Apollophanes (Satrap)

Apollophanes ( Greek  Ἀπόλλωφάνες ; † 325 BC ) was an officer and governor of Alexander the Great .

During the return march from India , the easternmost station of the Macedonian campaign in Asia, Alexander defeated in the autumn of 325 BC. In eastern Gedrosien the hostile Iranian tribe of the Oreiten . He then appointed Apollophanes satrap of Gedrosiens. Together with the general Leonnatos , an army consisting of Greek mercenaries and other units was placed under him in order to be able to keep the Oreitens in check militarily and to ensure safe shore excursions for the Nearchus fleet for the purpose of provisions. In addition, Ora, the main town of the Oreiten, should be converted into a Macedonian colony.

While Alexander moved on with the majority of his army through the Gedrosian desert, with many of his men dying due to the heat and the lack of water and supplies, the Oreitmen rose again. Leonnatus was able to put down the revolt; however, Apollophanes was killed in the fighting. Arrian's assertion that Alexander, after crossing the Gedrosian desert successfully in spite of all adversities, relieved Apollophanes of his post for failure to obey orders and replaced him with Thoas , may be based on confusion with the satrap of Carmania, Astaspes , who has proven to be unreliable and has been accused of similar offenses . The new satrap Gedrosiens, Thoas, soon died of an illness and Sibyrtios took over his position .

literature

• Julius Kaerst : Apollophanes 8 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, column 165.
• Siegfried Lauffer : Alexander the Great (= dtv. 4298, dtv science ). Deutscher Taschenbuch-Verlag, Munich 1978, ISBN 3-423-04298-2 , p. 160 f. and 165, (3rd edition, ibid 1993).

Individual evidence

1. ^ Arrian , Indike 23, 5.
2. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 6, 22, 2-3.
3. ↑ Arrian, Indike 23,5 ; see. Arrian, Anabasis 7, 5, 5 and Curtius Rufus 9, 10, 19.
4. ↑ ^{a b} Arrian, Anabasis 6, 27, 1.
5. ^ Waldemar Heckel : Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's empire . Blackwell, Oxford 2006, ISBN 978-1-4051-1210-9 ( excerpt online  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ).