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[German version] (Μιθροπάστης; Mithropástēs). Son of the satrap Arsites of Phrygia Minor. M. fled from Darius III (Darius [3]) to the island of Ogyris (modern Maṣīra) in the Red Sea before 330 BC, and from there to Mazenes, on the isle of Oaracta (modern Kism) in the Persian Gulf. When Nearchus [2] landed there in 325/4, they both joined him. M. then participated in the subsequent journey across the Persian Gulf, during which he informed Nearchus about the island of Ogyris, which he had visited (Nearchus, FGrH 133 F 27; 28). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography H. Schiwek, Der Persisc…

[German version] Name of an Iranian noble family [1], attested from the 1st cent. BC (Plut. Crassus 21 et passim) until the 9th cent. AD [2]. The S. crowned the Parthian kings and served as commanders-in-chief under the Arsacids and Sassanids. It remains unclear whether the S. owned estates in Sacastane and thereby had family connections with the Indo-Parthian dynasty (as in [3]). Abdagaeses; Sinnaces Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography 1 R. Schmitt, Sûrên aber Kârin. Zu den Namen zweier Parthergeschlechter, in: Münchner Studien zur Sprachwissenschaft 42, 1983, 197-205 2 W.…

[German version] A pro-Roman king of Iberia [1] who was expelled in AD 368/9 by Sapor [2] II (Amm. Marc. 27,12,4). In 370, Valens [2] had S. brought back by Terentius [II 1], and Aspacures, S.' pro-Persian cousin, arranged for the territory along the Cyrus [5] to be divided between them, so S. received only the part bordering on Armenia and the Lazi (Amm. Marc. 27,12,16 f.). This arrangement was approved by the emperor but aroused the anger of the great king, who wanted to maintain the rule of his…

[German version] Parthian noble from the house of Suren, who in AD 36 supported the counter-king  Tiridates against  Artabanus [5] II and after Tiridates' failure fled to Syria (Tac. Ann. 6,31 and passim). Whether he is identical to the homonymous troop leader of Artabanus (Ios. Ant. Iud. 18,9,4) is just as uncertain as his possible relation to the Indo-Parthian King Abdagases (1st cent. AD). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) Bibliography E. Herzfeld, in: AMI 4, 1932, 75 ff. M. Karras-Klapproth, Prosopographische Studien zur Gesch. des Partherreiches, 1988 J. Markwart, in: ZDMG 49…

The name of several kings of Osroene in the era from 94 BC to AD 244. Worthy of notice are: [German version] [1] II. Ariamnes bar Abgar (68-53 BC) A. II Ariamnes bar Abgar, reigned 68-53 BC. He was accused by the Romans of having caused the catastrophe of Crassus. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [2] V Ukkāmā (the Black) (4BC to 50 AD) A. V Ukkāmā (the Black), 4 BC - AD 7 and AD 13-50; played a dubious role in the Parthian struggle for the throne between Gotarzes II and Meherdates. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [3] VIII, the Great (77-212 AD) A. VIII, the Great, 177-21…

[German version] (Μιθρήνης; Mithrḗnēs). Eminent Persian, who surrendered the castle of Sardis to  Alexander [4] the Great in 334 BC (Arr. Anab. 1,17,3f.; Diod. Sic. 17,21,7: Mithrínēs; Dion Chrys. 73,2: Mithránēs). After having accepted him as an honoured member of his retinue and having used him in diplomatic service (Curt. 3,12,6), Alexander appointed him satrap of Armenia, which had not yet been conquered (Arr. Anab. 3,16,5; Diod. Sic. 17,64,6; Curt. 5,1,44 and 8,12), in 331/330. However, the Orontides (Orontes IV), of wh…

[German version] [1] C.I. Sassanid king since 488 AD Sassanid king from AD 488, son of  Perozes. After he had first played individual powerful families off against each other, he supported the social-religious movement of  Mazdac in order to destroy the power of the aristocracy. This led in 496 to a conspiracy of the Zarathustrian clergy with the higher nobility, in the course of which C.'s brother Zamasphes was elevated to the throne whilst he himself disappeared in the ‘castle of oblivion’. C. managed…

[German version] (Ἀσποῦργος; Aspoûrgos). Although this Bosporan king is unknown to literary sources, his reign can be attested for AD 10/11-38/9. A. was therefore the (direct?) successor to his mother  Dynamis, who reigned until AD 7/8. The name of his father is given in inscriptions as Ἀσάνδροχος/Asándrochos (IOSPE II 36), doubtless a variant of  Asander [3]. A. was not acknowledged by Rome until he appeared there in person [1. 337 with n. 8]. A. was the father of the later Bosporan king Cotys [II…

(Greek Περόζης; Perózēs). [German version] [1] P.I. Persian king of kings, 459-484 AD (Arabic Fīrūz). Persian Great King (AD 459-484), son of Yazdgird II. His reign is characterised by disputes with tribes of Hunni, who were already supporting a campaign for the throne against Hormisdas [5] III. In about AD 465 P. got into conflict with king Kunchas of the Kidarites, to whom he sent a woman to be his wife, claiming that she was his sister (Priscus fr. 41 Blockley). More dangerous to him were the Hephthalitae,…

[German version] (Ναβέδης; Nabédēs). Military commander under Chosroes [5] I in the Persian War of Iustinianus [1]. Initially commandant of Nisibis (Procop. Pers. 2,18,9; 19; Procop. Anecdota 2,28), he defeated the Romans in AD 543 at Anglon in the region of Dvin/Persarmenia (Procop. Pers. 2,25,5-35) and in 550 undertook an invasion of Lazica (Procop. Goth. 4,9,6f.). PLRE 3, 909. Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld)

Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [1] Wife of Chosroes [6] II, c. 600 AD (Šīrīn, Σειρέμ / Seirém, Σιρήν/ Sirḗn). A Christian from Ḫūzistan, one of the wives of Chosroes [6] II, who was elevated by him to queen in AD 592 (Theophylaktos Simokattes, Historiae 5,13,7). She was still alive in 627 (Theophanes, Chronographia anno mundi 6118). Only late oriental authors tell of her suicide over the corpse of her husband [1. 401-405]. The S. topic underwent many literary revisions in the Islamic world, of which the epic Chosrou and S. by the Persian poet Neẓāmī (Nesami; translate…

(Ἐρατώ; Eratṓ). [German version] [1] One of the nine Muses One of the nine  Muses; daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne (Hes. Theog. 78; Apollod. 1,13). Attribution of a sphere of activity, as in the case of the other Muses, emerged only gradually. Plato i.a. assigns her to the sphere of the erotic, on account of her name (Phdr. 259d); but she is above all the Muse of love-lyric, and is appealed to in this connection by poets (cf. Verg. Aen. 7,37; Ov. Ars am. 2,16; 425). She is portrayed i.a. on the François Vase (570 BC) and on the Basle lekythos (together with  Thamyris and  Klio). Bloch, René (Berne) Bibl…

(Φαρνάβαζος; Pharnábazos). [German version] [1] Persian, Satrap of Dascylium [2]/Phrygia Persian, from 468 or 455 BC satrap of Dascylium [2] in Phrygia (Thuc. 2,67,1). Plontke-Lüning, Annegret (Jena) [German version] [2] Grandson of Ph. [1], satrap of Dascylium [2] Grandson of P. [1], satrap of Dascylium [2], died after 373 BC; in 413/12 BC he was an ally of Sparta and in 409 BC of Athens (he sheltered Alcibiades [3] in 404 und had him murdered at the request of Lysander [1]; Xen. Hell. 1,1,6; 14; 2,16; 3,8ff.; Diod.Sic. 14,11,2; Ne…

(Middle Persian Narseh, Armenian Nersēh, Greek Ναρσῆς/ Narsȇs, also Ναρσαῖος/ Narsaȋos). [German version] [1] Brother of Sapor I, died in AD 302 Brother of Sapor I, when he was prince-governor of (Persian) Armenia in AD 293 he overthrew his great-nephew Wahram III from the Persian throne and documented his success in the Paikuli inscription (cf. [1]). In about 296, N. renewed the conflict with Rome by invading (Roman) Armenia. The emperor Galerius [5] suffered a defeat at Carrhae (Ḥarran) in 297, but was able to besi…

[German version] [1] River to the east of the Sea of Azov In Ptol. 5,8,2 and 14 (Οὐαρδάνης/ Ouardánēs) the most southerly of the seven rivers beyond the Tanais (Don) flowing from the east into the Maeotis (Sea of Azov), on which five cities are mentioned; the V., which is also known to Amm. 22,8,26, was a large navigable river which can be identified with the Kuban. In Antiquity it also had the name Hypanis [2], in the Roman period, however, it had the Sarmatic name V. Plontke-Lüning, Annegret (Jena) Bibliography E. Polaschek, s. v. V. (1), RE 8 A, 367 f.  V. Gajdukevič, Das Bosporanische R…

(Προυσίας/ Prousías). [German version] [1] P. I, the Lame King of Bithynia from 230 BC Son of Ziaelas and king of Bithynia c. 230-182 BC. P. gave support to Rhodes after the earthquake of 227 (Pol. 5,90,1) and in alliance with it fought Byzantium, but was unable to keep his conquest (Pol. 4,47-52). In 216 he destroyed the Celtic Aegosages (Pol. 5,111; [1. 43]). Characteristics of his policy were friendship with Macedonia and enmity with Pergamum. In the first of the Macedonian Wars [A] he fought by agreement with Phi…

[German version] [1] Commander of the guard for the detained Parthian king Vonones I, whom he killed in AD 19 Commander of the guard for the Parthian king Vonones I, who was detained in Pompeiopolis, Cilicia; in AD 19, he killed the king at the river Pyramus during an escape (Tac. Ann. 2,68; cf. Suet. Tib. 49,2). He is probably identical to the C. R. Rufus mentioned in CIL V 2837 (= ILS 2022). Schottky, Martin (Pretzfeld) [German version] [2] R. Palaemon, Q. Roman teacher of grammar, 1st cent. Famous Roman teacher of grammar (cf. Juv. 6,451 ff.; 7,215 ff.) of the 1st cent. AD from V…

(Τιριδάτης/ Tiridátēs). [German version] [1] Artaxerxes' [2] II eunuch Artaxerxes' [2] II eunuch (Ael. VH 12,1). Wiesehöfer, Josef (Kiel) [German version] [2] Achaemenid commander of Persepolis, 2nd half of 4th cent. BC Achaemenid commander and 'treasurer' of Persepolis, who was kept in his post by Alexander [4] the Great after the surrender of the 'citadel' and treasure (Diod. Sic. 17,69,1; Curt. 5,5,2; 6,11). From 330/29 BC T. was a strategos of the Ariaspae and Gedrosians (Gedrosia) (Diod. Sic. 17,81,2). In 328/7 BC, Alexander gave the estates of a T. to the pa…

(Ζηνοβία; Zēnobía). [German version] [1] Wife of Radamistus, 1st cent. AD The wife of the Armenian king Radamistus is the heroine of an episode in Tacitus (Ann. 12,51): when her husband was forced to flee to Iberia in AD 54, she was apparently unable to cope with the hardships of the journey due to her pregnancy and supposedly asked to be killed. Injured by her husband and thrown into the Araxes, Z. was rescued and brought to Radamistus' rival Tiridates [5] I, who treated her honourably. These events were …

[German version] [1] Sculptor whose existence is contested Sculptor whose existence is contested. Pliny (HN 36,35) mentions a work in marble in Rome Venerem lavantem †sesededalsa† stantem, from which the Bithynian name D. is gleaned, an emendation which is largely accepted. This D. is then identified with Daedalus, who according to a Byzantine source created a Zeus Stratios for the Bithynian King Nicomedes. The statue type of that Zeus has not been established with any certainty. The statue of the standing Venus that Pli…