Abistamenes (fl. 4th century BC) was a governor, or satrap, of Cappadocia, [1] [2] or at least of its southern portions, with Ariarathes I of Cappadocia possibly governing the north. He is called Sabictas by Arrian, [3] and was almost certainly a native Cappadocian. [4]
Abistamenes was the successor to Mithrobuzanes, the last Achaemenid satrap of Cappadocia. Mithrobouzanes was killed at the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, and Abistamenes was thereafter appointed satrap by Alexander the Great, although his hold over Cappadocia appears to have been weak, as Cappadocian soldiers were found fighting for King Darius III of Persia during the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. Abistamenes may no longer even have been in power at that point, however, as he seems to disappear from the historical record in the wake of the Battle of Issus in 333 BC.
Abistamenes' rule had certainly ended by the time of Alexander's death in 323 BC, when all of Cappadocia was given by Alexander's heirs to Eumenes to govern.
Mithridates I Ctistes, also known as Mithridates III of Cius, was a Persian nobleman and the founder of the Kingdom of Pontus in Anatolia.
Autophradates was a Persian Satrap of Lydia, who also distinguished himself as a general in the reign of Artaxerxes III and Darius III.
Ariamnes I was satrap of Cappadocia under Persian suzerainty. Son of Datames and father of Ariarathes I and his brother Orophernes (Holophernes), Diodorus states that Ariamnes governed fifty years although it is unclear how this could be correct given the dates that his father Datames and his son Ariarathes I were satraps of Cappadocia.
Gordius, a Cappadocian by birth, was the instrument of Mithridates Eupator, king of Pontus, in his attempts to annex Cappadocia to Pontus. Gordius was employed by him, in 116 BC, to murder Ariarathes VI, king of Cappadocia. Gordius was afterwards tutor of a son of Mithridates, whom, after the murder of Ariarathes VII he made king of Cappadocia as Ariarathes IX. Gordius was sent as the envoy of Mithridates to Rome, and afterwards employed by him to engage Tigranes, king of Armenia, to attack Cappadocia, and expel Ariobarzanes I, whom the Romans made king of that country in 93 BC. Sulla restored Ariobarzanes in the following year, and drove Gordius out of Cappadocia. Gordius opposed Lucius Licinius Murena in the Battle of Halys, 82 BC.
Ariarathes V Eusebes Philopator was a son of the preceding king Ariarathes IV of Cappadocia and queen Antiochis. He was distinguished by his contemporaries for his excellence of his character and his cultivation of philosophy and the liberal arts and is considered by some historians to have been the greatest of the kings of Cappadocia.
Ariarathes I was the last Achaemenid Persian governor (satrap) of the province (satrapy) of Northern Cappadocia, serving from the 340s BC to 331 BC. He led defensive efforts against the Macedonian invasion, commanded by Alexander the Great, and later fought at the Battle of Gaugamela under Darius III, the last King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Ariarathes continued his resistance against the Macedonians, ruling concomitantly as an Achaemenid remnant and a precursor to the Kingdom of Cappadocia. He is regarded as the founder of the Iranian Ariarathid dynasty.
Balakros, also Balacrus, the son of Nicanor, one of Alexander the Great's "Somatophylakes" (bodyguards), was appointed satrap of Cilicia after the Battle of Issus, 333 BC. He succeeded to the last Achaemenid satrap of Cilicia, Arsames.
Asander or Asandros was the son of Philotas and brother of Parmenion and Agathon. He was a Macedonian general under Alexander the Great, and satrap of Lydia from 334 BC as well as satrap of Caria after Alexander's death. During Alexander's reign Asander' s position suffered for a period following Parmenion's execution, he was sent to Media to gather reinforcements during this time, and a year later was sent to Bactra.
Spithridates was a Persian satrap of Lydia and Ionia under the high king Darius III Codomannus. He was one of the Persian commanders at the Battle of the Granicus, in 334 BC. In this engagement, while he was aiming a blow from behind at Alexander the Great, his arm was cut off by Cleitus the Black and he subsequently died.
Satibarzanes, a Persian, was satrap of Aria under Darius III, king of Persia.
Menander was an officer in the service of Alexander the Great. He was one of those called etairoi, but he held the command of a body of mercenaries. He was appointed by Alexander to the government of Lydia, during the settlement of the affairs of Asia made by Alexander when at Tyre. Menander appears to have remained at that post until the year 323 BC, when he was commissioned to lead a reinforcement of troops to Alexander at Babylon — he arrived there just before the king's last illness. In the division of the provinces, after the death of Alexander, Menander received his former government of Lydia, of which he was quick to take possession.
Phrataphernes was a Persian who held the government of Parthia and Hyrcania, under the king Darius III Codomannus, and joined that monarch with the contingents from the provinces subject to his rule, shortly before the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC. He afterwards accompanied the king on his flight into Hyrcania.
Tlepolemus was the son of Pythophanes and one of the hetairoi of Alexander the Great, who was joined in the government of the Parthians and Hyrcanii with Amminapes, a Parthian, whom Alexander had appointed satrap of those provinces. At a later period Tlepolemus was appointed by Alexander satrap of Carmania, which he retained on the death of Alexander in 323 BC, and also at the fresh division of the provinces at Triparadisus in 321. In the following years, Tlepolemus joined a coalition formed by governors of Upper Satrapies with the purpose of fighting Peithon, later assisting Eumenes in his war against Antigonus. Tlepolemus commanded 800 horsemen from Carmania in the Battle of Paraitakene, stationed on the right wing.
Orontobates was a Persian, who married the daughter of Pixodarus, the usurping satrap of Caria, and was sent by the king of Persia to succeed him.
Artabazos II was a Persian general and satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. He was the son of the Persian satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia Pharnabazus II, and younger kinsman of Ariobarzanes of Phrygia who revolted against Artaxerxes II around 356 BC. His first wife was an unnamed Greek woman from Rhodes, sister of the two mercenaries Mentor of Rhodes and Memnon of Rhodes. Towards the end of his life, he became satrap of Bactria for Alexander the Great.
Ariarathes VIII Epiphanes, King of Cappadocia, was the second son of Ariarathes VI of Cappadocia and wife Laodice of Cappadocia. Ariarathes VIII had an older sister called Nysa and an older brother called Ariarathes VII of Cappadocia.
Mazaeus or Mazday was an Achaemenid Persian noble and satrap of Cilicia and later satrap of Babylon for the Achaemenid Empire, a satrapy which he retained under Alexander the Great.
Mithrobuzanes was a Persian governor (satrap) of Cappadocia in the 4th century BC, during the reign of Darius III. He was probably a son of Ariarathes. As a Persian military commander he was killed at the Battle of Granicus fighting Alexander the Great.
Arsites was Persian satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia in the Achaemenid Empire in the 4th century BC. His satrapy also included the region of Paphlagonia.
Cappadocia was a Hellenistic-era Iranian kingdom centered in the historical region of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. It developed from the former Achaemenid satrapy of Cappadocia, and it was founded by its last satrap, Ariarathes. Throughout its history, it was ruled by three families in succession; the House of Ariarathes (331–96 BC), the House of Ariobarzanes (96–36 BC), and lastly that of Archelaus (36 BC–17 AD). In 17 AD, following the death of Archelaus, during the reign of Roman emperor Tiberius (14–37 AD), the kingdom was incorporated as a Roman province.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Abistamenes". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology .