Artaxerxes I (Latin; Greek Ἀρταξέρξης; corruption of
Old Persian ��������������
Artaxšacā, "whose reign is through
arta (truth)")) was king of the
Persian Empire from
465 BC to
424 BC. He was the son of
Xerxes I of Persia.
He is also surnamed μακρόχειρ "Macrocheir (Latin =Longimanus)", allegedly because his right hand was longer than his left. Via the Georgian house of
Pahlavuni, the Russian
Rurikid family
Dolgoruki claimed descent from him.
After Persia had been defeated at
Eurymedon, military action between Greece and Persia had come to a standstill. When Artaxerxes I took power, he began a new tradition of drawing off the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused the Athenians to move the treasury of the
Delian League from the island of
Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in
450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the
Battle of Cyprus. After
Cimon's failure to attain much in this expedition, the
Peace of Callias was agreed between
Athens, Argos and
Persia in 449 BC.
Artaxerxes I offered
asylum to
Themistocles, who was the winner of the
Battle of Salamis, after Themistocles was
ostracized from
Athens. 
