Belesys II was the ruler of Achaemenid Syria as the

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median kingdom, Median and Achaemenid Empire, Persian (Achaemenid) Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic period, Hellenistic empi ...

of Eber-Nari from 358–338 BCE. Belesys was involved in suppressing the rebellion of

Sidon Sidon ( ) or better known as Saida ( ; ) is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast in the South Governorate, Lebanon, South Governorate, of which it is the capital. Tyre, Lebanon, Tyre, t ...

in 351 BCE. After the defeat of Artaxerxes III in his Egyptian campaign, Phoenicia declared independence from Persian rule. Artaxerxes initiated a counter-offensive against

by commanding the satrap of Syria Belesys and Mazaeus, the satrap of Cilicia, to invade the city and to keep the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns in check. Both satraps suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Tennes, the Sidonese king, who was aided by 40,000 Greek mercenaries sent to him by

Nectanebo II Nectanebo II (Egyptian language, Egyptian: ; ) was the last native ruler of ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt, Thirtieth Dynasty, reigning from 358 to c.340 BC. During the reign of Nectanebo ...

and commanded by Mentor of Rhodes. As a result, the Persian forces were driven out of

. An earlier Belesys I is also known, whose palace was destroyed by

Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger ( ''Kūruš''; ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC in battle during a failed attempt to oust his ...

in 401 BCE, and had first been a Governor of Babylon and then a satrap of Syria.

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