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Ariobarzanes -(death: crucified
in c. 362), sometimes known as Ariobarzanes I of Cius, was a Persian Satrap of
Phrygia and military commander, leader of an independence revolt, and the first
known of the line of rulers of the Greek town of Cius from which were
eventually to stem the kings of Pontus in the 3rd century . Ariobarzanes was
apparently a cadet member of the Achaemenid dynasty, possibly son of
Pharnabazus II, and
part of the Pharnacid dynasty which had settled to hold Dascylium of Hellespont
in the 470s BCE. Cius is located near Dascylium, and Cius seemingly was a share
of family holdings for the branch of Ariobarzanes. Ariobarzanes' one
predecessor was a (kinsman) named Mithradates (possibly Mithradates, Satrap of
Cappadocia).
The archaeologist Walther Judeich claims that Ariobarzanes was that
Mithradates' son, but Brian C. McGing refutes that specific filiation.
Seemingly, no classical source itself calls them son and father, the filiation
being a later reconstruction on basis of successorship.
Rule:
Pharnabazus, Satrap of Phrygia (fl. 413 – 373), son of Pharnaces of
Phrygia, is indicated to have shared his rule and territories with his brothers
in the late 5th century when Pharnabazos had recently succeeded to the
position. Mithradates, Satrap of Cappadocia, might have been one of such
brothers. Ariobarzanes of Cius might have also been one of those brothers. The
classical source Appianus relates that Ariobarzanes was of a cadet line of the
family of the Persian Great King Dareios (Darius the Great). It is highly
probable he is the same Ariobarzanes who, around 407, was the Persian envoy to
the Greek city-states and cultivated the friendship of Athens and Sparta.
Ariobarzanes conducted the Athenian ambassadors, in 405 BCE, to his sea-town of
Cius in Mysia, after they had been detained three years by order of Cyrus the
Younger. Ariobarzanes was mentioned as under-satrap in Anatolia in late 5th
century.
He then apparently succeeded his presumed kinsman (possibly elder brother)
Pharnabazus (fl. 413 – 373) as satrap of Phrygia and Lydia, assigned by
Pharnabazos himself when he departed to the Persian court to marry Apama,
daughter of the Persian king. Thus Ariobarzanes became the satrap of
Hellespontine
Phrygia, in what is now the northwest of Turkey. Pharnabazos lived well
into the 370s, having obtained higher positions in the Persian monarchy than
merely the Phrygian satrapship. Ariobarzanes assisted Antalcidas in 388.
Delphi embassy (368):
He appears to have still held some high office in the Persian court in 368, as
we find him, apparently on behalf of the king, sending an embassy led by
Philiscus of Abydos to Greece in that year. Both Philiscus and Ariobarzanes, as
well as three of his sons, were made citizens of Athens, a remarkable honor
suggesting important services rendered to the city-state. Ariobarzanes, who is
called by Diodorus satrap of Phrygia, and by Nepos satrap of Lydia, Ionia, and
Phrygia, revolted against Artaxerxes II in 362. Demosthenes speaks of
Ariobarzanes and his three sons having been lately made Athenian citizens. He
mentions him again in the following year and says, that the Athenians had sent
Timotheus to his assistance; but that when the Athenian general saw that
Ariobarzanes was in open revolt against the king, he refused to assist him.
Great Satraps' Revolt:
Main article: Great Satraps' Revolt
When Pharnabazos' other son, Artabazos II of Phrygia, wanted to regain the
satrapy from his brother, Ariobarzanes refused. Ultimately, in about 366,
Ariobarzanes joined an unsuccessful revolt of the satraps of western Anatolia
against the Achamenian King
Artaxerxes II (Revolt
of the Satraps). Several other satraps sided with Ariobarzanes, including
Mausolus of Caria
(briefly), Orontes I of Armenia, Autophradates of Lydia and
Datames of Cappadocia. The
rebel satraps also received support from the pharaoh of Egypt, Teos, as well as
from some of the Greek city states, with the Spartan king Agesilaus II coming
to their assistance with a mercenary force. Ariobarzanes withstood a siege at
Adramyttium in 366, from Mausolus of Caria and Autophradates of Lydia, until
Agesilaus negotiated the besiegers' retreat. Ariobarzanes was betrayed by his
son Mithridates to his overlord, the Persian king, who had Ariobarzanes
crucified.
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