Mazaeus or Mazday (

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

: 𐡌𐡆𐡃𐡉 MZDY, Greek: Μαζαῖος ''Mazaios'') (died 328 BC) was an

Achaemenid 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 large ...

Persian noble, satrap (a type of governor) of

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 later satrap of

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

for the Achaemenid Empire. He retained the satrapy after Babylon was under the rule of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

Life

Mazaeus was the penultimate

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of 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 ...

(governor) of

. His successor in Cilicia was

Arsames Arsames ( Aršāma, modern Persian:،آرسام، آرشام‎ Arshām, Greek: ) was the son of Ariaramnes and the grandfather of Darius I. He was traditionally claimed to have briefly been king of Persia during the Achaemenid dynasty, an ...

, who was ultimately expelled by

. At the

Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela ( ; ), also called the Battle of Arbela (), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Ancient Macedonian army, Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Army, Persian Army under Darius III, ...

, Mazaeus commanded the right flank with the

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

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 ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

Parthia Parthia ( ''Parθava''; ''Parθaw''; ''Pahlaw'') is a historical region located in northeastern Greater Iran. It was conquered and subjugated by the empire of the Medes during the 7th century BC, was incorporated into the subsequent Achaemeni ...

n, Sacian,

Tapuria Tabaristan or Tabarestan (; ; from , ), was a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. It corresponded to the present-day province of Mazandaran, which became the predominant name of the area from the 11th-century onwar ...

Hyrcania Hyrcania (; ''Hyrkanía'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian Sea ...

Sacesinia Sacesinians were an ancient people who fought for the Persians in Alexander the Great's war of conquest on the Achaemenid Empire. They gave horsemen to the Persians which were used together with the horsemen of Ardan Caucasian Albania. They lived ...

Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...

n, and

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

n cavalry. As a reward for his recognition of Alexander as the legitimate successor of Darius, Mazaeus was rewarded by being able to retain the satrapy of Babylon, as a Hellenistic satrap. Alexander left a Macedonian,

Apollodorus of Amphipolis Apollodorus () from Amphipolis was one of the cavalry generals of Alexander the Great, who commanded the force Alexander left behind with the Babylonian governor Mazaeus. He was entrusted in 331 BC, together with Menes of Pella, with the administrat ...

, as the military commander of the garrison of Babylon, and another as tax-collector. Mazaeus continued minting coins under his name, and later without his name. The daughter of the Persian king Darius III,

Stateira II Stateira (; died 323 BC), possibly also known as Barsine, was the daughter of Stateira and Darius III of Persia. After her father's defeat at the Battle of Issus, Stateira and her sisters became captives of Alexander of Macedon. They were ...

, was originally betrothed to him, but he died before they could be married. She was eventually married to Alexander. Waldemar Heckel suggested that the

Alexander Sarcophagus The Alexander Sarcophagus is a late 4th century BC Hellenistic stone sarcophagus from the Royal necropolis of Ayaa near Sidon, Lebanon. It is adorned with high relief carvings of Alexander the Great and scrolling historical and mythological na ...

might have been dedicated to him. Mazaeus was replaced as satrap of Babylon by Stamenes.

Coinage

Mazaeus had an abundant coinage, which he minted in

Tarsos Tarsus (; Hittite: 𒋫𒅈𒊭 ; ; ; ) is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,029 km2, and its population is 350,732 (2022). It is a historic city, inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the ...

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 ...

and

. Coinage as Satrap of Cilicia File:CILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361-0-334 BC.jpg, Coin of Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC.

: 𐡌 "M" below throne File:PHOENICIA, Sidon. Mazday (Mazaios). Circa 353-333 BC.jpg, Mazday (Mazaios) as ruler of

. Circa 353-333 BC. File:CILICIA, Tarsos. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361-0-334 BCE.jpg, Coin of Mazaios, with

Artaxerxes III Ochus ( ), known by his dynastic name Artaxerxes III ( ; ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 359/58 to 338 BC. He was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II and his mother was Stateira. Before ascending the throne Artaxerxes was ...

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

. Satrap of Cilicia, 361/0-334 BC.

. File:CILICIA, Myriandros. Mazaios. Satrap of Cilicia, 361-0-334 BCE.jpg, Coin of Mazaios, with

and possibly

Artaxerxes IV Arses (; ), also known by his regnal name Artaxerxes IV (; ; ), was the twelfth Achaemenid King of Kings from 338 to 336 BC. Arses ascended the throne, after his father Artaxerxes III—who had caused a resurgence of the Persian Empire—was p ...

s. Coinage as Satrap of Babylon File:PERSIA, Alexandrine Empire. Mazaios. Satrap of Babylon, circa 331-328 BC.jpg, Coinage of Mazaios as Hellenistic Satrap of Babylon, circa 331-328 BC. File:Daric of Mazaeus, satrap of Babylon.jpg, Late coinage of Mazaeus as satrap of

References

{{Hellenistic satraps Year of birth missing 328 BC deaths Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire 4th-century BC Iranian people Achaemenid satraps of Cilicia Darius III