The Fall of the Athenian Empire-(A New History of the Peloponnesian War) Donald Kagan - (1987)

296 '!HE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
to take it from his brother after the death of Darius.,. But his ambitions
were made clear even earlier. In 406 he put to death two of his royal
cousins, nephews of the Great King, because they refused to put their
hands into their long sleeves in his presence, an honor reserved only
for the Great King." The act itself was terrible, and the parents of
the victims, Darius' sister and her husband, Hieramenes, demanded
that Cyrus be called to account. They called the murder an act of
hybris." But it was more than that. For the young prince, still in his
teens, to demand the ceremonial deference owed to the Great King
was a form of treason in a land where absolute monarchy rested so
heavily on ceremony. Cyrus, however, was not called to account,
perhaps because his father was already afflicted with the illness that
would soon take his life or perhaps because his mother's power shielded
him. 17
The young man's problems were nevertheless formidable: he must
cope with his still powerful domestic enemies, carry out his father's
orders to assist the Spartans and win the war against the Athenians,
and find a way to gain effective support for an eventual attempt at the
throne. His enemies included Tissaphernes, whose influence had declined
but was still considerable;'" his sister-in-law Stateira, who
nursed a bitter hatred until finally she was poisoned by Parysatis; 19
the parents of his murdered cousins; and his older brother, Arsaces.
Defeating the Athenians would not be an easy task. Their victories in
the straits had left them in command of the seas, powerful, and confident.
The Spartans had consistently shown themselves unable to
defeat the Athenians in naval battles, and unless they could find a way
to do so, no amount of Persian financial support could put an end to
the Athenian Empire. Cyrus must find a Spartan naval commander
14
Xen. Anab. 1. 1. 3 and passim.
15 Xen. 2.1.8--9. This passage is widely thought to be an interpolation. If it is, Lewis'
suggestion that Ctesias is its ultimate source (Sparta and Persia, 104, n. 83) is very likely.
There is no compelling reason to doubt the authenticity of the story.
16 Xen. 2, 1. 8-9.
17
lbid.; A nab. 1. 1.3.
18
Plutarch (Lys. 4.2) reports the pleasure Cyrus took in hearing the Spartans speak
ill of Tissaphernes, and Xenophon says (1.5.8-9) that he rejected his predecessor's
advice and even refused to receive the Athenian ambassadors sponsored by him. Mter
the death of Darius it was Tissaphernes who denounced Cyrus as a plotter against his
brother, now King Artaxerxes, which led to his arrest and almost to his death (Anab.
1. 1.2). Finally, Tissaphernes was a valuable ally to Artaxerxes in his war against his
brother and was rewarded with Cyrus' provinces (Xen. J.I.J).
19
Plut. Artax. 6.4-6, 19; Ctesias FGrH 688, Fr. 27, 70.