Sanchuniathon
Berossus, Abydenus, Nicolaus of Damascus, Alexander Polyhistor, Eupolemus, Thallus,
Ctesias, Diodorus Siculus, Castor of Rhodes, Herodotus, Marcus Velleius Paterculus
Manetho, Artapanus, Diodorus Siculus, Chaeremon of Alexandria
Manetho copied down from the ancient Egyptian inscriptions a list of eight successive Persian kings, beginning with Cambyses, the son of Cyrus the Great, at the request of Ptolemy Philadelphus (266 BCE – 228 BCE).
- Cambyses (Artaxerxes) b. Cyrus = reigned over Persia, his own kingdom, for 5 years, and over Egypt for 6 years.
- Darius (II), the son of Hystaspes = reigned 36 years.
- Xerxes (Artaxerxes), the Great, b. Darius = reigned 21 years.
- Artabanus = reigned 7 months.
- Artaxerxes (Cyrus) b. Xerxes the Great = reigned 41 years.
- Xerxes = reigned 2 months.
- Sogdianus = reigned 7 months.
- Darius (III), the son of Xerxes = reigned 19 years.
Between Cambyses' reign and Darius, the son of Hystaspes, there was an interim period whereby the Magi ruled over Persia. This important anecdote is supplied by Herodotus who wrote the Magian ruled Persia for 7 months after the death of Cambyses. Josephus, on the other hand, says they obtained the government of the Persians for a year.
Menander of Ephesus
Megasthenes, Cleitarchus
Hanno the Navigator
