He broke faith with Pissuthnes.

He sanctioned the wholesale execution of Terituchmes' relatives.

Under him the eunuchs of the palace rose to such power that one of them actually ventured to aspire to the sovereignty.

Parysatis, his wife, one of the most cruel and malignant even of Oriental women, was in general his chosen guide and counsellor.
His severities cannot, however, in all eases be ascribed to her influence, for he was anxious that she should put the innocent Statira to death, and, when she refused, reproached her with being foolishly lenient.

In his administration of the Empire he was unsuccessful; for, if he gained some tracts of Asia Minor, he lost the entire African satrapy.