Atropates

Atropates(Old Persian:*Ātr̥pātahandMiddle PersianĀtūrpāt;Ancient Greek:ἈτροπάτηςAtropátēs;c. 370 BC– after 321 BC) was aPersiannobleman who servedDarius III,thenAlexander the Great,and eventually founded an independent kingdom and dynasty that was named after him.Diodorus(18.4) refers to him asAtrápēs(Ἀτράπης),whileQuintus Curtius(8.3.17) erroneously names him 'Arsaces'.

Biography

Towards the end of theAchaemenid Empire,Atropates was governor (satrap) of the Achaemenid province ofMedia.In the decisiveBattle of Gaugamela(October 331 BCE) betweenDariusand Alexander, Atropates commanded the Achaemenid troops of Media and Sacasene.

Atropates was allocated the Hellenistic satrapy of Media, in thePartition of Babylon(323 BC) following Alexander's death.

Following his defeat in that battle,Dariusfled to the Median capital ofEcbatana,where Atropates gave him hospitality. Darius attempted to raise a new army but was forced to flee Ecbatana in June 330 BCE. After Darius' death a month later at the hands ofBessus,Atropates surrendered to Alexander.Alexander initially choseOxydatesas satrap of Media, but in 328-327 BCE after a period of two years Alexander lost trust in Oxydates' loyalty, and Atropates was reinstated to his old position.In 325-324, Atropates delivered Baryaxes (a sought-after rebel of the region) to Alexander while the latter was atPasargadae.Alexander's esteem for the governor rose so high that soon afterwards Atropates' daughter was married to Alexander's confidant and cavalry commanderPerdiccasat the famousmass weddingatSusain February 324 BCE.

Later that year, Alexander visited Atropates inEcbatanawith his good friend and second-in-commandHephaestion,who fell ill and died in October 324 BCE. At this time, "[i]t was related by some authors, that Atropates on one occasion presented Alexander with a hundred women, said to be Amazons; butArrian([Anabasis] vii. 13) disbelieved the story. "

Alexander himself died eight months later on June 10, 323 BCE, and Atropates' new son-in-lawPerdiccaswas named regent of Alexander's half-brotherPhilip III.Following the "Partition of Babylon"in 323 BCE, Media was divided into two parts: the greater portion in the south-east was to be governed byPeithon,a general ofPerdiccas,while a smaller portion in the north west (principally around theAraxes Riverbasin) was given to Atropates. At some point thereafter, Atropates refused to convey allegiance to thediadochiand made his part of Media an independent kingdom, while his son-in-lawPerdiccaswas eventually murdered byPeithonin the summer of 320 BCE.

Legacy

The dynasty Atropates founded would rule the kingdom for several centuries, at first either independently or as vassals of theSeleucids,then as vassals of theArsacids,into whose house they are saidto have married.

The region that encompassed Atropates' kingdom come to be known to the Greeks as "Media Atropatene"after Atropates, and eventually simply"Atropatene".The Arsacids called it 'Aturpatakan' inParthian,as did also theSassanidswho eventually succeeded them. Eventually,Middle IranianĀturpātakānbecameĀzarbāygānandĀzarbāyjānin New Persian, whence the names of the modern nation ofAzerbaijanand theIranian region of Azerbaijan(which is largely contiguous with the borders of ancient Atropatene).Medieval Arab geographers came up with other explanations of the name, such as 'fire temple' or 'guardian of the fire', from the Persian wordsāzar'fire', andpāyegān'guardian/protector'.

Bibliography

Ancient works

• Justin,Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus.
• Strabo,Geographica.

Modern works

• Boyce, Mary(2000)."Ganzak".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume X/3: Fruit–Gāvbāzī.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 289–290.ISBN978-0-933273-47-4.
• Chaumont, M. L. (1987)."Atropates".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III/1: Ātaš–Awāʾel al-Maqālāt.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 17–18.ISBN978-0-71009-113-0.
• Fredricksmeyer, Ernst (2002). Bosworth, A. B.; Baynham, E. J. (eds.).Alexander the Great and the Kingship of Asia.Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–370.ISBN9780199252756.
• de Planhol, X.(1987)."Azerbaijan i. Geography".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III/2: Awāʾel al-maqālāt–Azerbaijan IV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 205–215.ISBN978-0-71009-114-7.
• Schippmann, K. (1987)."Azerbaijan iii. Pre-Islamic History".InYarshater, Ehsan(ed.).Encyclopædia Iranica, Volume III/2: Awāʾel al-maqālāt–Azerbaijan IV.London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 221–224.ISBN978-0-71009-114-7.
• Roisman, Joseph (2002).Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great.London and New York: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–436.ISBN9789004217553.
• Tavernier, Jan (2007).Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Lexicon of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts.Peeters Publishers.ISBN9789042918337.