Artabazos in the Lands beyond the Caspian

Abstract

Artabazos, one of the best known Persian leaders in the final decades of the Achaimenid Empire and under Alexander, warrants closer study. He was the son of the famous satrap of Daskyleion, Pharnabazos, and Apame, a daughter of Artaxerxes II. When Alexander’s army landed in Asia Minor, two of the leaders of the resistance on the Aegean coast were members of Artabazos’ family: his son-in-law Memnon and his own son Pharnabazos. Although Artabazos’ activities in 330-328 are reasonably well documented by Arrian, it is largely from the work of Q. Curtius Rufus that we can construct a better picture of his career and of Persian factional rivalry.