All the characters on the cylinder are unnamed, thus making difficult to identify at least the two main figures.
The Hermitage Museum indeed does not give any identification, yet it dates the seal to the late 5th–early 4th century BCE.


Nevertheless, several attempts to identify at least the Achaemenid ruler were made.
In 1903, Gaston Maspero suggested that the scene depicts Darius the Great dealing with some rebels.
In 1979, Muhammad Dandamayev opted for Artaxerxes II.
In 1992, Shapur Shahbazi suggested without certainty that the ruler could have been "Artaxerxes (III?)".

An almost identical scene appears on another chalcedony cylinder, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc.
No.
1999.325.114), but with an earlier dating (6th–5th century BCE).
Also in this case, there are no inscriptions that could help in identifying the characters.
All the characters on the cylinder are unnamed, thus making difficult to identify at least the two main figures. The Hermitage Museum indeed does not give any identification, yet it dates the seal to the late 5th–early 4th century BCE.

Nevertheless, several attempts to identify at least the Achaemenid ruler were made. In 1903, Gaston Maspero suggested that the scene depicts Darius the Great dealing with some rebels. In 1979, Muhammad Dandamayev opted for Artaxerxes II. In 1992, Shapur Shahbazi suggested without certainty that the ruler could have been "Artaxerxes (III?)".
An almost identical scene appears on another chalcedony cylinder, held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Acc. No. 1999.325.114), but with an earlier dating (6th–5th century BCE). Also in this case, there are no inscriptions that could help in identifying the characters.
Persian king and the defeated enemies