Hydarnes (son of Hydarnes)

Hydarnes ( Greek: Ὑδάρνης, old Persian: Vidarna , Elamtite: Miturna / Mitarna ), son of Hydarnes , was a Persian general of the Achaemenid Empire in the 5th century BC. His father was one of the seven conspirators against Gaumata .

Hydarnes was conquered by King Xerxes I on the occasion of the invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Appointed leader of the 10,000-man army of the "immortals" , while his brother Sisamnes commanded the Aryans. On the first day of the Battle of Thermopylae , Hydarnes led the immortals against the phalanx of the Spartians under Leonidas I , but he was unable to break through the “hot gates”. After the hidden goat path around Thermopylae had been betrayed to the Persians by Ephialtes , Hydarnes dragged it passing into the rear of the Spartians and thus sealed their defeat.

After the defeat of Salamis , Xerxes I had decided to return to Asia, leaving behind a large army under Mardonios . The immortals were also given to him, but Hydarnes wanted to stay by the king's side and moved back to Asia with him. Allegedly he had been assigned the task of returning the army to the Hellespont , since Xerxes had taken the direct route across the sea by ship in order to be able to leave Europe as quickly as possible. Thereafter, nothing more is reported about Hydarnes.

literature

• John R. Grant: Leonidas' Last Stand. In: Phoenix. Vol. 15 (1961), pp. 14-27.
• Nicholas GL Hammond: Sparta at Thermopylae. in: Historia: magazine for ancient history. 45: 1-20 (1996).

Web links

• detailed history and bibliography on Encyclopaedia Iranica (engl.)

Remarks

1. ↑ Herodotus : Historíai. 7, 66 and 83.
2. ↑ Herodotus: Historíai. 7, 211.
3. ↑ Herodotus: Historíai. 7, 215 and 218. See Hammond, p. 16, note 43. In Ktesias ( FrGrHist. No. 688, Frag. 13, 27) an Artabanos with an unspecified 10,000-man contingent is mentioned in this context .
4. ↑ Herodotus: Historíai. 8, 113.
5. ↑ Herodotus: Historíai. 8, 118.