Before ascending the throne of Persia Artaxerxes had been a satrap and commander of his father's army.^[1] Darius, Artaxerxes II's eldest son and heir, entered a conspiracy to murder his father, but the plan was leaked to the king. The royal court sentenced Darius to execution and the position of heir to the throne went to Ariaspes, a calm and popular prince. However, the co-conspirators that included Artaxerxes III, the king s third son and one of the commanders of the royal guard named Tiribazus, convinced Ariaspes of the king s suspicion about him, which led to his suicide. The old king s hopes were now directed towards his fourth son, Arsames, who was also was murdered. In 358 BC, Artaxerxes II died at the age of 94, apparemtly because of a broken heart caused by his children's unnatural behaviour, and Artaxerxes III succeeded him. His first order was the execution of over 80 of his nearest relations to secure his place as emperor.^[2][3]

In 355 BC, Artaxerxes forced Athens to conclude a peace which required the city to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies.^[4] Artaxerxes raised a campaign against the rebellious Cadusians. A successful character emerging from this campaign was Darius, who later occupied the throne as Darius III. He then ordered the dismissal of all Greek mercenaries from the satrapal armies of Asia Minor. The order proved effective and many Greek mercenaries were returned to Athens and Sparta. The order was however ignored by Artabazus of Lydia, who asked for the help of Athens in a rebellion against the king. Athens sent the assistance to Sardis. Orontes of Mysia also came to Artabazus and the joined forces managed to defeat the forces sent by Artaxerxes in 354 BC. However, in 353 BC, they were defeated by Artaxerxes army and were disbanded. Orontes was pardoned by the king, while Artabazus fled to the safety of court of Philip II of Macedon.

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