Pissouthnes

Pissouthnes ( old Persian: Pišišyaothna; † around 415 BC) was a governor ( satrap ) in the Persian empire of the Achaemenids in the 5th century BC. His father was Hystaspes , who is probably identical with the son of the great king Dareios I named in Herodotus , which means that Pissouthnes himself would be a member of the Achaemenid dynasty.

Pissouthnes was founded around 450 BC. Appointed governor of Lydia and Ionia by the great king Artaxerxes I , as successor to the younger Artaphernes . He became known as an opponent of the Attic League in the Aegean Sea . So he supported in 440 BC The oligarchs of Samos with 700 mercenaries overthrew the Attic-minded Demos , but he could not end the subsequent siege of the island by Pericles because the great king denied him the position of a Phoenician fleet because it did not compromise the peace between Persia and Athens Wanted to put game. Samos therefore had to surrender again soon. Around 430 BC However, Pissouthnes successfully supported the Persian-minded and anti-democratic movement in Colophon in Asia Minor , which won this city over to Persia. He also supported during the Archidamian War 427 BC. Oligarchical movements on Lesvos , which Athens could hold.

Around 420 BC Pissouthnes rebelled against the great king Darius II with the support of Hellenic mercenaries led by the Athenian Lycon. The great king sent Tissaphernes against him, who was able to bribe the mercenaries to desert . Pissouthnes was born around 415 BC. He was captured by them and brought to the Great King in Susa , from whom he was sentenced to death and executed by " throwing into the ashes ". The satrapy of Lydia / Ionia was taken over by Tissaphernes.

Pissouthnes had an illegitimate son named Amorges , who was also around the year 413/412 BC. In Caria revolted against the great king.

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• Herodotus 7.64.2
• Thucydides 1.115.4-5; 3.31; 3.34.2; 8.5.5
• Plutarch Pericles 25.3
• Ktesias Persika FGrH 688 F15 §53

Web links

• Jona Lendering: Pisouthnes on Livius.org