Rhodogune (wife of Orontes I)

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Rhodogune ( Greek Ῥοδογούνη) (* around 420 BC; † in the 4th century BC) was a member of the Persian royal house of the Achaemenids and daughter of Artaxerxes II , who lived from 404 to 359/358 BC. Ruled as the great king of the Persian Empire. For dynastic reasons she was married to Orontes I , the satrap of Armenia . Its name is probably derived from the old Persian term "Vrda-gauna", which means "rose-colored".

There is hardly any concrete evidence of her life in the sources . Nevertheless, one can understand the circumstances of her life, since the internal power struggles in Persia took place within her immediate family and the foreign policy of the empire was also in the hands of the closest family circle or their brothers-in-law. Her marriage made her the ancestor of the Orontid dynasty , who ruled Armenia as satraps and kings for centuries and later as kings of Sophene and Commagene .

origin

Artaxerxes II, Rhodogune's father, depicted on his tomb in Persepolis

Rhodogune came from the Persian royal house of the Achaemenids from the branch that is derived from the important ruler Darius I (see the family table in the list of Achaemenid kings ). She was the granddaughter of the Persian great king Dareios II. "Ochos" (ruled 424–404 BC) and daughter of his successor Artaxerxes II. There are contradicting traditions about Rhodogune's mother. While she is viewed by some as the daughter of a concubine, other traditions describe her as the legitimate daughter of Artaxerxes II with his wife Stateira , a daughter of the Persian satrap Hydernes . This in turn was possibly a descendant of Hydarnes , one of the seven nobles who died in 522 BC. BC Dareios I had obtained the rule.

Rhodogune had a very large number of siblings, as her father Artaxerxes II allegedly left numerous descendants, including 115 illegitimate sons, from several marriages, including two of his own daughters ( Atossa and Amestris ) and 360 concubines.

Of the three known legitimate sons from the marriage of Artaxerxes II to Stateira, Darius was co-regent and crown prince, but was executed for rebellion. Ochos eliminated his brother Ariaspes and his illegitimate brother Arsames, and followed 359–338 BC. As the great king of Persia Artaxerxes III. Ochos. Her sister Atossa was first the wife of her father Artaxerxes II and then the wife of her brother Artaxerxes III.

Life

Few details are known about her life, which stretched from the end of the fifth to the first half of the fourth century BC. In any case, it was shaped by the fact that she was the granddaughter, daughter and sister of ruling Persian great kings as well as sister-in-law and wife of leading political and military rulers of her time, whereby she was involved in the contemporary history of the Persian Empire and thus both within the family power struggles was directly or indirectly affected by the foreign military conflicts.

Under her grandfather Darius II.

This link between family relations and foreign policy was already evident for Rhodogune under the rule of her grandfather, Darius II (423–404 BC). This began in 413 BC. A war against Athens, where he commissioned two of Rhodogune's later brothers-in-law - the generals and satraps Pharnabazos and Tissaphernes († after 395 BC) - to open the war. Also in the third phase of the Peloponnesian War (412-404) between Sparta and Athens for supremacy in Greece, it was these generals who intervened in the conflict on behalf of the king and, among other things, achieved that Sparta after the - won - battle of Miletus ceded the Ionian cities to Persia in 412 in order to use Persian money to upgrade their navy. Internally, too, the situation was turbulent at the time, as there were revolts in Greek cities in the Persian Empire that were supported by Sparta, such as in Thanis, which ultimately led to the end of the peaceful occupation of Egypt by Persia. Xenophon also reports a revolt of the Medes and the Lydians in 409 BC. Chr.

Under her father Artaxerxes II.

Dareikos with the image of Artaxerxes II. Around 330-300 BC Chr.

Shortly after the death of her grandfather Darius II in Babylon, Rhodogune was affected by power struggles within the family, as a dispute between her father Arsakes, who was in 404 BC over his successor. When Artaxerxes II († 359/58 BC) succeeded her as the Great King of Persia, and her uncle Cyrus the Younger (* 424; † 401), her father's younger brother, broke out.

Cyrus - viceroy of Asia Minor since 408 , satrap of Lydia , Greater Phrygia and Cappadocia - believed that as a younger but “ purple-born ” son he had greater rights to the crown and therefore tried to wrest the rule from his brother, taking his mother, the queen, from him -Widow Parysatis († 395 BC) - the grandmother Rhodogunes - supported. Cyrus' intentions in this regard were betrayed to the king by the satrap Tissaphernes - a brother-in-law of Rhodogune. Xenophon saw it differently, for according to him the whole thing was based only on a slander of Cyrus by Thissaphernes.

At the coronation ceremony of her father Artaxerxes II in Pasagarde, in which Rhodoguns undoubtedly participated, there was a - unsuccessful - assassination attempt against the king, in which Cyrus was involved. However, through the intervention of his mother Parysatis, he was forgiven and reinstated in his functions as a satrap.

However, Cyrus rebelled again in 401 and secretly recruited troops in various regions of Greece under the pretext of fighting local uprisings. He withdrew these troops surprisingly in the autumn of 401 BC. In order to use them to overthrow Rhodogune's father, King Artaxerxes II. It came to the battle of Kunaxa in Mesopotamia, where Cyrus achieved successes thanks to the experienced Greek mercenaries and personally injured Rhodogune's father, Artaxerxes II. However, Cyrus was killed in the process, which ultimately gave the king's army the upper hand. The general Thissaphernes received a daughter of the king as a wife and thus became the brother-in-law of Rhodogune. Artaxerxes II ordered that the body of Rhodogune's uncle Cyrus be beheaded and the hand that had been raised against him cut off and carried around in triumph. Parysatis then turned to Babylon, obtained Cyrus' head and hand and arranged for her to be buried in Susa.

The retreat of the Greeks has gone down in history as " Anabasis " or " Train of the Ten Thousand ", as it was described in detail by Xenophon, who belongs to the circle of Socrates and who participated in the campaign as a "war correspondent". Through a ruse, Rhodogunes' brother-in-law, Thissaphernes, managed to get control of the Greek commander, the Spartan Klearchus (* 450 BC; † 401 BC), who was imprisoned and at the instigation of Rhodogune's mother Statira was executed against the will of Parysatis.

Another family drama ensued for Rhodogune, as her grandmother Parysatis killed her mother Stateira with a trick - a knife that was poisoned on one side.

In terms of foreign policy, the result was an ongoing conflict between Persia and Sparta, which Cyrus had supported, which only began in 386 BC. Was ended by the peace of Antalcidas.

In the years 368-358 there was a dangerous satrap revolt against the rule of Rhodogune's father Artaxerxes II, which could only be suppressed with great difficulty.

After the death of Rhodogune's father around 358/59, there were renewed succession disputes within the family, through which Rhodogune lost several brothers. Artaxerxes II had determined his son Darius as his successor, who was executed after a revolt, after which his younger brother Ochos claimed the succession and murdered his brothers Darius, Ariaspes and Arsames in order to refer to his father as Artaxerxes III. To succeed Ochos from 358 to 338 as Great King of Persia, Pharaoh of Egypt and King of Babylon.

Under her husband Orontes I.

Rhdogune was well after the Battle of Cunaxa of 401 with the Persian commanders I. Orontes (in ostarmenischer Language : Ervand, that great warrior) married. This marriage is mentioned twice in inscriptions by King Antiochus I of Kommagene (in Anatolia) († 36 BC) on the monument dedicated to his ancestors on Mount Nemrud . Orontes was from 401 to 344 BC. One of the most powerful satraps of the Persian Empire, as his rule extended not only to Armenia but also to large parts of western Anatolia including Pergamon . He is also said to have been one of the richest men of his time with over 3000 talents in silver. According to Plutarch, his appearance was reminiscent of the Greek hero Alkmaion , son of the seer Amphiaraos .

He - and probably Rhodogune of Parthia - resided as the Hydarniden, his predecessor as satrap of Armenia, in Armavir in the west of Armenia. He was called the "Bactrian", probably because his father Artasyras , called "the eye of the king" († 401), was a satrap of Armenia and sometimes also satrap of Bactria , or because he was of Bactrian origin. According to Strabo , Artasyras was a descendant of the Hydarnids and thus of Persian origin, a view that is also shared by modern researchers like Cyrille Toumanoff .

Rhodogune did not limit herself to the role of a submissive princely wife, but was - like other women in her family - personally involved in the politics of her house and her husband. This is shown by a reference in Xenophon's Anabasis that she even took part in her husband's campaigns. Xenophon records that after the battle of Kunaxa Persian troops under the command of Rhodogune's brother-in-law Thissaphernes and that of her husband Orontes I monitored or tried to disturb the retreat of the Greeks, Orontes being accompanied by his wife Rhodogune during this military operation .

In 381 Orontes was promoted to commander in chief of the Persian troops and viceroy of Mysia and Pergamon . It was critical that his ambition - strengthened by his marriage to the royal dynasty - directed itself against the rule of the Achaemenids. According to some sources, he took part around 370 BC. At a revolt of the satraps and again in 357 BC. At a similar uprising against Rhodogune's brother Artaxerxes III. , whereby it cannot be ruled out that Orontes I himself sought the crown. Eventually he was reconciled with his brother-in-law, King Artaxerxes III. and closed in 351 BC With him peace. The consort of Rhodogune, Orontes I satrap of Armenia, died in 344 BC. BC Rhodogune himself died before her husband at an unknown time.

Marriage and offspring

Orontes I., Rhodogune's consort, gold coin with the portrait of Orontes / Yervand I. (dated 362 BC)

From their around 401 BC He married the Persian satrap of Armenia Orontes I and left behind at least one son:

Orontes II did not directly succeed his father as satrap (king) of Armenia, but only from 336–331 BC. As successor to the Persian heir to the throne and later King Dareios III. He took with his Armenian troops (40,000 men and 7,000 horsemen) on October 1, 331 BC. On the side of the great king Dareios III. participated in the battle of Gaugamela against Alexander the Great , which led to the defeat and destruction of the Persian Empire, and fell himself in the battle. Orontes II was followed by his son Mithrenes I as satrap (king) of Armenia (331-317 BC), however, no longer as a Persian vassal, but in the service of Alexander the great, whom he himself became the commander of Sardis after Battle of Granikos had surrendered and on whose side he had fought at Gaugamela - among other things against his own father - whereupon he was installed by Alexander in the office of his fallen father.

Map of the ancient Armenian Empire

The Orontids - and thus Rhodogune's descendants - ruled in the male line for fourteen generations, first in Armenia, then in the Kingdom of Sophene and from around 163 in the Kingdom of Commagene. After the dissolution of this kingdom by the Roman Empire in 72 AD, the family moved to Athens and Rome, where Gaius Iulius Epiphanes Philopappus - a grandson of Antiochus IV., Who was the last king of Kommagene from 38 to 72 AD ruled - was consul of Rome in 109.

Nemrud west-south base 1

Aftermath

Nemrut Dağı, head of the statue of Antiochus I of Kommagene, a descendant of Rhodoguns

The importance of Rhodogunes lies in the fact that she mediates the prestigious genealogical connection to the Persian great kings from the house of the Achaemenids for her descendants. The importance of this fact is illustrated by the monumental monument that - centuries later - Antiochus I Theos Dilaios Epiphanes, king of Kommagene (69–36 BC) , had erected on Nemrut Dağı in honor of his ancestors . Relief steles were erected there in two rows, depicting outstanding ancestors from the paternal Persian and maternal Seleucid lineages, and at least some of which can be identified with certainty from the inscriptions on them. The Persian line of ancestors goes back thanks to the Rhodogune after Friedrich Karl Dörner to the Persian great king Dareios I, with the great king Artaxerxes II, father Rhodogunes, on the fifth stele and her husband, the Armenian satrap Orontes I, on the sixth. The descendants from this connection are continued via Orodes II (stele 7) to the Commagenic king Mithridates I Kallinikos , king of Commagene (around 100-69 BC (stele 15).

swell

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Plutarch, Artaxerxes 27.7.
  2. ^ Rüdiger Schmitt : Rhodogune . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica , as of October 25, 2017, accessed on May 9, 2018 (English, including references)
  3. ↑ Plutarch, Artaxerxes 27.2.
  4. ^ Rüdiger Schmitt : Artaxerxes II . In: Ehsan Yarshater (ed.): Encyclopædia Iranica . Volume 2 (6), pp. 656–658, as of August 15, 2011, accessed on May 9, 2018 (English, including references)
  5. ↑ Plutarch, Artaxerxes 26:29.
  6. ↑ Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 8.5; 8.37; 8.58.
  7. ↑ a b c d Ktesias von Knidos , Persika , fragment 16 (contained in: Photios , libraries 72, online ).
  8. ↑ a b The Achaemenid Empire. iranologie.com, accessed May 9, 2018.
  9. ↑ Xenophon, Anabasis 1,1,3.
  10. ↑ Xenophon, Anabasis 1,1,6.
  11. ↑ Xenophon, Anabasis 1.8.
  12. ↑ Diodor , Bibliothḗkē historikḗ 14.23 ( English translation ).
  13. ↑ Diodor, Bibliothéke historiké 14.26 ( English translation ).
  14. ↑ a b Ktesias von Knidos , Persika , fragment 27 (contained in: Photios , libraries 72, online ).
  15. ↑ Friedrich Karl Dörner : Kommagene, The Throne of the Gods on the Nemrud Dag. 2nd edition, Gustav Lübbe, Bergisch Gladbach 1987, ISBN 3-404-64100-0 , p. 379.
  16. ↑ Plutarch, Artaxerxes 3.5.
  17. ^ A b c d Door M. Chahin: The Kingdom of Armenia. A history. 2nd edition, Curzon, Richmond 2001, ISBN 0-7007-1452-9 , p. 187 ( online ).
  18. ^ Strabo, Geography 11,14,15.
  19. ^ Cyril Toumanoff: Studies in Christian Caucasian history. Georgetown University Press, Washington DC 1963, pp. 278 ff. ( Online ).
  20. ↑ Xenophon, Anabasis 2, 4, 8 and 3, 4, 13.
  21. ^ David Marshall Lang: Iran, Armenia and Georgia: Political Contacts . In: Ehsan Yarshater (Ed.): The Cambridge History of Iran. Volume 3 (1): The Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian Periods. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1983, ISBN 0-521-20092-X , pp. 505-536.
  22. ^ Anthony Wagner: Pedigree and Progress. Essays in the genealogical interpretation of history. Phillimore & Co., London 1975, ISBN 0-85033-198-6 , pp. 69 and 172.
  23. ↑ Wolfgang Messerschmidt: Between tradition and innovation: The ancestral gallery of Antiochus I. von Kommagene. In: God kings on the Euphrates. New excavations and research in Kommagene. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2012, ISBN 978-3-8053-4218-6 , pp. 87-98.
personal data
SURNAME Rhodoguns
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the Persian satrap of Armenia Orodes I.
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 4th century BC Chr.