Mitrobates (Old Persian:*Miθrapātaʰ,Ancient Greek:ΜιτροβάτηςMitrobátēs); (fl.c. 525 - 520 BC) was anAchaemenid satrap ofDaskyleion (Hellespontine Phrygia) under the reigns ofCyrus the Great, who nominated him for the role, andCambyses. After Cambyses died, and during the struggles for succession that followed, he is said to have been assassinated, together with his son Cranaspes, by the neighbouring satrap ofLydia,Oroetes, who wanted to expand his Anatolian territories.[1][2] After the assassination, Oroetes added the territory of Hellespontine Phrygia to his own.[3]
AfterCambyses had died and the Magians won the kingship,Oroetes stayed in Sardis, where he in no way helped the Persians to regain the power taken from them by the Medes, but contrariwise; for in this confusion he slew two notable Persians, Mitrobates, the governor fromDascyleium, who had taunted him concerningPolycrates, and Mitrobates' son Cranaspes; and besides many other violent deeds, when a messenger fromDarius came with a message which displeased him, he set an ambush by the way and killed that messenger on his journey homewards, and made away with the man's body and horse. So when Darius became king he was minded to punish Oroetes for all his wrongdoing, and chiefly for the killing of Mitrobates and his son.
— Herodotus III, 126-127.[4]
These events took place in the troubled times of the interregnum between Cambyses andDarius I, with the usurpation ofGaumata, who Herodotus refers to as "the Magians".[5] The story of early satraps ofAsia Minor, including Mitrobates, was related byHerodotus.[5]
Mitrobates is the first known Persian satrap of Daskyleion (c. 525–520 BCE). Following the reorganisation of satraps byDarius I, he was succeeded byMegabazus (circa 500 BCE) and then his sonOebares II (c. 493 BCE) andArtabazus (479 BCE), who established the PersianPharnacid dynasty, which would ruleHellespontine Phrygia until the conquests ofAlexander the Great (338 BCE).[6]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.Rulers in theAchaemenid Empire | ||
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Family tree - Achaemenid Kingdom | ||
| Kings of Kings of theAchaemenid Empire |  | |
| Satraps ofLydia | ||
| Satraps ofHellespontine Phrygia | ||
| Satraps ofCappadocia | ||
| Greek Governors ofAsia Minor cities | ||
| Dynasts ofLycia | ||
| Dynasts ofCaria | ||
| Kings ofMacedonia | ||
| Kings of Tyre | ||
| Kings of Sidon |
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| Satraps ofArmenia | ||
| Satraps ofEgypt | ||
| Satraps ofBactria | ||
| Satraps ofMedia | ||
| Satraps ofCilicia | ||
| Other known satraps | ||
In most territories, Achaemenid rulers were succeeded byHellenistic satraps andHellenistic rulers from around 330 BC | ||