Artaxerxes I (Artakhshathra I) was king of the Persian Empire from 465 BC to 424 BC. He belonged to the Achaemenid dynasty and was the successor of Xerxes I. His surname Longimanus is attributed to, according to Plutarch, "his right hand being longer than his left."^* The name is mentioned in the Bible, in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. He allowed the Jews to rebuild Jerusalem. He was followed on the throne by his son Xerxes II.

The name as given is the Greek form; the Persian form is Artakhshathra. The Biblical Hebrew form is Artakhshasta. He was later called Ardeshir.

After Persia had been defeated at Eurymedon, military action between Greece and Persia had come to a standstill. When Artaxerxes I took power, he began a new tradition of drawing off the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused the Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus. After Cimon's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens, Argos and Persia in 449.

Artaxerxes I offered Themistokles – who is the winner of the Battle of Salamis, asylum , after Themistokles was ostracized (banned) from Athens, Greece.

See also

• History of Persia

External links

• Internet Classics Archive - Artaxerxes by Plutarch

424 BC deaths | Monarchs of Persia | Pharaohs of the Achaemenid dynasty of Egypt | Achaemenid dynasty

Artaxerxes I. | Artajerjes I | Artaĥŝaŝt | اردشیر درازدست | Artaxerxès Ier | Artaxerxes I | Artaserse I di Persia | Artachsasta | Artaxerxes I av Persia | Artakserkses I | Artaxerxes I da Pérsia | Artakserkses I