Pharnabazus II

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Silver stater of Pharnabazos from his time as Commander in Chief of the Egyptian Army. He had had such coins struck in large numbers to pay for the Greek mercenaries. Because it depicts the enthroned Cilician god Baaltar, it is often assumed that Pharnabazos could also have officiated as satrap of Cilicia. Probably, however, he only provided financial support for his invading army from this province. (London, British Museum)

Pharnabazos ( Greek Φαρνάβαζος Pharnábazos ; † after 373 BC in Susa ) was a Persian general and governor ( satrap ) of Phrygia . He was a son of Pharnakes and, as Pharnakid, related by blood to the royal house of the Achaemenids .

In the Peloponnesian War Pharnabazos assisted the Spartans against the Athenians , but granted the fleeing Attic general Alcibiades an exile in Phrygia. However, under pressure from the Spartian general Lysander , who saw the Spartan-Persian alliance in question, in the winter of 404 B.C. Assassinate Alcibiades. During the rebellion of Prince Cyrus the Younger against the Great King Artaxerxes II. Mnemon Pharnabazos supported the latter.

In the Spartan-Persian War that followed , Pharnabazos played a central role. He protected 397 BC. BC the Attic general Konon with the great king , who was then appointed commander-in-chief of the Persian fleet. He then supported Tissaphernes in the defense of Karia against the Spartian general Derkylidas . In return, however, he had to accept the devastation of Phrygia by King Agesilaus II , who even threatened the royal seat of Daskyleion . In order to relieve the Persian Asia Minor, Pharnabazos bribed Timocrates with the mediation of the Rhodians in 396/395 BC. Thebes successfully entered the war against Sparta, which triggered the Corinthian War in Greece . Together with Konon he finally won 394 BC. In the naval battle of Knidos , where the entire Spartan fleet was sunk. In order to prevent the opponent from regaining strength in the Aegean region , he then supported the Thrasyboulos ' ventures , which led to Persia winning several cities and islands on the coast of Asia Minor. After the peace with Sparta ( King's Peace ) in 387 BC However, Pharnabazos was removed from his post as Satrap Phrygias by the great king, but was replaced by Ariobarzanes .

Pharnabazos now took a post at the court of the great king Artaxeres II and married his daughter Apama . Together with the generals Tithraustes and Abrokomas , the conquest of Egypt was entrusted to him. But although the Attic general Chabrias , who was in Egyptian service, was recalled to his homeland under his pressure, the Egypt campaign (probably between 385 and 383 BC) had to be ended without result for the time being. Around the year 370 BC Pharnabazos was reappointed commander in chief of an invading army for Egypt. Together with the Attic general Iphikrates , he organized the deployment of the troops in the Phoenician Ake. 373 BC The attack on Egypt was carried out. Because the fortress Pelusium was too strongly fortified, Pharnabazos decided on a landing company in the Nile Delta near Mendes . Here, however, he was surprised by the annual flooding of the river, which led to the failure of the offensive. Pharnabazos got into a dispute with Iphikrates about how to proceed, after which he withdrew to Greece with his mercenaries. Pharnabazos led the army back to Phenicia to reorganize it. But here he was recalled by the great king and replaced by Datames as commander-in-chief.

Pharnabazos died a little later at the age of sixty. From a first marriage he had the son Ariobarzanes, with his second wife Apame he had a second son, Artabazos .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cornelius Nepos , Alcibiades 10; after Diodorus 14:11 the murder of Alcibiades happened because Pharnabazos wanted to prevent the latter from reporting the news of the alliance of the younger Cyrus with Sparta to the great king. According to Plutarch ( Alkibiades 39), the murder was based on Pharnabazus' private motives for revenge.
  2. ↑ Cornelius Nepos, Konon 2-4; Xenophon , Hellenika 3, 2, 12-14; Diodorus 14, 39, 1-5; Ktesias 63; Helleniká Oxyrhynchia 18, 1 and 22, 3.
  3. ↑ Xenophon, Hellenika 5, 1, 28.
  4. ^ Isocrates IV Panegyricus .
  5. ↑ Plutarch, Artaxerxes 21, 1.
  6. ↑ Diodorus 15, 41, 4.
  7. ↑ Cornelius Nepos, Datames 3, 4.
personal data
SURNAME Pharnabazus II
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Φαρνάβαζος
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Persian satrap
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH after 373 BC Chr.
Place of death Susa , Persian Empire