Orontes I.

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Orontes' figure

Orontes I ( Armenian Երուանդ ; Greek Ὀρόντης ) was a Persian general of the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century BC. He was a son of Artasyras , who came from Bactria .

Orontes served the Great King Artaxerxes II in Armenia as governor ( satrap ) and married shortly after 401 BC. His daughter Rhodogune. In the Persian civil war between Artaxerxes and Cyrus the Younger , he fought against the Greeks allied with Cyrus ( Anabasis ). In the war against the Cypriot city king of Salamis , Euagoras I , he snatched command from Tiribazos by means of an intrigue and concluded a favorable peace with Euagoras, which is why he fell out of favor with the great king. Because of his participation in the satrap revolt of the coastal satraps in 361/360 BC. He lost his satrapy Armenia and instead received the less important satrapy Mysia . 357 BC He rose from there against Artaxerxes III. and conquered Pergamon , but very soon made peace with him again and gave Pergamon back. During the conclusion of a trade agreement with Athens , he received the citizenship of Athens . Orontes died after 349 BC. Chr.

Orontes I was probably the grandfather of Orontes II , through whom the Armenian line of his family continued. Another descendant was Antiochus I , who founded the royal house of Kommagene . His wife Rhodogune is the link between the Achaemenid and Orontid clans .

Strabo stated in his geography that the Syrian river Typhon was called " Orontes " (today Nahr al-Asi) since the fourth century BC because Orontes I had crossed this river, probably during the war against Euagoras.

swell

literature