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Megabazus

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Megabazus
Megabazus was son of Megabates.[1]
Native name
Bakabadus
AllegianceAchaemenid Empire
Battles / warsEuropean Scythian campaign of Darius I
Darius' Thracian campaign
Unknown others
ChildrenMegabates[2]
Oebares II
Bubares
Pherendates[3]
RelationsMegabates (father)
Macedonians were part of the Achaemenid army after the submission obtained by Megabazus. The "Ionians with shield-hats" (Old Persian cuneiform: 𐎹𐎢𐎴𐎠𐏐𐎫𐎣𐎲𐎼𐎠, Yaunā takabarā)[4] depicted on the tomb of Xerxes I at Naqsh-e Rustam, were probably Macedonian soldiers in the service of the Achaemenid army, wearing the petasos or kausia, c.480 BC.[5]
Megabazus became satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia.

Megabazus (Old Persian: Bagavazdā or Bagabāzu, Ancient Greek: Μεγαβάζος and Μεγάβυζος), son of Megabates, was a highly regarded Persian general under Darius, to whom he was a first-degree cousin. Most of the information about Megabazus comes from The Histories by Herodotus.

Scythian campaign (513 BC)

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Megabazus led the army of the Persian King Darius I in 513 BC during his European Scythian campaign. After this had to be discontinued without result, Megabazos was left as commander-in-chief of an 80,000-man army in Europe, with the mission of subjugating the Greek cities on the Hellespont. The Persian troops first subjugated gold-rich Thrace after capturing Perinthos and the coastal Greek cities, and then defeated the powerful Paeonians, many of whom he deported to Phrygia.[6][7]

Subjugation of Macedon

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Main article: Achaemenid Macedonia

Finally, Megabazus sent envoys to Amyntas I, king of Macedon, demanding acceptance of Persian domination, which the king accepted.[8][7] Megabazus received the present of "Earth and Water" from Amyntas, which symbolised submission to the Achaemenid Emperor.[9] Amyntas then acted as hyparch to Darius I.[10]

Disagreements arose when the members of the Persian delegation insulting the Macedonians by fraternising with their wives. The Macedonian prince Alexander I reacted to this by murdering several Persian diplomats and their followers. The conflict was later settled with the marriage of one of Megabazus' sons, Bubares, to the Macedonian princess Gygaia, a daughter of Amyntas.[9][1]

After his return to Asia Minor, Megabazus received the governorship of the province (satrapy) of Hellespontine Phrygia and was based in its capital Daskyleion.

Rivalry with Histiaeus

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Megabazus was suspicious of Histiaeus, tyrant of Miletus, and advised Darius to bring him to the Persian capital of Susa to keep a closer eye on him. His suspicions turned out to be well founded as Histiaeus provoked a revolt in the town of which he was formally in charge and later sided with the Greeks against Persia. The successor to Megabazus' command was Otanes (son of Sisamnes).[11]

Family

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According to Herodotus (Herodotus 6.33) Oebares was a son of Megabazus, and became satrap of Daskyleion (Hellespontine Phrygia) in 493 BC.[12][1]

Megabates was another son of Megabazus. He was a commander of the Achaemenid fleet that sailed against Naxos in 500/499 BC. He also was Satrap of Daskyleion in the early 470s.[1][13]

Sons

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Foundation, Encyclopaedia Iranica. "Welcome to Encyclopaedia Iranica". iranicaonline.org.
  2. ^ "Megabazus - Livius". www.livius.org.
  3. ^ "Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Asia Minor". asiaminor.ehw.gr.
  4. ^ "DNa - Livius". www.livius.org.
  5. ^ Olbrycht, Marck Jan (2010). "Macedonia and Persia". In Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (eds.). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Oxford, Chichester, & Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 343–344. ISBN 978-1-4051-7936-2.
  6. ^ Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (7 July 2011). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444351637. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Persian influence on Greece (2)". Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  8. ^ Roisman, Joseph; Worthington, Ian (7 July 2011). A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781444351637. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b Waters, Matt (2014). Ancient Persia: A Concise History of the Achaemenid Empire, 550–330 BCE. Cambridge University Press. p. 83. ISBN 9781107009608.
  10. ^ King, Carol J. (2017). Ancient Macedonia. Routledge. p. 27. ISBN 9781351710329.
  11. ^ "Perseus Under Philologic: Hdt. 5.25.1". Archived from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2019-01-13.
  12. ^ "LacusCurtius • Herodotus — Book VI: Chapters 1‑42". penelope.uchicago.edu.
  13. ^ Thucydides, 1.129; Herodotus, 5.32-35, 6.32

See also

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