Artoxares (c. 465 BC

465 BC

Year 465 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Vibulanus and Barbatus...

 - after 419 BC

419 BC

Year 419 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Lanatus, Rutilus, Tricipitinus and Axilla...

) was a Paphlagonian eunuch

Eunuch

A eunuch is a person born male most commonly castrated, typically early enough in his life for this change to have major hormonal consequences...

, who played a central role during the reigns of Artaxerxes I and Darius II

Darius II

Darius II , was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 405 BC.Artaxerxes I, who died on December 25, 424 BC, was followed by his son Xerxes II. After a month and a half Xerxes II was murdered by his brother Secydianus or Sogdianus...

 of Persia.

According to Ctesias

Ctesias

Ctesias of Cnidus was a Greek physician and historian from Cnidus in Caria. Ctesias, who lived in the 5th century BC, was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger....

, when he was twenty years old, he participated in an embassy to the rebel satrap Megabyzus

Megabyzus

Megabyzus was a Persian general, son of Zopyrus, satrap of Babylon. His father was killed when the satrapy rebelled in 482 BC, and Megabyzus led the forces that recaptured the city, after which the statue of the god Marduk was destroyed to prevent future revolts. Megabyzus subsequently took part...

. King Artaxerxes I and the rebel reconciled c. 445 BC

445 BC

Year 445 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augurinus and Philo...

. Nevertheless, Megabyzus fell again in disgrace and was exiled to a Persian Gulf

Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...

 town. Artoxares, who had helped Megabyzus to get the favour of the king, was expelled from the court to Armenia

Armenia

Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

. It has been argued that he actually was appointed to the charge of satrap of Armenia, but it is not explicitly stated by Ctesias.

When Artaxerxes died (424 BC

424 BC

Year 424 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Tribunate of Crassus, Fidenas, Rutilus and Iullus...

), his sons Xerxes II, Sogdianus and Darius II Ochus started a civil war. As well as Arbarius, cavalry commander, and Arsames, satrap of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

, Artoxares followed Darius. When Darius defeated his brothers, Artoxares became one of the most powerful members of the court. Nevertheless, after a short time he plotted against the new king, and was executed by the order of queen Parysatis

Parysatis

Parysatis was the 5th-century BCE illegitimate daughter of Artaxerxes I, Emperor of Persia and Andia of Babylon.She was the half-sister of Xerxes II, Sogdianus and Darius II...

. Artoxares' plot took place just after the revolts of Arsites and Artyphius, and of the satrap Pissuthnes.

From the Murashu family archives from Nippur

Nippur

Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone...

, we know a certain Artahshar (Artahŝar), who has been identified with the Artoxares of the classical sources. According to this archives, the domains of Manuštånu (identified with Menostanes

Menostanes

Menostanes was a Persian prince, son of Artarius the satrap of Babylonia and thus nephew of king Artaxerxes I.Around 445 BC he commanded the Persian army against the rebel satrap Megabyzus, being defeated as was the previous commander, Usiris. The peace was signed c...

, a follower of Sogdianus) passed to Artahŝar after Darius' coronation.

Artoxares could have inspired the Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

 playwright Aristophanes

Aristophanes

Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...

for the Plaphagonian character in his play The knights.