It is said that the Jews initially greeted the Persians as liberators. According to biblical account, Cyrus sent the Jewish exiles back to Israel from the Babylonian captivity.[9] Although the Jews never rebelled against the Persian occupation,[10] they were restive under the period of Darius I consolidating his rule,[11] and under Artaxerxes I of Persia,[12][13] without taking up arms, or reprisals being exacted from the Persian government.