Parysatis

Parysatis (; , ; 5th-century BC) was a Persian queen, consort of Darius II and had a large influence during the reign of Artaxerxes II. Biography Parysatis was the daughter of Emperor Artaxerxes I of Persia and Andia of Babylon. She was the half-sister of Xerxes II, Sogdianus, and Darius II. She married her half-brother Darius II and had 13 sons, of which four survived to adulthood: Artaxerxes II, Cyrus the Younger, Ostanes, and Oxathres. and one daughter - Amestris. Influence at the Persian Court Parysatis was very powerful and had a network of spies and informants. Ctesias, who was her physician, mentions in his books how she would identify and order the execution of various people who were a threat to the throne. Parysatis was very savvy and succeeded in assisting Darius II's ascent to the throne, even though he was a bastard and not a legitimate child. Ctesias records that he was very dependent on her counsel. In addition, she is mentioned to have held a lot of land and villages in Syria, Media and Babylon. There also remains a record of the taxes paid directly to her and to Ea-bullissu, the servant who was in charge of managing her holdings and tax collections.