Mazares (

Median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...

: ''Mazdara'', ) was a

general who defected to

Cyrus the Great Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Media ...

when the latter overthrew the Median king Astyages and formed the

Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the larg ...

. Mazares is mentioned by

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

as a Median general in the service of

who died while putting down a revolt in Asia Minor.

Repression of the Lydian revolt

After Cyrus' conquest of

Lydia Lydia (; ) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom situated in western Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Later, it became an important province of the Achaemenid Empire and then the Roman Empire. Its capital was Sardis. At some point before 800 BC, ...

in 539 BC, a Lydian official named Pactyas, whom Cyrus had honored by making him a treasury official in his own government, raised an army of Lydians and

Ionia Ionia ( ) was an ancient region encompassing the central part of the western coast of Anatolia. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionians who ...

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

. He revolted against Tabalus, Cyrus'

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 ...

Sardis Sardis ( ) or Sardes ( ; Lydian language, Lydian: , romanized: ; ; ) was an ancient city best known as the capital of the Lydian Empire. After the fall of the Lydian Empire, it became the capital of the Achaemenid Empire, Persian Lydia (satrapy) ...

in Lydia, besieging the Persian forces in the royal enclosure and stealing from the famed Lydian Hoard (the riches of King Crœsus) to finance his revolt. Cyrus, upon hearing of the revolt, was enraged and made plans to punish the Lydians by burning

to the ground. King Crœsus, who had been made an advisor to Cyrus' court after his defeat, entreated Cyrus to leave his former capital unharmed. According to Herodotus, Crœsus' recommendation was to disarm the population and enact trade laws that would turn the minds of the people to habits of luxury and pleasure: :"By doing this," Crœsus advised, "the people will, in a short time, become so enervated and so effeminate that you will have nothing to fear from them." Cyrus, who was to become known for the mercy he showed to the peoples he conquered, agreed and sent his commander Mazares to put down the insurrection according to Crœsus' wishes, with instructions to return Pactyas alive for punishment. But Pactyas fled when Marzares' forces approached the city and found refuge in Ionian Greece. Mazares gave chase, conquering the Ionian Greek city-states of

Priene Priene (; ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called the Büyük Menderes Rive ...

and Magnesia, capturing Pactyas after several attempts and sending him back to Cyrus for punishment. Mazares then continued the conquest of Asia Minor, but died of unknown causes while on campaign:

Succession

Cyrus then sent his leading general, Harpagus, to take his place. Harpagus completed Mazares' conquests of

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

Lycia Lycia (; Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; , ; ) was a historical region in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean Sea in what is today the provinces of Antalya and Muğ ...

Cilicia Cilicia () is a geographical region in southern Anatolia, extending inland from the northeastern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea. Cilicia has a population ranging over six million, concentrated mostly at the Cilician plain (). The region inclu ...

and

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 ...

, using the hitherto unknown technique of building earthworks to breach the walls of besieged cities:

External links

Livius.org Histories

The Baldwyn Project

References

{{Achaemenid rulers Iranian generals Median people Military leaders of the Achaemenid Empire 6th-century BC deaths Year of birth unknown 6th-century BC Iranian people Achaemenid satraps of Lydia Officials of Cyrus the Great