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[German version] (Παρθία/ Parthía Plut. Antonius 55; Παρθυαία/ Parthyaía Pol. 5,44,4; Str. 11,9,1; Παρθυηνή/ Parthyēnḗ, distinct from the Parthian Empire Pol. 10,28,7; Str. 11,9,1; Ancient Persian Par θ ava-). Territory south east of the Caspian Sea, bonded to the west by Media, in the north west by Hyrcania, in the east by Margiana (by the Parthian territory of Apauarktikene/Apavortene) and Areia [1]. P.'s geography is dictated by two chains of mountains, the Kopet Dag to the north (along the modern frontier between Iran and Turkmenistan) and the Bīnālū…

[German version] (Τιρίβαζος/ Tiríbazos), Achaemenid satrap in Armenia, who rescued Artaxerxes [2] II at Cunaxa (in 401 BC) and allowed the Greek mercenaries free passage (Xen. Anab. 4,4,4 f.; 18; Plut. Artaxerxes 7 and 10; Diod. Sic. 14,27,7). As káranos (governor-general of the western satrapies) in Asia Minor (and probably also satrap in Sardeis), in 392 BC he referred Athenian and Spartan envoys to the great king, helped Antalcidas construct a fleet and captured Conon [1] (Xen. Hell. 4,8,12 ff.; Diod. Sic. 14,85,4). Temporari…

(Πνυταγόρας; Pnytagóras). [German version] [1] Greek politician from Cyprus Son of Evagoras [1] of Salamis in Cyprus. P. helped his father in the rebellion against the Persians and after the sea battle of  Citium (381 BC) defended Salamis (Isoc. or. 9,62; Diod. 15,4), which was under siege. Father and son are supposed to have had relations with the daughter of Nicocreon [1], and both were murdered by the eunuch Thrasydaeus  (Theop. FGrH 115 F 103,12; Aristot. Pol. 5,1311b 4ff.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography F.G. Maier, Cyprus and Phoenicia, in: CAH 6, 21994, 297-336. …

[German version] (Γῆλαι / Gēlai, Str. 11,5,1, cf. 11,7,1; 11,8,1; Γηλύς / Gēlýs, Steph. Byz. s.v. Γ.; Γηλοί / Gēloí, Dionys. Per. 1019 [GGM II, 167]). Median tribe of Scythian origins, first mentioned by Strabo (according to Theophanes of Mytilene), who inhabited the south-western shores of the Caspian Sea. Some ancient authors (Plin. HN 6,48; Ptol. 6,2,5) identified them with the  Cadusii. The tribe's name lives on in the region's (or rather the Sassanid province's) modern name of Gı̄lān (middle Persian Gēlān). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography R. Gyselen, La géographie a…

[German version] (Μασίστιος; Masístios). According to Hdt. 7,79, son of Siromitres, a Persian cavalry commander killed at Plataeae in 479 BC (Hdt. 9,20-22; Plut. Aristides 14; Diod. Sic. 11,30,4). The Athenians dedicated the armour of the ‘Persian most highly regarded after Mardonius by king and people’ (Hdt. 9,24) to Athena Polias (Paus. 1,27,1). Persian Wars Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

(also Μεγάβυξος/ Megábyxos, Hdt. Μεγάβυζος/ Megábyzos < Old Persian Bagabuxša, Elamite Ba-ka-bu-uk-šá). [German version] [1] Distinguished Persian, conspirator against Gaumata Distinguished Persian, son of Dātūvahya (according to Hdt. 3,153 father of Zopyrus), He conspired with Darius [1] I against Gaumāta/Smerdis ([2. DB IV 85], Hdt. 3,70 passim). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Zopyrus, commander under Xerxes According to Hdt. son of Zopyrus (and hence grandson of M. [1]). Commander under Xerxes in his Greek campaign (Hdt. 7,82; 1…

[German version] ( Iṣṭaxr, modern Taxt-i Ṭāʾūs). Site of ancient ruins located in Persis (Fārs) on the road from Iṣfahān to Shīrāz, at  Naqš-e Rostam; having been populated since prehistoric times, a fire sanctuary for  Anāhitā - according to Arabic tradition - was subsequently located there (archaeological investigations cannot prove this); Sāsān, the eponym of the  Sassanid Dynasty, is supposed to have been its priest. Inscriptions, finds of coins, seal legends, and literary accounts clearly show th…

[German version] ('Old Šīrāz', modern Mādar-e Sulaimān), 7 km south-east of Šīrāz (Fars); essentially a late Sāssānid and early Islamic complex (5th-9th cents.). Three Achaemenid stone portals, which aroused great attention from travellers as early as the 19th cent., proved to be parts of the palace of Darius in Persepolis which had been brought to Q. to decorate much later buildings (they have since been returned to their original place). In the Achaemenid era, Q. is probably to be identified with th…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Hellenistic states | Hellenistic states (Φράασπα/ Phráaspa: Steph. Byz.; Φράατα/ Phráata: Plut. Antonius 38,2; Πράασπα/ Práaspa: Cass. Dio 49, 25,3; identical to Οὐέρα/ Ouéra = Vera: Str. 11,13,3). Probably a citadel in the city of Gaza(ka) in Media Atropatene (near modern Laylān on Lake Urmia?), Antony's [I 9] base in the Parthian campaign in 36 BC; not identical to Šīs. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. Schottky, Media Atropatene und Groß-Armenien in hellenistischer Zeit, 1989, Index s.v.

[German version] (Ὠρεῖται/ Ōreîtai, also Ὦροι/ Ôroi). Not an Indian ethnic group (cf. Arr. Ind. 21,8; 22,10; 25,2; incorrectly  Arr. Anab. 6,21,3) but probably an Iranian ethnic group with the centre at Rhambakeia (Arr. Anab. 6,21,5; probably close to modern Las Bela) in the modern Pakistani province of Baluchistan. According to Arr. Anab. 6,21,3, the O. lived fully autonomously before Alexander [4] the Great subjugated them in 325 BC and placed them under the control of the satrap Apollophanes. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography P.H.L. Eggermont, Alexander's Campaigns in Si…

[German version] A place in the Iranian province of Īlām near the Iraqi border, named after Šīrīn (Shirin), the Christian wife of the Sassanid Ḫusrau II (Chosroes [6]; 591-628). In the Islamic period, Q. was an important town on the trading and pilgrimage route from Hamadān to Baghdad. On the eastern edge of the city a large fire sanctuary (?) (Çahār Tāq) is located, and north of it, on an 8 m high terrace, a palace complex attributed to Ḫusrau II (Imārat-e Ḫusrau), 370 × 190 m in size. The entire complex should be pictured as part of a park ( parádeisos ) in Antiquity. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) B…

[German version] (Παραιτακηνή/ Paraitakēnḗ; inhabitants: Παρητακηνοί/ Par ētakēnoí, among others Hdt. 1,101 and Παραιτάκαι/ Paraitálai, Arr. Anab. 3,19,2). Mountainous area in western Iran, enclosed in the north and east by Media, Areia [1] and Carmania and in the south-west by Susiana. Str. describes the Paraitakēnoí as marauding mountain people (15,3,12). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] (Καρδοῦχοι; Kardoûchoi). First mentioned by Xenophon (Xen. An. 3,5,15 and passim), a mountain people living in the northernmost foothills of the  Zagrus, the Καρδούχεια ὄρη (Diod. Sic. 14,27,4). Xenophon describes the C. as living in villages and cultivating the fields, growing wine and raising cattle, as well as doing craftwork. He particularly emphasizes their military significance as archers and catapult shooters. Whilst in the Greek reports it is mainly the (‘natural’) aggression of the…

[German version] A. The conception of childhood and attitude towards the child In antiquity, numerous terms for the child (in literature, legal language etc.) distinguish stages of childhood (βρέφος/ bréphos, παιδίον/ paidíon, παῖς/ paîs; Lat. infans, puer), stress the different significance of the child to each of its parents ( pais/ téknon) or the child's unfitness to be held guilty or responsible before the law ( infans, impuber); some of these terms possess a broad spectrum of meaning [6. 12-22]. In the dichotomy of childhood and adulthood as observed in both Greece an…

[German version] (Σισύγαμβις/ Sisýgambis, in Diodorus mostly Σισύγγαμβρις/ Sisýngambris). Daughter of Ostanes, a brother of Artaxerxes [2] II, sister and wife of Arsames [2] (Diod. Sic.17,5,5), as well as the mother of Darius [3] III. In 333 BC, after the battle of Issus she fell into the hands of Alexander [4] the Great (Arr. Anab. 2,11,9; Plut. Alexander 21; Curt. 3,11,24) and was treated with deference by him (cf. her rescue of the rebellious Uxians: Curt. 5,3,12 ff.). She stayed behind with Prince O…

[German version] (Ὑρκανία; Hyrkanía < old Persian varkāna-, ‘Wolf's Land’; middle Persian gurgān). Historically and geographically important region of Iran (inhabitants: Ὑρκάνιοι, Ὑρκανοί, Hyrcani) on the south-east corner of the Caspian Sea (Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 291: Ὑρκανίη θάλασσα); it is shielded in the south and south-east by the eastern wing of the Elburz mountains and opens up to the north-east to the Aralo-Caspian steppe. It was favoured climatically as well as naturally by the precipitation raining down on th…

[German version] Border territory of Media, opposite Parthyene east of the Caspian Gates (the modern territory of Dāmghān). Although it had already been lost for a period to the Seleucids before the eastern campaign ( anábasis) of  Antiochus [5] III, it did not finally fall to the Parthians (along with its central town of  Hecatompylus) until the 2nd cent. BC (cf. Str. 11,9,1). In the late Sassanid period the province ( šahr) Kōmiš, which incidentally was probably never a Christian diocese [1], separated the provinces of Gurgān and Ray. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 R. Gysel…

[German version] Fertile and densely settled area in Sogdiana, mentioned only in Curt. 8,2,14 as "bordering Scythia." The location and region are today identified with Erkurgan and its surrounding area near Karshi in the plain of the River Qashqadaryo in Uzbekistan. At the approach of Alexander [4]  the Great in the winter of 329/8 BC the inhabitants of X. expelled the Bactrians (Bactria) that had defected from the Macedonians and sought refuge in their land. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 F. Grenet, Zoroastre au Badakhshân, in: Studia Iranica 31, 2002, 193-214 2 C. Rapin, …

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon | Alexander Large village (κώμη μεγάλη, probably modern Tall Gōmil near Ǧabal Maqlūb, 35 km north-east of Mosul) on the river Bumelos in northern Mesopotamia (Arr. Anab. 6,11,6), near which (cf. Arr. Anab. 3,8,7) the battle between  Alexander [4] the Great and  Darius [3] III took place on 1 October 331 (Arr. Anab. 3,11-15; Curt. 4,13,26-16; Plut. Alexander 31-33; Diod. Sic. 17,56-61; Iust. 11,14). After Alexander stalled a flanking manoe…

[German version] Region in north-western Iran, in Neo-Assyrian records referred to as KUR Ma-da-a-a. The borders of M. changed in the course of history and cannot be defined exactly in geographical terms; its political centre was Ecbatana. In historical times, the ethnolinguistic classification of M.'s predominant inhabitants was Iranian ( Medes). More or less neglected by classical Greek records, the geography of M. gained importance in the Western mind from the Alexandrian period. Polybius praised the stra…

[German version] (Ὀροίτης; Oroítēs). Persian governor in Sardeis who (according to Hdt. 3,120ff.) had Polycrates [1] enticed from Samos to Magnesia and crucified. When O. refused to assist Darius [1] I after the death of Cambyses [2], Darius had him disposed of (according to Herodotus, through a command from the royal envoy Bagaeus to the O.'s bodyguard). From the entourage of O., the physician Democedes came to the Persian court. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography P. Briant, Histoire de l'Empire perse: de Cyrus à Alexandre, 1996, s.v. Oroites

[German version] The term life expectancy (LE) is used in historical demography and population sociology to indicate how many years a person of a certain age has left to live under the mortality conditions in a specific society. It must be noted that this term in no way indicates the average age of death, and that the LE of a person changes significantly over the course of his or her life. In societies before the demographic transition (transition to a low birth and mortality rate), due to high mo…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Κούναξα; Koúnaxa). City on the left shore of the Euphrates river mentioned only by Plut. Artaxerxes 8,2. In its vicinity,  Cyrus [3] the Younger lost the battle and his life against his brother  Artaxerxes [2] II in the autumn of 401 BC. According to Plut., the city was 500 stadia away from Babylon, but according to Xen. An. 2,2,6, the distance was 360. Thus, until today the city's location cannot be clearly ascertained (Tell Kuneise?). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography H. Gasche, Autour des Dix Mille: Vest…

[German version] In Ionian Greek Matiene (Ματιανή/ Matianḗ, Ματιηνή/ Matiēnḗ), its inhabitants are Matieni (Ματιηνοί; Matiēnoí). According to Hdt. 5,49; 52 a region east of Armenia and the sources of the Little Zab river (Zabatus), according to Hdt. 1,202 also of the Gyndes and the Araxes [2] (contra: Strab. 11, 14, 13). M. was part of Media according to Strab. 2,1,14; 11,7,2; 11,8,8 and Steph. Byz. s.v. M., while according to Strab. 11,13,2; 7 it may have extended from the southern shore of Lake Urmia to the …

[German version] (Μῆδοι, Mêdoi, Old Persian Māda, Lat. Medi). Ethnolinguistically, the population is defined as western Iranian, and their north-west Iranian language is only indirectly documented in loan words and names in secondary transmission (Achaemenid royal inscriptions, Neo-Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian cuneiform texts) from the 9th cent. BC onwards. The Medes were first mentioned in 835 BC in the annals of Salmanassar III as enemies of the Assyrians. The Median tribes were apparently only linked …

[German version] Rock crevice with four Sāssānid reliefs (and  inscriptions) 3 km north-east of Persepolis in Persis. The reliefs show Šābuhr I (Sapor) with his entourage (with Middle Persian-Parthian-Greek inscription [1. ŠNRb]), the bust of the Zoroastrian ‘priest ’Karter ( Kirdīr, with Middle Persian inscription [2. KNRb]) , as well as the respective investitures of Ardaxšīr (Ardashir [1]) und Šābuhr I. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. Beck, Die sassanidischen Staatsinschriften, 1978 2 Ph. Gignoux, Les quatre inscriptions du mage Kirdīr, 1991.

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Xenophon (Σιττάκη/ Sittákē, cf. Hecat. FGrH 1 F 285). City in and eponym of the region of Sittacene (in Mesopotamia), later called Apolloniatis. Antiochus [5] III won a victory over the rebellious Molon [1] there in 220 BC (Pol. 5,53,2 ff.) and established his own administrative district. In the Parthian Period the border between Apolloniatis and Babylonia ran near Seleucia [1] (Isidorus from Charax, Stathmoí Parthikoí 2). If Xen. An. 2,4,13 and 2,4,25 confused S. and Opis [3] (modern Tulūl al-Muǧaili), S. would probabl…

[German version] (Hidrieus; Ἱδριεύς/ Hidrieús); son of  Hecatomnus and younger brother of  Maussolus, together with his sister and wife Ada satrap of Caria between 351 and 344. In the 340s I. helped Artaxerxes III to put down the Cypriot uprising against Persia and provided Evagoras II and Phocion of Athens with ships and troops (Diod. Sic. 16,42,6f.). He was honoured in Ionic Erythrae as euergetes (‘benefactor’) and proxenos (‘guest/friend of the state’), (SEG 31,969); dedication to I. in  Labraunda (Labraunda 16) and Amyzon (OGIS 235). I. and Ada are also do…

[German version] (Μεγάπανος; Megápanos). According to Hdt. 7,62 commander-in-chief of the Hyrcanians on Xerxes' Greek campaign, latter allegedly governor of Babylon, perhaps identical to the Bakabana of the PFT [1. 672]. A Ba-ga-a-pa- appears in Babylonian texts as satrap of Babylonia and Ebir Nāri or governor of Babylon, albeit for the year 503 BC. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 R. T. Hallock, Persepolis Fortification Tablets [PFT], 1969 2 A. Kuhrt, Babylonia from Cyrus to Xerxes, in: CAH2, vol. 4, 1988, 131, 136.

(Ὀτάνης/ Otánēs, Ancient Persian Utāna). [German version] [1] Son of Thuxra Son of Θuxra [2nd DB IV 83], one of the accomplices of Darius [1] I in the murder of Gaumāta (Smerdis). According to Hdt. 3,68-70, who gives Pharnaspes as O's father, O was even the instigator of the plot. Through his sister Cassandane (Hdt. 2,1; 3,2), O was brother-in-law of Cyrus [2] (II), and through his daughter Phaedyme father-in-law of Cambyses II, Smerdis and Darius (Hdt. 3,68). His influential status may also have secured t…

[German version] Several risings of Persian satraps against the central authority of the Great Kings are documented, esp. in the late 5th and 4th cents. BC (e.g. Megabyzus [2], Pissuthnes, Amorges, Cyrus [3] the Younger), but the term SR usually refers to the main phase (late 360s, called 'Great' by Diod. Sic. 15,90 ff, esp. 93,1) of the revolts against Artaxerxes [2] II (370s-350s). According to this source, it was characterized by joint action ( koinopragía) among numerous satraps (and peoples) of Asia Minor, support of these by the Egyptian Tachos and by the Sparta…

(Πρηξάσπης/ Prēxáspēs). [German version] [1] Prominent Persian Prominent Persian, who (according to Hdt. 3,30; 65) at the behest of king Cambyses [2] disposed of the king's brother Smerdis (Bardiya [1]). Although loyal to the demented king, after his death P. denied murdering Smerdis, but ultimately revealed before the assembled Persians the usurpation by the Magi (Patizeithes), called for their overthrow and committed suicide (Hdt. 3,66 ff.; 74 ff.). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Son of Aspathines Son of Aspathines, the 'bow-carrier' of Darius [1] I (a…

[German version] Gorge midway between Ramhor, Hormuz and Behbahan in ancient  Elymais (region in southwestern Iran), where rock reliefs (some with Elymaean inscriptions) were carved on four stone blocks in the 2nd/3rd cents. AD. Some of the reliefs show the dynasts Abar-Basi and Orodes with dependants and dignitaries in rites of legitimization or rulership (in the presence of deities and divine symbols), and on Block III a cavalry battle (with minor characters) is depicted. The identification of t…

[German version] (Ζαρανίς/Ζανιρίς; Zaranis/Zaniris). Not accurately locatable township, mentioned only in Ptol. 6,2,13, in the interior of Media (cf. Zonbis in Amm. Marc. 23,6,39). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography M. G. Schmidt, Die Nebenüberlieferung des 6. Buchs der Geographika des Ptolemaios, 1999, 25 f.

[German version] I. Issue and method Little research has yet been done into the complex of themes comprising the history of youth in Antiquity, except for individual problems such as the terminology of youth, the education of young people and youth organizations. What is especially needed is more gender-specific and class-specific studies, and more individual studies differentiated according to time and place. The focus of recent studies has been on the issue of whether 'adolescence' was perceived as …

[German version] I. General Before the so-called ‘demographic transition’ with its change to lower birth and death rates, societies generally  have high natality and mortality, especially infant mortality and concomitant low average life expectancy for new-born babies. This must have been the same in Antiquity, although less is known about Greece than about the Imperium Romanum. Modern scholarship assumes an ancient life expectancy of c. 20-25 years. According to modern mortality table ‘West, level 3 - often used for comparison with Rome - a ‘stable populatio…

[German version] (Ὀρόβαζος/ Oróbazos). Envoy of the Parthian king Mithridates [13] II who met Cornelius [I 90] Sulla, the proconsular governor of Cilicia, in AD 96 (Plut. Sulla 5,4) in order to offer him 'friendship and an alliance' (Liv. epitome 70; Rufius Festus 15,2; Flor. Epit. 3,12). He is said to have subsequently paid with his life for his inadequate resistance to the humiliating behaviour of the Roman (Plut. Sulla 5,4). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel)

[German version] Exposure of children (Greek έκθεσις/ ékthesis; Lat. expositio/ oblatio), which must be clearly distinguished from infanticide, is to be seen as a method of ancient family planning. The decision whether to expose an infant lay with the head of the family: in Greece -- with the exception of Sparta, where the phyle elders (των φυλετῶν οί πρεσβύτατοι) examined newly born infants either to order or to forbid that they be raised -- this was the κύριος/  kýrios ; in Rome the pater familias. Demographic theories regarding the frequency of infant exposure are not unprob…

(Ῥωξάνη/ Rhōxánē). [German version] [1] Wife of Cambyses [2] II Wife of Cambyses [2] II (Ctesias FGrH 688 F 13). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Daughter of Hydarnes Daughter of Hydarnes, half-sister of Terituchmes, fell victim with her whole family to the vengeance of Parysatis [1] (Ctesias FGrH 688 F 15) because Terituchmes had turned away from his wife Amestris and devoted himself to R. Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [3] Daughter of Darius [3] III According to Julius Valerius 2,33 among others, daughter of Darius [3] III who in 332 offered her…

(Πάρθοι/ Párthoi, Hdt. 3,93 i.a.; Παρθυαῖοι/ Parthyaîoi Pol. 10,31,15; App. Syr. 65 i.a.; Latin Parthi, Just. Epit. 41,1,1 et passim. In a narrower sense a term for the inhabitants of the province of Parthia and/or the Parni, who invaded Parthia, and in a wider sense the inhabitants of the Arsacid Empire (Arsaces) or their political elite. [German version] I. Evidence In the written tradition (for a discussion of the evidence and literature concerning it see [21]; see also [19. 117-129, 276-278]) on the Parthians, contemporary indigenous sources take pre…

[German version] (Ὀρξίνης/ Orxínēs, Curtius: Orsines). Rich Persian, descendant of Cyrus [2] II, fought at Gaugamela, and in 326 BC, in the absence of Alexander [4] the Great, made himself satrap of Persis. When he attempted to have his position confirmed at a later stage, he was executed by Alexander, having been accused of killing numerous people, defiling temples and robbing the royal tombs (Arr. Anab. 3,8,5; 6,29,2; 30,1f.; Curt. 4,12,8; 10,1,24.37). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography J. Wiesehöfer, Die “dunklen Jahrhunderte” der Persis, 1994, s.v. O.

[German version] Chinese author of a dynastic history that contains i.a. information on the geography of the Parthian empire and on contacts between the Parthians and the Chinese. Born AD 398 into a family of Chinese imperial officials, F. himself held the posts of administrative district officer and general in the imperial guard. Implicated in a conspiracy under emperor Wen (Sung Dyn.), he was executed in AD 446, which prevented the completion of his 100-chapter ‘History of the later Han Dynasty (AD 25-220)’, Hou Hanshu (10 chs. ‘basic annals’, benji of emperors and empresses, 80 b…

[German version] (Ρωδάσπης; Rhōdáspēs). Son of the Parthian king  Phraates [4] IV. In order to secure the royal succession of Phraates [5] V, his father sent him in 10/9 BC, with other sons and grandsons, to Augustus in Rome (R. Gest. div. Aug. 32; Str. 16,1,28; Vell. Pat. 2,94,4; Tac. Ann. 2,1,2; Suet. Aug. 21,3; 43,4) where he died (tomb inscription: ILS 842). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 E. Nedergaard, The Four Sons of Phraates IV in Rome, in: Acta Hyperborea 1, 1988, 102-115 2 K.-H. Ziegler, Die Beziehungen zwischen Rom und dem Partherreich, 1964, 51 f.

[German version] (Σακαραῦκαι/ Sakaraûkai; on the name [2. 68]). A people originally living on the borders of Transoxiana, regarded by Str. 11,8,2 ( cf. Just. Epit. prol. 41), together with the Asii, Pasiani and Tochari, among the conquerors of Bactria (in the 2nd cent. BC). After Parthian kings had already been forced at the end of the 2nd cent. BC into conflict with nomadic peoples on the eastern border of the empire, in 78/77 BC the S. even succeeded in placing Sanatruces [1] on the Parthian throne, an Arsacid acce…

(Γωβρύας; Gōbrýas, Akkadian Gu/Gú-ba/bar-ru( -u; Elamite Kam-bar-ma, ancient Persian Gaubaruva-). Name of various Achaemenid dignitaries. [German version] [1] Governor of Cyrus the Gr. ‘Governor’ of Cyrus the Great known from the Nabonidus Chronicle (3,20 [4]) who after the conquest of Babylonia appointed administrative officials there. Presumably identical to Ugbaru, the ‘Governor of Gutium’ mentioned in 3,15 who captured Babylon for the Persian king and died there a few days after Cyrus' arrival. In this case it i…

[German version] (νέοι; néoi). In ancient Greece, the term neoi, which was also used unspecifically (‘the young’ vs. ‘the old’, gérontes/γέροντες), as a technical term described an age group or a group of young men organized as an association: neoi were the young men over 18 who had grown out of puberty, with the boundary between neoi and ἄνδρες ( ándres/men) often remaining undefined; in poleis with the ephebeia ( ephēbeía ; Athens) they followed the paídes (Child) and éphēboi by age and, therefore, belonged to the citizens with military service obligations; Xenophon cons…

[German version] River, mentioned only in Plin. HN 6,99, which flowed into the Persian Gulf. Presumably identical to the Or(o)atis, named in Plin. HN 6,111; 136 as the border river between Persis and Elymais (cf. Ptol. 6,3,1; 6,4,1 f.: Oroátis; Amm. Marc. 23,6,26: Oroates; modern Šūr Āb) or the Arosis, described in Arr. Ind. 39,9 as the border between the Persians and the Susians (modern Zohre/Hendīǧān). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) Bibliography 1 M. G. Schmidt, Die Nebenüberlieferung des 6. Buchs der 'Geographie' des Ptolemaios, 1999, 25 f.

(Σατιβαρζάνης; Satibarzánēs). [German version] [1] Chamberlain of Artaxerxes [1] I 'Eunuch'/chamberlain in the entourage of Artaxerxes [1] I (Plut. Artaxerxes 12,4. Plut. Mor. 173e; Ktes. FGrH 688 F 30). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Satrap of Areia, 4th cent. BC Persian satrap of Areia [1], fought in the battle of Gaugamela on the left flank (Arr. Anab. 3,8,4), follower of Bessus and one of the assassins of Darius [3] III (Arr. Anab. 3,21,9 f.). He surrendered in 330 to Alexander  [4] the Great (Arr. Anab. 3,25,1 f.; …

[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).…