Cambyses II


Cambyses II was the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 530 to 522 BC. He was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great and his mother was Cassandane.
Before his accession, Cambyses had briefly served as the governor of northern Babylonia under his father from April 539 BC to December 538 BC. Afterwards, he continued to roam in the Babylonian cities of Babylon and Sippar, before being appointed by his father as co-ruler in 530 BC, who set off to mount an expedition against the Massagetae of Central Asia, where he met his end. Cambyses thus became the sole ruler of the vast Achaemenid Empire, facing no noticeable opposition.
His relatively brief reign was marked by his conquests in Africa, notably Egypt, which he conquered after his victory over the Egyptian pharaoh Psamtik III at the battle of Pelusium in 525 BC. After having established himself in Egypt, he expanded his holdings in Africa even further, such as his conquest of Cyrenaica. In the spring of 522 BC, Cambyses hurriedly left Egypt to deal with a rebellion in Persia.
While en route in Syria, he received a wound to the thigh, which was soon affected by gangrene. Cambyses died three weeks later at a location called Agbatana, which is most likely the modern city of Hama. He died childless, and was thus succeeded by his younger brother Bardiya, who ruled for a short period before being overthrown by Darius the Great, who went on to increase the power of the Achaemenids even further.

Etymology

The origins of the name of "Cambyses" is disputed in scholarship; according to some scholars, the name is of Elamite origin, whilst others associate it with Kambojas, an Iranian people who inhabited northwestern India. The name of Cambyses is known in other languages as; Elamite Kanbuziya; Akkadian Kambuziya; Aramaic Kanbūzī.

Background

Cambyses was the eldest son of Cyrus the Great and Cassandane. Cambyses had a younger brother named Bardiya, and three sisters named Artystone, Atossa and Roxane. Cambyses' paternal grandfather was his namesake Cambyses I, the king of Persis from 600 to 559 BC. The family was descended from a line of rulers of Persian tribes, who starting with Cyrus, expanded their reach over Persis, subjugating the Median Empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Lydia and Central Asia, thus establishing the Achaemenid Empire,

Early life

In April 539 BC, Cambyses was appointed by his father as the governor of the northern part of Babylonia, including its city Babylon, whilst the central and southern part continued to be directly supervised by Cyrus and his bureaucrats. Before his appointment, Cambyses had taken part in the ritual that was arbitrary for the king at the regular New Year festival on 27 March 538 BC, where he received the royal sceptre in Esagila, a temple dedicated to the god Marduk. His governorship, however, lasted only 9 months, when Cyrus had dismissed him from the post in December 538 BC for unknown reasons. After his dismissal, Cambyses continued to reside in the Babylonian cities of Babylon and Sippar the majority of his time.
According to Babylonian records, both Cambyses and Cyrus carried the title of "King of Babylon, King of the lands" in 538/7 BC, which indicates that Cyrus had appointed him as co-ruler some years before his campaign against the Massagetae. Cyrus' younger son, Bardiya, was given his own powerful realm in Central Asia, which was exempted to pay tribute. Cambyses reportedly took part in the expedition against the Massagetae, but due to being the heir of the throne, he was sent back to Persia, before Cyrus fell to the Massagetae. Cambyses had his father's body carried to Pasargadae in Persis, where he was buried in a tomb that had been prepared for him earlier.

Military campaigns

Preparations against Egypt and the conquest of Cyprus

Cambyses' accession to the Achaemenid throne was relatively smooth. Ruling over a vast but young empire, Cambyses was to preserve his authority over the subjugated lands, but also expand his dominion over Egypt, the last prominent power in the Near East. According to the French Iranologist Pierre Briant, "this must not be seen as a more or less irrational and uncontrollable desire to take over the entire inhabited world." On the contrary, Cambyses' plan was in reality already planned by his father, who wanted to unify Babylonia with the lands of the Trans-Euphrates. This meant that it would eventually demand the conquest of the lands that was situated between the Euphrates and the Nile river, and therefore made it necessary for conflict with Egypt, a kingdom, that had prior, and also lately, shown aspirations in the area.
The incumbent pharaoh of Egypt was Amasis II, who had been ruling since 570. His ally, Polycrates, a Greek ruler of Samos, posed a considerable threat to the Achaemenids, launching several raids that jeopardized Achaemenid authority. However, Polycrates eventually forsook his Egyptian allies, and reached out to Cambyses, whose plans he was well acquainted with. His sudden change of alliances was undoubtly due to his uneasy position, with the Spartans raising a force against him, and the rising hostility of some of the Samian aristocrats, who preferred partnership with Egypt. Another former ally of Amasis II, the Carian military leader Phanes of Halicarnassus, had also joined Cambyses after escaping assassins sent by the pharaoh. Cambyses, before starting his expedition into Egypt, had seized Cyprus from Amasis II, which was reportedly a heavy blow to the latter.

Conquest of Egypt and its surroundings

By 526 BC, Amasis II had died, and his son Psamtik III had succeeded him, thus weakening Egypt's position. In the meantime, Cambyses had made substantial preparations for his army. He had essentially laid the foundations to the Persian navy, which was crucial to his ambitions to conquer Egypt. The navy was created by men and equipment from Phoenicia and Asia Minor. During his march to Egypt, Cambyses made a treaty with the Arabs, who controlled the desert area between Gaza and the Egyptian frontier. This treaty granted Cambyses sufficient water to arrive to the Nile. This also paved the way for Cambyses to extend his authority over the unsubdued lands between Egypt and Persia, including Gaza, a prominent commercial region, which equalled that of Sardis in Lydia. The region served as the headquarters of the Persian expedition into Egypt.
In 525 BC, Cambyses finally invaded Egypt; in the spring of the same year, the Persian and Egyptian forces clashed at Pelusium, where the Persians emerged victorious. The forces of Cambyses shortly laid siege to Memphis, where Psamtik III and his men had fortified themselves. Despite the considerable resistance put by the pharaoh, Cambyses captured Memphis, and established a Persian-Egyptian garrison there. The length of the siege is not specified by the 5th-century BC Greek historian Herodotus. Regardless, by summer, all of Egypt was under Persian suzerainty. Cambyses now adopted the aspirations of the last pharaohs towards the west and south.

Further conquests

The Libyans, and soon the Greeks of Cyrene and Barca as well, willingly acknowledged the authority of Cambyses, and as proof of their submission, sent offerings to Cambyses. As a demonstration of his generosity, Cambyses had Amasis II's Greek widow returned to Cyrene. Cambyses originally intended to make an expedition against the Phonenician state of Carthage, but it was ultimately called off due to his Phoenician subjects' reluctance to make war against their own kind. In the south, Cambyses, followed the same policy of the last pharaohs to keep the Kingdom of Kush in check, and had a garrison established at Elephantine.
According to Herodotus, Cambyses' campaigns against Amnion and Ethiopia ended catastrophically. He states that the reason behind this defeat was the "madness" of Cambyses, who "at once began his march against Ethiopia, without any orders for the provision of supplies, and without for a moment considering the fact that he was to take his men to the ends of the earth". However, according to Briant, "the deliberate bias against Cambyses raises doubts about the accuracy of Herodotus's version." Herodotus' statement is contradicted by other sources that does not suggest a catastrophe for his forces, even though the obstacles of the campaign possibly compelled Cambyses to withdraw. Archaeological proof indicates that the Achaemenids made use of the stronghold of Dorginarti throughout their history.

Policies in Egypt

In accordance with the traditional Egyptian royal custom, Cambyses took the titles of "king of Upper and Lower Egypt" and "descendant of Ra, Horus, Osiris," used by the previous Egyptian pharaohs. Cambyses used propaganda to show his Egyptian conquest as a legitimate unification with the native Egyptians, and that he was himself of Egyptian descent, claiming to be the son of Princess Nitetis, a daughter of the pharaoh Apries. At Sais, Cambyses had himself crowned in the temple of the goddess Neith under a religious ritual, where he made sacrifices to the Egyptian gods.
According to ancient historians, Cambyses' rule of Egypt was marked by brutality, looting temples, ridiculing the local gods, and defilement of the royal tombs. Historians such as Herodotus put an emphasis on Cambyses' supposed killing of the Egyptian sacred bull Apis. However, no looting of temples has been reported by contemporary Egyptian sources. In addition, Cambyses is said to have ordered the burial of an Apis in a sarcophagus. The successor of the Apis died in 518 BC, four years after Cambyses had already died.
The epitaph of the Apis buried in 524 BC, states the following:
A legend on the sarcophagus also says the following:
This thus debunks Cambyses' supposed killing of the Apis, and according to Briant, proves that Herodotus documented bogus reports. On the contrary, Cambyses took part in the preservation and burial ceremony of an Apis. Other similar sources also makes mention of Cambyses' careful treatment towards Egyptian culture and religion. According to the Egyptian Demotic Chronicle, Cambyses decreased the immense income that the Egyptian temples received from the Egyptian pharaohs. Only the three main temples were given permission to maintain all their entitlements. This caused the Egyptian priests that had lost their entitlements to circulate spurious stories about Cambyses. The issue with the temples dated back to the earlier pharaohs, who had also tried to reduce the economic authority of the temples. This issue would carry on throughout the history of ancient Egypt. Like Cyrus in Babylon, Cambyses allowed the Egyptian nobility to maintain their jurisdiction.

Administration

Although a tax system existed both during the reign of both Cyrus and Cambyses, it was not a systematic one, and thus the subjects of the king were either obligated to give gifts, or pay taxes. Like under his father, Cambyses' satraps were all of Persian stock: Gubaru in Babylonia-Trans-Euphrates: Aryandes in Egypt: Oroetes in Sardis, Mitrobates in Dascylium, Dadarsi in Bactria, and Vivana in Arachosia. Likewise, the imperial treasurer in Babylon, Mithradata, was also from a Persian family. Indeed, the retinue of Cambyses in Egypt was composed solely of Persians. The most notable of these Persians were relatives of the king himself, such as his cousin Darius, who occupied high offices under Cyrus and Cambyses, serving as a spear-bearer under the latter. Darius' father, Hystaspes, served as the governor of Parthia and Hyrcania, or at least held a prominent role there. Important offices centered around the king was also occupied by the Persians, as in the case of Prexaspes, who served as the "message-bearer" of Cambyses, and Sisamnes, who was the royal judge, and later executed by Cambyses.

Personality

According to Herodotus, Cambyses was labelled "despot" by the Persians due to being "half-mad, cruel, and insolent". However, this is part of the Persian and Egyptian propaganda used against Cambyses. Indeed, due to Cambyses' proneness to consolidate authority by himself, the Persian tribal nobility were antagonistic towards him.

Marriages

In Achaemenid Persia, marriages between family members, such as half-siblings, nieces, and cousins took place, however, they were not seen as incestuous. Greek sources, however, state that allegedly brother-sister and father-daughter marriages took place inside the royal family, yet it remains problematic to measure their accuracy. According to Herodotus, Cambyses supposedly married two of his sisters, Atossa and Roxane. This was seen as an illegal action. However, Herodotus himself also states that Cambyses married Otanes' daughter Phaidyme, whilst his contemporary Ctesias names Roxane as Cambyses' wife, but she is not labelled as his sister.
The accusations against of Cambyses of committing incest is mentioned as part of his "blasphemous actions", which were mentioned to point out his "madness and vanity". These reports all derive from the same Egyptian source that was antagonistic towards Cambyses, and some of these "crimes", such as the killing of the Apis bull, have been confirmed as fake, which thus makes the report of Cambyses' supposed incestious acts questionable.

Death and succession

In the spring of 522 BC, Cambyses hurriedly left Egypt to deal with a rebellion in Persia. Before he left the country, he made it into a satrapy under the governorship of the Persian Aryandes.
However Cambyses died shortly after under disputed circumstances. By most accounts, while Cambyses was en route in Syria, he received a wound to the thigh, which was soon affected by gangrene. Cambyses died three weeks later at a location called Agbatana, which is most likely the modern city of Hama. He died childless, and was succeeded by his younger brother Bardiya. According to Darius, who was Cambyses' lance-bearer at the time, he decided that success was impossible, and died by his own hand in 522 BC. Herodotus and Ctesias ascribe his death to an accident. Ctesias writes that Cambyses, despondent from the loss of family members, stabbed himself in the thigh while working with a piece of wood, and died eleven days later from the wound. Herodotus' story is that while mounting his horse, the tip of Cambyses' scabbard broke and his sword pierced his thigh. Some modern historians suspect that Cambyses was assassinated, either by Darius as the first step to usurping the empire for himself, or by supporters of Bardiya.
At the time of Cambyses' death, the Achaemenid Empire was stronger than ever, reaching from Cyrenaica to the Hindu Kush, and from the Syr Darya to the Persian Gulf.