Ariobarzanes (Satrap)

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Ariobarzanes († 330 BC ) was a Persian nobleman and governor of the province of Persis . At first he was able to thwart Alexander the great's attempt to pass the bottleneck of the so-called Persian Gates , but after bypassing his position he was defeated by the Macedonian king and killed in the ensuing battle.

Some historians consider Ariobarzanes to be the son of Artabazos , the son of the Phrygian satrap Pharnabazos . Other researchers reject this assumption with the argument that Ariobarzanes, the governor of Persis, according to the Alexander historian Curtius Rufus, died shortly after the Macedonians stormed the Persian Gates , while Arrian reports that Artabazos and his son Ariobarzanes themselves later surrendered to the Macedonian conqueror in Hyrcania .

Under the rule of the Achaemenid Darius III. was Ariobarzanes since 331 BC at the latest. The satrap of Persis , the central province of the Persian empire with its capital Persepolis . Apparently such an office had not existed before. Ariobarzanes led his provincial contingent into the decisive battle at Gaugamela (October 1, 331 BC) against Alexander the Great ; the supreme command over all Persian contingents, which in the center near Dareios III. were stationed was with Orxines . After the defeat of the Persians became apparent, Ariobarzanes fled the battlefield like the great king and returned to his province.

After taking Susa, Alexander advanced to Persepolis with 17,000 elite soldiers. Ariobarzanes sealed off a strategically important, very narrow mountain pass (called Persian Gates or Susian Gates ) northeast of today's city of Yasudsch with a large contingent in order to prevent the Macedonian king from advancing further into the heartland of the Persian Empire. The statements of the Alexander historians about how many men Ariobarzanes had at his disposal are likely to be exaggerated.

Alexander let the entourage and the heavily armed troops advance under the command of Parmenion on the easier to take, but detour through the present-day places Behbahān and Kazerun to Persepolis, while he himself with the more agile units the more difficult, mountainous but direct route took, whereby he had to pass the Persian Gates. On the fifth day he reached a forest clearing called Mullah Susan , which was 5 km from the bottleneck to be stormed. Alexander set up camp in this clearing.

Ariobarzanes had the Persian gates cordoned off with a wall. They were also flanked by steep, high mountains. As Alexander advanced towards the narrow pass, he and his army were shot at with catapults from the wall, while the Persians posted on the adjacent mountain heights shot down arrows and rolled down boulders. The Macedonian king lost many of his people, while the Persians hardly suffered any losses. Since a march through was not possible, Alexander had to give the order to retreat to the camp.

Alexander did not give up and, according to some sources, learned from a captured Lycian shepherd that the position of Ariobarzanes could be circumvented. In a night march in January 330 BC he led His elite troops on mountain paths in the rear of the position of the Persians and attacked them unexpectedly at dawn, while Krateros charged with other soldiers from the front. This pincer attack proved successful; the Persian position could be captured, with most of the defenders slaughtered in the battle at the Persian gates .

For Ariobarzanes this led to the loss of his province, as the population of Persepolis passed over to Alexander's side on news of the defeat and prevented the governor, who had escaped with a few men, from entering the capital. Ariobarzanes therefore stood on the Araxes River (Bendemir) to another battle against the advancing conquerors, in which he was killed.

Alexander took control of Persis, where he installed the Persian Phrasaortes as his satrap.

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Remarks

  1. ↑ For example Alireza Shapour Shahbazi : Ariobarzanes 2 . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica (English, including references).
  2. ↑ a b Curtius Rufus 5,4,34.
  3. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3,23,7.
  4. ↑ For example Waldemar Heckel : Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great. Oxford et al. 2006, p. 45.
  5. ↑ a b Arrian, Anabasis 3,18,2.
  6. ↑ Jonah Lendering: Ariobarzanes (2) . In: Livius.org (English).
  7. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3,8.5; Curtius Rufus 4.12.7 f.
  8. ↑ Curtius Rufus (5,3,17) speaks of 25,000 infantrymen, Diodor (17,68,1) of as many infantrymen and 300 cavalrymen; Arrian ( Anabasis 3,18,2) even names 40,000 foot soldiers and 700 horsemen.
  9. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3,18,1; Curtius Rufus 5: 3, 16 f .; Diodorus 17,68,1.
  10. ↑ Arrian, Anabasis 3, 18, 2-9; Curtius Rufus 5.3.17-5.5.2; Diodorus 17: 68, 1-7; Plutarch , Alexander 37: 1-3.
personal data
SURNAME Ariobarzanes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Satrap of Persis
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 330 BC Chr.