Azanes (general)

Last updated

Azanes (fl. 480 BC) was a Sogdian general. He led a contingent of troops in the Achaemenid army of Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC.

Azanes was a Sogdian, a member of an Iranian group of people that inhabited Sogdia, and the son of Artaios [1] (Artaeus). [2] All that is known about him comes from Herodotus who reports that Azanes went to war with Xerxes I against the Greeks in 480 B.C., thus participating in the Persian invasion of Greece, [1] which was started as a response to the defeat of the First Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon, and resulted in Greek victory.

The Persians were blocked at the Thermopylae by King Leonidas, and also at the Battle of Artemisium. The latter battle, however, culminated in a Persian strategical victory, and after their eventual victory at Thermopylae, all of Euboea, Phocis, Boeotia and Attica fell to the Persian army, which captured and burnt Athens. The Greeks managed to protect the Peloponnesus, and lured the Persians in the Straits of Salamis, where their ships disorganized and were defeated. Xerxes I fled back to Asia and Mardonius was left to complete the conquest. He was defeated and killed at the Battle of Plataea which, coupled with the Greek naval victory at Mycale, determined the Persian defeat. The fate of Azanes is unknown.

Azanes commanded the Sogdians, while Artabazos and Artyphios commanded, respectively, the Parthians and Chorasmians and the Gandarians and Dadicans. They are said to have all served with the same equipment of the Bactrians. [3] [2] [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xerxes I</span> King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 486 to 465 BC

Xerxes I was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atossa, a daughter of Cyrus the Great. In Western history, Xerxes is best known for his invasion of Greece in 480 BC, which ended in Persian defeat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Salamis</span> 480 BC Greek and Persian naval battle

The Battle of Salamis was a naval battle fought in 480 BC, between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles, and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was fought in the straits between the mainland and Salamis, an island in the Saronic Gulf near Athens, and marked the high point of the second Persian invasion of Greece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leonidas I</span> King of Sparta from c. 489 BC to 480 BC

Leonidas I was a Greek king of the Greek city-state of Sparta, and the 17th of the Agiad line, a dynasty which claimed descent from the mythical demigod Heracles. Leonidas I was a son of King Anaxandridas II. He succeeded his half-brother King Cleomenes I to the throne in c. 489 BC. His co-ruler was King Leotychidas. He was succeeded by his son, King Pleistarchus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Thermopylae</span> 480 BC engagement of the Greco-Persian Wars

The Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting over the course of three days, it was one of the most prominent battles of both the second Persian invasion of Greece and the wider Greco-Persian Wars.

Artabazos was a Persian general in the army of Xerxes I, and later satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia under the Achaemenid dynasty, founder of the Pharnacid dynasty of satraps. He was the son of Pharnaces, who was the younger brother of Hystaspes, father of Darius I. Artabazos was therefore a first cousin of the great Achaemenid ruler Darius I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Mycale</span> Battle that decisively ended Xerxess invasion of Greece

The Battle of Mycale was one of the two major battles that ended the second Persian invasion of Greece during the Greco-Persian Wars. It took place on or about August 27, 479 BC on the slopes of Mount Mycale, on the coast of Ionia, opposite the island of Samos. The battle was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states, including Sparta, Athens and Corinth, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greco-Persian Wars</span> Series of conflicts, 5th century BCE

The Greco-Persian Wars were a series of conflicts between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC. The collision between the fractious political world of the Greeks and the enormous empire of the Persians began when Cyrus the Great conquered the Greek-inhabited region of Ionia in 547 BC. Struggling to control the independent-minded cities of Ionia, the Persians appointed tyrants to rule each of them. This would prove to be the source of much trouble for the Greeks and Persians alike.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Artemisium</span> Part of the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC

The Battle of Artemisium or Artemision was a series of naval engagements over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece. The battle took place simultaneously with the land battle at Thermopylae, in August or September 480 BC, off the coast of Euboea and was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and others, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Plataea</span> Land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece (479 BC)

The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I.

Mardonius was a leading Persian military commander during the Persian Wars with Greece in the early 5th century BC who died at the Battle of Plataea.

Demaratus was a king of Sparta from around 515 BC to 491 BC. The 15th of the Eurypontid line, he was the first son born to his father, King Ariston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margiana</span> Province within the Iranian and Hellenistic states

Margiana is a historical region centred on the oasis of Merv and was a minor satrapy within the Achaemenid satrapy of Bactria, and a province within its successors, the Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian empires.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sistan</span> Region straddling eastern Iran and southern Afghanistan

Sistān, known in ancient times as Sakastān, is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran and Southern Afghanistan. Largely desert, the region is bisected by the Helmand River, the largest river in Afghanistan, which empties into the Hamun Lake that forms part of the border between the two countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parthia</span> Historical region located in northeastern Iran

Parthia is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemenid Empire under Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BC, and formed part of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire after the 4th-century BC conquests of Alexander the Great. The region later served as the political and cultural base of the Eastern Iranian Parni people and Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire. The Sasanian Empire, the last state of pre-Islamic Iran, also held the region and maintained the seven Parthian clans as part of their feudal aristocracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Persian invasion of Greece</span> 480–479 BC invasion of the Greco-Persian Wars

The second Persian invasion of Greece occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece at the Battle of Marathon, which ended Darius I's attempts to subjugate Greece. After Darius's death, his son Xerxes spent several years planning for the second invasion, mustering an enormous army and navy. The Athenians and Spartans led the Greek resistance. About a tenth of the Greek city-states joined the 'Allied' effort; most remained neutral or submitted to Xerxes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achaemenid Empire</span> Ancient Iranian empire (550–330 BC)

The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire was the ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC, known also as the First Persian Empire. Based in Western Asia, it was the largest empire the world had ever seen at its time, spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and the Indus Valley in the east.

Hydarnes II, also known as Hydarnes the Younger was a Persian commander of the Achaemenid Empire in the 5th century BC. He was the son of Hydarnes, satrap of the Persian empire and one of the seven conspirators against Gaumata.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artabanus (son of Hystaspes)</span> Brother of and advisor to Achaemenid king Darius I

Artabanus was a son of Hystaspes, and therefore brother of Darius I as well as uncle of Xerxes I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Artyphius</span> 5th-century BC Achaemenid general

Artyphius was a general of the Achaemenid Army during the Second Persian invasion of Greece. He was the son of Artabanus, grandson of Hystaspes, and therefore nephew of Darius the Great and first degree cousin of Xerxes I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Achaemenid destruction of Athens</span> Event in 480 BCE

The Achaemenid destruction of Athens was carried out by the Achaemenid Army of Xerxes I during the Second Persian invasion of Greece, and occurred in two phases over a period of two years, in 480–479 BCE.

References

  1. 1 2 Dresden, Mark J. (1983). "Sogdian Language and Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.). The Cambridge History of Iran, Volume 3(2): The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 216. ISBN   0-521-24693-8.
  2. 1 2 Rawlinson, George (2018). The Essential Works of George Rawlinson: Egypt, The Kings of Israel and Judah, Phoenicia, Parthia, Chaldea, Assyria, Media, Babylon, Persia, Sasanian Empire & Herodotus' Histories. e-artnow. p. 1216. ISBN   9788027244232.
  3. Herodotus (2012). The Histories Complete. Start Publishing LLC. p. 1216. ISBN   9781625585783.
  4. Henry Rawlinson, Herodotus, J. G. Wilkinson (1860). The history of Herodots ; A new English version, edited with copious notes and appendices ... by George Rawlinson, assisted by Col. Sir Henry Rawlinson, K.C.B., and Sir J. G. Wilkinson Volume 4. Murray. p. 66.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)