Syennesis, also Syennesis III ( grc, Συέννεσις, Aramaic:TRZ) was a ruler of

ancient Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...

in the 5th century BCE.

Rule

Syennesis was a contemporary of Artaxerxes II of Persia, and when

Cyrus the Younger Cyrus the Younger ( peo, 𐎤𐎢𐎽𐎢𐏁 ''Kūruš''; grc-gre, Κῦρος ; died 401 BC) was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC i ...

, marching against Artaxerxes in 401 BCE, arrived at the borders of

Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coas ...

, he found the passes guarded by Syennesis, who, however, withdrew his troops on receiving intelligence that the force advanced by Cyrus under Meno had already entered Cilicia, and that the combined fleet of the Lacedaemonians and the prince, under

Samius The gens Sammia or Samia was an obscure plebeian family of equestrian rank at ancient Rome. Few members of this gens are mentioned in history, but a number are known from inscriptions. Praenomina The main praenomina of the Sammii were '' Lucius'' ...

and Tamos, was sailing round from

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionian ...

. When Cyrus reached Tarsus, the Cilician capital, he found that Meno's soldiers had sacked the city, and commanded Syennesis to appear before him. Syennesis had fled for refuge to a stronghold among the mountains, but he was induced by his wife, Epyaxa, to obey the summons of Cyrus. Here he received gifts of honor from Cyrus, whom he supplied in his turn with a large sum of money and a considerable body of troops under the command of one of his sons. At the same time, however, Syennesis took care to send his other son to Artaxerxes, to represent his meeting with Cyrus as having been something he'd been forced to do, while his heart all the time was with the king, Artaxerxes. From Xenophon's telling it appears that Syennesis at this time, though really a vassal of Persia, affected the tone of an independent sovereign.

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

, ''

Bibliotheca historica ''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, ...

'' xiv. 20

Coinage

File:CILICIA, Tarsos. Circa 425-400 BC.jpg, Possible coin of Syennesis, Tarsos. Circa 425-400 BC. Satrap on horseback riding left; behind, eagle perched left on branch; monogram below / Archer in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow; monogram behind.

Notes

{{DGRBM, author=EE, title=Syennesis, volume=3, page=949, url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/acl3129.0003.001/957 5th-century BC rulers Anabasis (Xenophon) People from ancient Cilicia Achaemenid satraps of Cilicia