Pharnuches

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Pharnuches ( Greek  Φαρνούχης ) was a Persian interpreter and follower of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. According to Arrian , he was a native Lycian , presumably of Persian descent.

In the course of the Asian campaign , Pharnuches came to follow Alexander the great by unknown routes. Because he mastered the languages ​​of the local peoples of the provinces of Sogdia and Bactria , Alexander held him in the summer of 329 BC. Able to lead an army department, which should take up the fight against the dangerous adversary Spitamenes . This troop consisted of 60 horsemen , 800 mounted mercenaries and 1,500 mercenaries on foot, led by officers Karanos , Andromachos and Menedemos . They were charged with relieving Marakanda (Samarqand) , who had just been besieged by Spitamenes , but during the march they were attacked and defeated by Spitamenes and his Scythian cavalry while crossing the river Polytimetos (Serafshan) ; just over 2,000 men fell.

According to the Macedonian view, controversies between Pharnuches and his subordinates were particularly decisive for the defeat. According to Aristobulus , Pharnuches wanted to hand over his command to one of the three Macedonian officers during the battle, as he had no military experience as an interpreter and was neither a Macedonian nor a companion (hetairos) of the king. Alexander only made him in command to win the sympathy of the oriental warriors. The three Macedonian officers present had rejected Pharnuches' request because they felt obliged to follow Alexander's instructions, but also because they did not want to take responsibility for the defeat. The Battle of Polytimetus is the only military defeat of the Alexander march and it would be the first and last time that Alexander entrusted a military command to an Oriental.

It is unclear whether Pharnuches was one of the few survivors of Polytimetos (40 cavalrymen and 300 infantrymen). He had a son, Bagoas, who lived in 325 BC. Was a hetairos of the king and one of the Trierarchs of the Indus fleet.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ So Arrian, Anabasis 4, 3, 7; according to Curtius Rufus 7, 6, 24, however, Pharnuches' army comprised 3,000 infantrymen and 800 cavalrymen.
  2. ↑ Ptolemaios , FGrHist 138 F34 = Arrian, Anabasis 4, 5, 3-9; Curtius Rufus 7, 7, 31-39.
  3. ↑ Aristobulus , FGrHist 139 F27 = Arrian, Anabasis 4, 6, 1-2.
  4. ↑ So Arrian, Anabasis 4, 6, 2; according to Curtius Rufus (7, 7, 39 and 7, 9, 21) the number of survivors was 500 cavalrymen and 1,000 infantrymen.
  5. ↑ Arrian, Indike 18, 8. It cannot be determined whether the trierarch Bagoas was identical to Alexander's favorite with the same name .

literature

  • AB Bosworth: Alexander and the Iranians. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies. Vol. 100 (1980), pp. 1-21.
  • 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 , p. 207.
  • Siegfried Lauffer : Alexander the Great . 3. Edition. Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-04298-2 , pp. 127-128.
personal data
SURNAME Pharnuches
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Persian interpreter of Alexander the Great
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 4th century BC Chr.