Artaxerxes II (r. 404–358 BCE), longest-reigning Achaemenid, kept a knife-edge empire whole with patience, gold, and shrewd diplomacy. First came the revolt of Cyrus the Younger at Cunaxa; the throne held. He rebuilt Persian leverage in the Aegean—Pharnabazus and Conon shattered Sparta at Cnidus and restored Athens’ Long Walls—then imposed the King’s Peace, making Greek cities accept the Great King’s terms. Satraps rose and Egypt slipped away, but he replied with settlements and the steady pressure of the treasury, preferring endurance to spectacle. Under him the mechanisms of empire—tribute, roads, fleets—kept in motion. As King of Diamonds he embodies wealth as policy: sovereignty that buys time, outlasts storms, and governs by the quiet strength of resources ordered to rule.