Abdashtart I (in Greek, Straton I) was a

king King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

of the Phoenician city-state 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 ...

who reigned from 365 BC to 352 BC following the death of his father, Baalshillem II.

Reform

His accession appears to have taken place in a period of economic and political difficulty, since he immediately took 'emergency measures',Steiner, M.L. & Killebrew, A.E., ''The Oxford Handbook of the Archaeology of the Levant: c. 8000-332 BCE'' (Oxford, 2014), p. 117 reducing the precious metal-content of the Sidonian double

shekel A shekel or sheqel (; , , plural , ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly 11 grams (0.35 ozt)—and became currency in ancient Tyre, Carthage and Hasmonean Judea. Name The wo ...

by , thereby devaluing the Sidonian

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

in his first year.Sagona, C. (ed.), ''Beyond the Homeland: Markers in Phoenician Chronology'' (Leuven, 2008), p. 106 He also expanded the currency, adding bronze coinage as well as silver, which funded the expansion of the Sidonian

navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. It is supposed that he gave his name to the city known in the Hellenized world as Straton's Tower, which was later renamed Caesarea by

Herod the Great Herod I or Herod the Great () was a History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Roman Jewish client king of the Herodian kingdom of Judea. He is known for his colossal building projects throughout Judea. Among these works are the rebuilding of the ...

. Joseph Patrich argues, however, that Straton's Tower may have been founded during the

Ptolemaic Kingdom The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...

instead, in which case the naming may have been for a Ptolemaic general of the third century BC.

Revolt against the Achaemenid Empire

Abdashtart formed diplomatic alliances with

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Relying on his increased fleet, by 360 BC or 359 BC he felt strong enough to revolt against the

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

. Although the Persians were already fighting the Egyptians (whose Pharaoh Tachos had invaded Phoenicia), and although the rebels won two military victories against the generals of Artaxerxes III in 358 BC and 356 BC, the revolt was suppressed in 355 BC and led to Persian occupation for the next four years, during which time the Sidonian currency was banned, minting privileges were stopped, and the Persian currency was forcibly introduced. The revolt has been described as 'a grave political error' for Abdashtart; not only did the Sidonians experience financial crisis and military repression, but they also lost swathes of territory to their neighbour, Tyre.

Later life

Straton King of Sidon inscription Acropolis of Athens

The Persians left Abdashtart on the throne, and he proceeded to further diplomatic ties with Athens and

Salamis, Cyprus Salamis (; ; ) was an ancient Greek city-state on the east coast of Cyprus, at the mouth of the river Pedieos, 6 km north of modern Famagusta. According to tradition, the founder of Salamis was Teucer, son of Telamon, king of the Greek is ...

, which had probably supported his revolt against Artaxerxes. Historians do not know whether he was the last of his dynasty, as it remains uncertain whether his known heir and successor, Tennes, was his son or some other close relative. Abdashtart was honoured by an inscription in the

Acropolis of Athens The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, ...

( IG II² 141):

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abdashtart 4th-century BC monarchs in Asia Kings of Sidon Rebellions against the Achaemenid Empire Vassals of the Achaemenid Empire 4th-century BC Phoenician people 4th-century BC rebels