Artaeus (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

: ''Ἀρταῖος''.

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 ...

: ''R̥taya''), is the legendary sixth king of

Media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

mentioned by

Ctesias Ctesias ( ; ; ), also known as Ctesias of Cnidus, was a Greek physician and historian from the town of Cnidus in Caria, then part of the Achaemenid Empire. Historical events Ctesias, who lived in the fifth century BC, was physician to the Acha ...

, who succeeded Arbian, and not

Sardanapalus According to the Greek writer Ctesias, Sardanapalus ( ; ), sometimes spelled Sardanapallus (), was the last king of Assyria, although in fact Aššur-uballiṭ II (612–605 BC) holds that distinction. Ctesias' book ''Persica'' is lost, but we ...

. Artaeus was the father of Artachaees and Azanes.

History

During his reign, there is a dispute between him and a certain

Parsondes Parsondes was the king of the Cadusii, who, according to Ctesias, was a Mede of Persian origin. Name The name Parsondes probably comes from the important city of Parsindu, which was located among the mountains of Namri, on the road to Ecbatana. ...

, who asks Artaeus for the post of satrap of

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

, 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 which at that time was Nanarus, whom Parsondes did not like just because of his appearance. After several attempts to take away power from Nanarus with the help of Artaeus, he eventually takes offense at the decision of the king and runs to the Cadusian tribe with three thousand foot soldiers and a thousand horsemen, where he married the sister of one of the most influential people in those parts. After leading the Cadusian tribe, Parsondes defeats Artaeus and devastates

. At the end of his days "Parsondes" makes a great oath that no successor will make peace with the

Medes The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian peoples, Iranian people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media (region), Media between western Iran, western and northern Iran. Around the 11th century BC, they occupied the m ...

; and thus the enmity continued.'' Sir Ronald Syme.'
Roman Papers: Volume VI
—

Clarendon Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1991-08. — С. 319. — 486 с. — .

References

{{Reflist Kings of Media