Amardians, and the Tapuri, protected by the mountains of the Caspian Sea, withstood every effort to dislodge them. India and the Sacæ had passed from the state of subjects to that of friendly allies, and the savage hordes of Gedrosia and Paropamisus rebelled against all authority. During the dismemberment of the empire the order of administration, so cleverly organised by Darius, was broken by the feebleness of his mercenaries. Not only had the custom of annually sending inspectors to the provinces become a mere formality, which was often omitted, but the distinction between the civil and military power had disappeared. The officer who commanded the troops nearly always filled the post of governor and united several satrapies under one rule.
The army and revenue were still, in spite of everything, the greatest in the world, but, if the darics had retained their value, the battalions had lost in strength. The old powers of the Persians, Medes, and Bactrians, and other races of Iran, were doubtless undiminished, but nobody troubled to make them conversant with the progress made during the century in military tactics. Their contingents were only heavy, undisciplined companies, easy to conquer in spite of the incontestable bravery of the individuals composing them; so, as their training would have taken a long time, it was better to add to their ranks mercenaries at a great price.
Since the time of Artaxerxes II the Greeks formed the kernel of the Persian forces; and the armies of the Great King were commanded by Hellenic generals of the school of Agesilaus, Iphicrates, Epaminondas, and the best tacticians of the time.
The fleets were placed under Greek admirals, and the cruel Ochus entirely owed his victories to this preponderance of European command, and the fact was so well known beyond the Ægean Sea that the question was openly discussed there.
If the decadence of the empire was sudden, the fault did not lie with the people. The Persians had remained as they were at the beginning, sober, honest, and intrepid, but the dynasty had degenerated to an irrecoverable degree. The early Achæmenidæ had themselves ruled all the affairs of the state; then, the campaign in Greece having disgusted Xerxes with militant royalty, he shut himself up in his harem and left the perilous honour of fighting to his generals, and the care of administration to the eunuch Aspamithres. This custom, once established, was followed by his successors, and the sovereigns now rarely intervened in the conduct of military operations. Neither Artaxerxes I nor Darius Nothus appeared on the field of battle, and Artaxerxes II only took part in two of the wars which embittered his long reign. Ochus, who had seemed to wish to recover the traditional power of the founders of the empire, returned to Susa after his victories in Syria and Egypt, and the life of the princes was passed in the midst of the intrigues and crimes of the harem. Brought up by women and eunuchs, and surrounded from infancy with pomp and luxury, they soon wearied of thinking and acting, and mechanically fell under the direction of their familiars. The sanguinary Parysatis reigned under the name of her husband, Darius Nothus, and her son, Artaxerxes II; and Bagoas influenced Ochus for nearly six years, and his power was certainly beneficial to the country.
THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE
[338-330 B.C.]
Macedonia, which had long remained unconcerned with the general movement, now began to take part in the Hellenic concert. Bagoas saw the danger of letting her take the ascendant, and form a union of all the forces hitherto scattered in Greece. He therefore supported all the enemies of Philip.
Unfortunately, whilst Bagoas was working to prevent the perils menacing the empire, his rivals at Susa lowered him in the esteem of his master, and their intrigues left him no alternative but to strike or die. He therefore poisoned Ochus, gave the throne to Arses, the youngest son of the king, and assassinated all the other children. Egypt was delighted at the news, and saw in the tragic fate of her conqueror a notable revenge of the gods he had outraged.
Arses was at first only a weak tool in the hands of his master, but when years gave him a taste for independence he became impatient at his subjection; so Bagoas sacrificed him to his own safety as he had Ochus. So many successive murders had so completely exhausted the Achæmenian family that he was at loss for a moment to know where to find a king; but he finally decided in favour of one of his friends, Codomannus, who, according to some, was the great-grandson of Darius II, and according to others, was not of royal descent. Codomannus took, on his accession, the name of Darius. Being brave, generous, clement, and desirous of doing well he was superior to the kings who had preceded him, and he deserved to have reigned before the empire was so enfeebled.