Search

[German version] (Old Persian ḫšaçapāvan-, 'protector of the kingdom/dynasty', Elamic šá-ak-šá-ba-ma, Akkadian aḫšadrapanu, Imperial Aramaic ḥšatrapan, Greek usually σατράπης/ satrápēs [9]; Latin satrapa, -es, satraps). Title of a Persian-Achaemenid (seminal: [3]), later also Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanid provincial governor (Parthian ḥštrp / ḫšahrap/; Middle Persian štrp / šahrap/). The title appears first in the Bīsutūn inscription of Darius [1] I [11. DB III 14.56], where it denotes two appointees of the new king in Bactria and Arachosi…

In the narrower sense, the term S. designates the members of the Iranian dynasty of the descendants of Sāsān; in the broader sense, it designates the inhabitants of the Sassanid Empire or its political elite (3rd-7th cents. AD). [German version] I. Evidence Among the written sources (discussion and literature in [25. 153-164, 283-287]; cf. also [1; 6; 27]), the contemporary indigenous evidence should have priority, esp.: a) the inscriptions, some multilingual, of kings and dignitaries (of the 3rd cent. AD) of Persis, the ancestral homel…

(Μεγαβάζος; Megabázos). Name of several distinguished Persians. [German version] [1] Commander under Dareius [1] I. Commander under Darius [1] I, father of Oebares (Hdt. 6,33) and of Bubares (7,22). After his Scythian campaign in 513, the king left him in Europe to conquer Thrace (Hdt. 5,2). M. subjugated all the inhabitants of the Hellespont, Perinthus (5,2), and Thrace (ibid.) who were not already subjected to the Persians (Hdt. 4,144), as well as the Paeonians (5,15). He accomplished the subjugation of the Macedonian king Amyntas [1] through envoys (Hdt. 5,17f.; Iust. 7,3,7). Wiese…

(Κυαξάρης, ancient Persian Uvaxštra-, etymology uncertain). [German version] [1] Median king of the 7th or 6th cent. BC Median ‘king’ of the 7th/6th cents. BC. In the Median lógos of Herodotus (Hdt. 1,73f.; 103-107) C. appears as τύραννος/ týrannos or βασιλεύς/ basileús of the Medes, as the son of  Phraortes, grandson of  Deioces and father of  Astyages. During his 40-year reign, he is said -- after a Scythian interregnum -- to have conquered the Assyrians and to have fought against Alyattes of Lydia (probably for possession of Cappado…

(Στάτειρα/ Státeira; Latin Statira). [German version] [1] Wife of Artaxerxes [2] II, c. 400 BC Daughter of Hydarnes, sister of Terituchmes and wife of Artaxerxes [2] II (Ktesias FGrH 688 F 15), who was beloved by the people (Plut. Artaxerxes 5,6). She was poisoned by the queen mother Parysatis [1] (Deinon FGrH 690 F 15b). In Chariton's novel S. fights Callirhoe for the love of the Great King, recognises her beauty and is rescued by Callirhoe from imprisonment in Egypt. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Sister of Darius [3] III, 4th cent. BC Wife and sister of Darius [3] III…

(Ὑστάσπης; Hystáspēs, ancient Persian/Avestian Vi/īštāspa-, ‘with untied horses (for the race)’). Name of various Iranian personalities. [German version] [1] Patron of Zarathustra As kauui- (Kavi, prince) the decisive patron of Zarathustra ( Zoroaster [4. 13,100]); son of Auruuaṯ.aspa-, husband of Hutaosā. In the Graeco-Roman world oft-used and quoted ‘Oracles’, which were concerned with the last things, went around under his name; cf. most recently [1. 376-381]. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Arsames Son of Arsames (ancient Persian Aršāma-), grands…

[German version] (Γλῶς/ Glôs, Diod. Sic. 14,19,6; Γλοῦς/ Gloûs, Xen. An. 2,1,3). Son of the ‘Egyptian’ Tamos of Memphis (probably the Carian Tamos, born in Memphis), marched with Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II in 401 BC and after Cyrus' death defected to the other side (Xen. An. 1,4,16; 1,5,7; 2,1,3; 2,4,24). As commander of the fleet and son-in-law of the satrap  Tiribazus, G. organized the grain transport from Cilicia in the war against Evagoras of Salamis and defeated him in 381 …

(Middle Persian ērān, genitive plural of ēr, in Ērān-šahr, ‘land of the  Aryans/Iranians’ < Middle Persian ēr, Sassanid inscriptions and Paḫlavī literature of the 9th cent. AD < Old Iranian * arya-, Old Persian ariya-, Avestan airya-). [German version] I. History of the term Although ariya- in itself carries ethnical meaning (the Achaemenids referred to themselves as ariya- ‘Aryan’ or respectively ariyaciça-, respectively ‘of Aryan descent’), the term I. (or respectively Ērān-šahr) as an ethical, religious, and political concept is an early Sassanid creation. Under…

[German version] The term iuvenes, although also related to adults or non-junior teams, usually refers to the Roman or Italian youth of military training or serving age. The organizations of the iuventutes existing in the late Republican period in Italy that were originally military and later rather paramilitary or pre-military were revitalized by Augustus in the context of his reorganization of the aristocratic youth; later they had the character of an association. There is evidence of such   collegia in Italy ( collegia iuvenum) and in the western provinces ( collegia iuventutis) pa…

[German version] (Συέννεσις/ Syénnesis). Term for indigenous Cilician dynasts with their centre at Tarsus (Xen. An. 1,2,23). According to Hdt. 1,74, one S. is supposed to have mediated the accord between the Lydians and the Medes; in the war between Croesus and Cyrus [2], Cilicia was on the Persian side (Hdt. 1,28). Another S. took part in Xerxes's campaign against Hellas (Hdt. 7,98; Aesch. Pers. 326-328). It is generally assumed that the duplicity of the third known S., the husband of Epyaxa, duri…

[German version] (Τισσαφέρνης/ Tissaphérnēs). Son of Hydarnes [4], grandson of Hydarnes [1]. After the removal of the rebellious satrap Pissuthnes T. became a satrap in 413 BC in Sardis and a káranos (Thuc. 8,5,4: stratēgòs tôn kátō, 'army leader of the lands on the coast') in the west of Asia Minor. As such he concluded a subsidy treaty with Sparta against Athens in 412 BC; in return Sparta entrusted the Greeks of western Asia Minor to the Great King (Thuc. 1,115,4; 8,5,4 f.; 8,17 f.; 8,43; 8,52 and 8,58; renewal of the treaty in…

[German version] ( Sīmǎ Qiān). C. 145 - c. 85 BC, author of the first Chinese dynastic history, the Shǐjì, which contains, primarily in chapter 123, important information on central Asia and Iran (e.g. on the decline of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom and characteristics of the Parthian Empire). S. was born in Longmen (modern province of Shanxi, near Chang'an, the capital of the time). After early travels through the whole Empire he later held office at the court of the Han emperor Wu (140-87 BC) as court astrologer a…

[German version] (Περσίς/ Persís, Str. 15,3,1, etc.; Old Persian Pārsa). Region in Southwest Iran, which (as Anshan) belonged to the kingdom of Elam and was later the home of the dynasty of the Achaemenids [2] and Sāssānids (see below). Greek and Roman authors as well as Arab geographers divided P. into different geographical and climatic zones: the hot and infertile coastal region (with ports), the rugged, cold and inhospitable mountain region and the highly fertile region of well-watered valleys (Curt. 5,4,5-9; Str. 15,3,1; Arr. I…

(Ἐλυμαῖοι; Elymaîoi). [German version] [1] Inhabitants of the Elymais Inhabitants of the  Elymais, described by ancient authors mainly as mountain dwellers or rather, in a military context, as mounted archers (cf. i.a. App. Syr. 32; Str. 16,1,17; Liv. 37,40,9). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Inhabitants of the Elburz region According to Pol. 5,44,9 neighbours to the inhabitants of  Media Atropatene in the Elburz region along the south-western corner of the Caspian Sea. Plut. Pompeius 36 reports of a ‘king of the Elymaei and Medes…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Achaemenids | Alexander | Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states (τὰ Ζαδρακάρτα/ tà Zadrakárta; Arr. Anab. 3,23,6; 25,1). Largest city and fortified Achaemenid residence in Hyrcania, whose precise location is not certain (Sārī?, Qale Ḫandān?). Alexander [4] the Great passed through Z. while pursuing Bessus in 331 BC. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Μύκοι; Mýkoi). Ethnic group in the Persian empire (Hdt. 3,93; 7,68; Hecat. FGrH 1 F 289) who, together with the Sagartii, Sarangae, Thamanaei, Utii and the island inhabitants of the Persian Gulf, were classed as belonging to the 14th nomos by Herodotus. It is probably correct to assume that they were  the inhabitants of the regions on both sides of the strait of Hormūz, corresponding to the Maciyā, i.e. the inhabitants of Maka, known from Achaemenid inscriptions and reliefs as well as the fortification and treasury ta…

[German version] The peoples of ancient India and ancient Iran, who spoke Aryan languages referred to themselves as A. (cf. Old Indo-Aryan árya-, Iranian arya-; etymology disputed). In the 19th cent. the until then purely linguistic terms A./Aryan were for a time used synonymously with Indo-Europeans/Indo-Germanic and in this way came to be used in anthropology and ethnology, which in the Nazi era perverted them with an anti-Semitic bias into the positive counterpart of Jews/Jewish. Linguistic and religious-historical reasons support the belief that the A. were an ori…

[German version] (Ἐλυμαίς; Elymaís). Greek name of a region in south-west Iran ( Ḫūzestān) within the territory of the ancient empire of  Elam. Originally probably mainly used for the mountainous Baḫtı̄ārı̄ region (in contrast with the Susiana plains), the term increasingly also included the expanding territory of the Hellenistic-Parthian ‘kingdom’ of E. [1. 39-45; 2. 3-8]. E./Susiana was one of the political and economic core regions of the Achaemenid and Seleucid empires; however, for the actual E., it is to be expected that some special forms of…

[German version] Indian name of the kings of the so-called Indo-Parthian dynasty, which is primarily known because of its coins. Gondophares, who ended the rule of the Shaka in Arachosia (Arachosia) and ultimately probably also in Gandhara (Gandaritis), is regarded as the founder of the dynasty. The inscriptions from Taḫt-i Bahī from the 26th year of this king established his rule quite precisely as from AD 20 to 46. In keeping with this, the apostle Thomas is said to have met Gondophares on his j…

[German version] (ἡ Ῥάγα/ hē Rhága: Str. 11,13,6; ἡ Ῥάγη/ hē Rhágē: Tobit 6,10; Ῥάγοι/ Rhágoi: Tobit 1,14 et alibi; (αἱ) Ῥάγαι/ (hai) Rhágai: Str. 11,9,1; Arr. Anab. 3,20,2 etc.). City (and district with a large population) of eastern Media, today an expanse of ruins south of Tehran. In the district of (Old Persian) Ragā (Elamic Rakka, Babylonian Raga), Darius [1] I captured the Median rebel Fravarti (Phraortes [3]) in 521 ([3. DB II 70 ff.]). In the summer of 330, Alexander [4] the Great rested his troops in R. for five days while in pursuit of Dariu…