Spitamenes (
Old Persian
Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as (I ...
''Spitamana'';
Greek ''Σπιταμένης''; 370 BC – 328 BC) was a
Sogdia
Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...
n warlord
[Holt, Frank L. (1989), ''Alexander the Great and Bactria: the Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia'', Leiden, New York, Copenhagen, Cologne: E. J. Brill, pp 64–65 (see footnote #63 for a discussion on Spitamenes and Apama), .] and the leader of the uprising in
Sogdia
Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...
na and
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
against
Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, in 329 BC. He has been credited by modern historians as one of the most tenacious adversaries of Alexander.
Biography
Spitamenes was an ally of
Bessus.
In 329 BC, Bessus stirred a revolt in the eastern satrapies, and the same year his allies began to be uncertain about supporting him.
Alexander went with his army to Drapsaca, outflanked Bessus and sent him fleeing. Bessus was then removed from power by Spitamenes, and Ptolemy was sent to catch him.
While Alexander was founding the new city of
Alexandria Eschate on the
Jaxartes river, news came that Spitamenes had roused Sogdiana against him and was besieging the
Macedonian garrison in
Markanda. Too occupied at that time to personally lead an army against Spitamenes, Alexander sent an army under the command of
Pharnuches which was promptly annihilated with a loss of no less than 2,000
infantry and 300 cavalry.
The uprising now posed a direct threat to his army, and Alexander moved personally to relieve Markanda, only to learn that Spitamenes had left Sogdiana and was attacking
Bactria
Bactria (; Bactrian language, Bactrian: , ), or Bactriana, was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization in Central Asia based in the area south of the Oxus River (modern Amu Darya) and north of the mountains of the Hindu Kush, an area ...
, from where he was repulsed with great difficulty by 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 Bactria,
Artabazos II (328 BC).
The decisive point came in December 328 BC when Spitamenes was defeated by Alexander's general
Coenus at the Battle of Gabai. Spitamenes was killed by some treacherous nomadic tribes' leaders and they sent his head to Alexander, suing for peace.
Spitamenes had a daughter,
Apama, who was married to one of Alexander's most important generals and an eventual
Diadochos,
Seleucus I Nicator (February 324 BC). The couple had a son,
Antiochus I Soter
Antiochus I Soter (, ''Antíochos Sōtér''; "Antiochus Soter, the Savior"; 2 June 261 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. Antiochus succeeded his father Seleucus I Nicator in 281 BC and reigned during a period of instabi ...
, a future ruler of the
Seleucid Empire.
Several towns were named
Apamea in her honour.
References
Sources
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{{Authority control
Opponents of Alexander the Great
370 BC births
328 BC deaths
4th-century BC Iranian people
Sogdian monarchs
4th-century BC rebels