thnes. He sanctioned the wholesale
execution of Terituchmes' relatives. Under him the eunuchs of the palace
rose to such power that one of them actually ventured to aspire to the
sovereignty. Parysatis, his wife, one of the most cruel and malignant
even of Oriental women, was in general his chosen guide and counsellor.
His severities cannot, however, in all eases be ascribed to her
influence, for he was anxious that she should put the innocent Statira
to death, and, when she refused, reproached her with being foolishly
lenient. In his administration of the Empire he was unsuccessful; for,
if he gained some tracts of Asia Minor, he lost the entire African
satrapy. Under him we trace a growing relaxation of the checks by which
the great officers of the state were intended to have been held
under restraint. Satraps came to be practically uncontrolled in their
provinces, and the dangerous custom arose of allowing sons to succeed,
almost as a matter of course, to the governments of their fathers.
Powers unduly large were lodged in the hands of a single officer, and
actions, that should have brought down upon their perpetrators sharp
and signal punishment, were timorously or negligently condoned by the
supreme authority. Cunning and treachery were made the weapons wherewith
Persia contended with her enemies. Manly habits were laid aside, and the
nation learned to trust more and more to the swords of mercenaries.

Shortly before the death of Darius there seems to have been a doubt
raised as to the succession. Parysatis, who preferred her second son to
her first-born, imagined that her influence was sufficient to induce her
husband to nominate Cyrus, instead of Arsaces, to succeed him; and Cyrus
is said to have himself expected to be preferred above his brother. He
had the claim, if claim it can be called, that he was the first son
born to his father after he became king; but his main dependence was
doubtless on his mother. Darius, however, proved less facile in his
dying moments than he had been during most of his life, and declined
to set aside the rights of the eldest son on the frivolous pretence
suggested to him. His own feelings may have inclined him towards
Arsaces, who resembled him far more than Cyrus did in character; and
Cyrus, moreover, had recently offended him, and been summoned to court,
to answer a very serious charge. Arsaces, therefore, was nominated, and
took the name of Artaxerxes--as one of a king who had re