Teos

Teos (Egyptian: Djedhor) was the second pharaoh of the 30th Dynasty. Inheriting a strong and unified Egypt from his father Nectanebo I, Teos broke with the traditional defensive strategy of his predecessors. He launched an unprecedented offensive war against the Persian Empire, a bold gamble that ultimately cost him his throne.

Throne Name	Irmaatenre ("The Sun performs Justice")
Dynasty	30th Dynasty (Late Period)
Reign	362–360 BCE (Approx. 2 Years)
Capital	Sebennytos (Delta)

Teos is historically significant for shifting Egypt's military strategy from passive defense to active aggression. Believing that the Persian Empire was weakened by internal revolts, he decided that the best way to secure Egypt's borders was to strike first. He assembled a massive coalition army to invade Persian-controlled Phoenicia, marking the high-water mark of Late Period Egyptian ambition.

Around 360 BCE, Teos led his forces into the Levant. His army was a complex mix of native Egyptians and Greek mercenaries. To command this force, he hired two of the ancient world's most famous generals: Agesilaus II, the aged King of Sparta, to lead the infantry, and Chabrias of Athens to command the fleet. Teos himself served as supreme commander, a structure that would prove fatally unstable.

To pay for his expensive mercenaries and fleet, Teos implemented harsh economic measures on the advice of Chabrias. He imposed heavy taxes on the populace and, most controversially, confiscated a significant portion of the wealth and revenues of the Egyptian temples. He reduced priestly privileges and diverted temple endowments to the war effort. While militarily necessary, this act turned the powerful priesthood against him, stripping his rule of divine legitimacy.

Betrayed by his allies and family, Teos fled for his life. In a supreme irony, he sought refuge at the court of the very enemy he had set out to destroy: Artaxerxes II of Persia. The Persian king granted him asylum, eager to use him as a pawn against the new regime in Egypt. Teos likely died in exile in Susa, a king who had everything and lost it all in a single gamble.

Teos ruled for only two years, but his impact was profound. His failure demonstrated the dangers of overreliance on foreign mercenaries and the fatal error of alienating the Egyptian priesthood. His downfall paved the way for Nectanebo II, the last native pharaoh, who would spend his reign desperately trying to defend Egypt with the resources Teos had depleted.

King	Strategy	Outcome
Nectanebo I	Defensive Fortification	Successfully Repelled Persia
Teos	Offensive War	Internal Revolt & Exile
Nectanebo II	Desperate Defense	Final Persian Conquest