The Building Halted, and the Kings of Persia

Meanwhile the Jews who, as we said above, had returned to their homeland by permission of Cyrus tried to restore their city and temple. But they were few and poor and made little progress, until at last, after about a hundred years, while King Artaxerxes ruled over the Persians, they were stopped from building altogether by those who held local authority. For at that time Syria and all Judea were governed under the Persian Empire by magistrates and governors. These officials agreed to write to King Artaxerxes that the Jews should not be given the chance to rebuild their city, for fear that, being stubborn by character and used to ruling other nations, they would regain their strength and refuse to live under a foreign power. The king approved the officials’ plan, and the building of the city was stopped and put off until the second year of King Darius. [a]

But here we will set down who the kings of Persia were throughout this period, so that the succession of dates may be laid out in a regular and fixed order. Well, then: after Darius the Mede, who, as we said above, reigned eighteen years, Cyrus held supreme power for thirty-one years. He fell in battle while making war on the Scythians, in the second year after Tarquinius Superbus began to reign at Rome. Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who reigned eight years. After harassing Egypt and Ethiopia with war and subduing them, he came back to Persia a victor, but he wounded himself by accident and died of the wound. After his death two brothers, magi and Medes by nation, ruled over the Persians for seven months. Seven of the noblest Persians formed a conspiracy to kill them. Their leader was Darius the son of Hystaspes, a cousin of Cyrus, and by common consent the kingdom was given to him. He reigned thirty-six years.

Four years before his death he fought at Marathon, in a battle much celebrated in both Greek and Roman history. That was about the two hundred and sixtieth year after the founding of Rome, when Macerinus and Augurinus were consuls, that is, eight hundred and eighty-eight years ago, if the research I have made into the succession of Roman consuls does not deceive me; for I have worked out the whole reckoning down to the time of Stilicho. After Darius came Xerxes, who is said to have reigned twenty-one years, though I have found his reign set down in most copies at twenty-five years. He was succeeded by Artaxerxes, whom we mentioned above. Because Artaxerxes ordered the building of the Jewish city and temple to stop, the work was suspended until the second year of King Darius. But to complete the succession of dates up to that Darius, I must state that Artaxerxes reigned forty-one years, Xerxes two months, and after him Sogdianus ruled for seven months.