IΔΡΥΜA ΜΕΙΖΟΝΟΣ ΕΛΛΗΝΙΣΜΟΥ Συγγραφή : Παλαιοθόδωρος Δημήτρης Μετάφραση : Νάκας Ιωάννης Για παραπομπή : Παλαιοθόδωρος Δημήτρης , "Pissouthnes", Εγκυκλοπαίδεια Μείζονος Ελληνισμού, Εύξεινος Πόντος URL:

Περίληψη : of around 440 BC. Initially a foe of the Athenians, he mutinied against Darius II. He was defeated and murdered by . Τόπος και Χρόνος Γέννησης 5th c. BC. Τόπος και Χρόνος Θανάτου End of 5th c. BC. Κύρια Ιδιότητα Satrap

1. Biography

Persian dignitary of the , a descendant of the royal family. His father was probably Ystaspes II, son of Darius I and Atossa, satrap of Bactrian.1 He had an illegitimate son, Amorges, who later revolted against the king with the aid of the Athenians.

2. His early activity: satrap of Sardeis

The first reference to Pissouthnes dates to 440 BC, during the time of the defection of Samos by the Athenian League and from the beginning of his long career he appears as a bold and active politician and diplomat. He was a basic contributor in the dispute of the status quo in Ionia, without however ever challenging the Athenians to an open conflict. As the satrap of Sardeis he had signed an alliance with the exiled oligarchic Samians who had overthrown the democratic government established by the Athenians. Notwithstanding the fact that Pissouthnes appears to have succeeded in liberating the Samian hostages of the Athenians who were kept on Lemnos and, probably in hiring 700 mercenaries in his territory on behalf of the rebels, his actions were not considered a violation of the Peace of Callias (499 BC).2 Plutarch also mentions his attempt to bribe Pericles in order not to establish a democracy in Samos.3 When the revolt was crushed, he must have come into negotiations with Pericles regarding the return of the Athenian prisoners and their Samian allies. Historians consider plausible the scenario which connects any facilitations he provided to the Persian side to the abandonment of the cities of Eastern Caria by the First Athenian Alliance, in 438 BC.4

The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War provided Pissouthnes with new opportunities to turn against the Athenian posts in Asia Minor. In the Spring of 430 BC, a certain Itamenes, assisted by barbarians, conquered Colophon. The inhabitants of the city found refuge in Notium, whereas part of them, aided by Pissouthnes’Arcadian and barbarian mercenaries, caused a riot in the city. Finally, thanks to the intervention of the Athenian admiral Paches the people of Colophon abandoned Notium. Later, in 427 BC, Ionian and Lesbian exiles tried to persuade Pissouthnes to unite with then and to fight the Athenians, in order to capture a coastal city. This time the violation of the Peace of Callias would have been evident, so Pissouthnes decided to remain inactive.5

3. The revolt against Darius II

In 432 BC, the ascent of Darius II the Nothus to the throne of the Achaemenid Empire, gave Pissouthnes the chance and the pretext to revolt. Although we do not know the exact date of this revolt, which is only mentioned by Ctesias, it is possible that it belongs to the first period of Darius II’s reign. The intentions of Pissouthnes are unknown to us: he either believed that as satrap of Sardeis he could gain his independence by taking advantage of the instability of Darius II’s authority, or indented to take the throne for himself.

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His actions were ratified by his royal ancestry, but his main support was his powerful mercenary army under the Athenian Lycon, which, however, at a critical moment, betrayed him, after it was bribed by his opponents. Eventually, Pissouthnes was arrested and burned alive in Sardeis. His position at the satrapy was taken over by Tissaphernes, one of the three generals which were sent by Darius II against him.6

1. Hdt. 7.64.2. Diod. Sic. 11.69.2 mentions that the father of Pissouthnes was Ystaspes, son of Xerxes, but this is less possible. In this case, Pissouthnes would have been too young in 440 BC, when his career began.

2. Thuc. 1.115.4. For the mercenaries see Diod. Sic. 12.27.3. Apparently the treaty forbade any hostile acts against the allies of the Athenians. From the moment the Samians revolted and were cut off by the alliance, the terms of the treaty did not include them. See Lewis, D.M., and Lakonia (Leiden 1977), p. 59, n. 65; Badian, E., From Plataea to Potidaia. Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia (Baltimore – London 1993), pp. 33-34.

3. Plut. Per. 25.3-4.

4. Lewis, D.M., Sparta and Lakonia (Leiden 1977), p. 60. In contrast, Badian, E., From Plataea to Potidaia. Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia (Baltimore – London 1993), pp. 38-39, considered that the surrender of the cities of Caria is the price the Athenians had to pay in order to keep Artaxerxes from intervening to help the Samians.

5. For the Notium incident and Colophon, see Thuc. 3.34.2. For the invitation by the Ionian and Mytilinian exiles, see Thuc. 3.31.1.

6. Ctes. FGrHist 688 F 15.53. Despite its questioning by some historians, the story is original. Pissouthnes’revolt has been dated between 422 and 421 BC, or around 415 BC, or even in 413 BC.

Βιβλιογραφία : Lewis D., Sparta and Persia, Leiden 1977

Balcer J.M., A prosopographical Study of the Ancient Persians Royal and Noble c.550-450 B.C., Lewiston – Queenston – Lampeter 1993

Badian E., From Platea to Potidaea. Studies in the History and Historiography of the Pentecontaetia, Baltimore – London 1993

Kübler P., Die persische Politik gegenüber dem Griechentum in der Pentekontaetia, Diss., Universität Heidelberg 1950

Dandameyev M.A., A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire, Leiden 1989

Schaeffer H., "Pissouthnes", RE, 20.2, 1807-1809

Δικτυογραφία : History of the Persian Empire http://www.parstimes.com/library/brief_history_of_persian_empire.html Pissuthnes

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http://www.livius.org/pi-pm/pissuthnes/pissuthnes.html

Πηγές Herodotus, Histories 7.64.2.

Plutarch, Lives: Pericles 25.3-4.

Thucydides 3.31.1, 3.34.2.

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