- Mithrenes
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Mithrenes I Satrap of Armenia Reign 331 - 317 BC Coronation 331 BC Full name Mithrenes Died 317 BC Predecessor Orontes II Successor Orontes III Offspring Orontes III Royal House Armavir Dynasty Orontid Dynasty Father Orontes II Mithrenes (Armenian: Միհրան, Greek: Mιθρένης or Mιθρίνης) was an Armenian commander of the Persian force which garrisoned the citadel of Sardis. After the battle of the Granicus Mithrines surrendered voluntarily to Alexander the Great, and was treated by him with great distinction. He fought for Alexander at Gaugamela, and ironically he was fighting against an army that included his father Orontes II. After the battle, Alexander appointed him Satrap of Armenia, as his father had been.
It's not clear, however, whether Mithrenes actually managed to take control of his satrapy. According to Curtius, in his speech given at Hecatompylos in 330 BC Alexander the Great listed Armenia among lands conquered by Macedonians, implying that Mithrenes succeeded in conquering it[1]; on the other hand, Justin reproduced Pompeius Trogus' rendition of a speech attributed to Mithridates VI of Pontus, which mentioned that Alexander didn't conquer Armenia[2].
In summary, Mithrenes ruled on behalf of the new Macedonian regime. However after the death of Alexander III, Neoptolemus was made Satrap of Armenia from 323 - 321 BC.[3]
After the death of Neoptolemus, and the struggles going on with the Diadochi it seems Mithrenes not only returned to his ancestral seat but declared himself king.
References
- Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, "Mithrenes", Boston, (1867)
Notes
- ^ Curtius, Historiae Alexandri Magni, vi. 3
- ^ Justin, Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum Pompei Trogi, xxxviii. 7
- ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoptolemus_%28general%29
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology by William Smith (1870).
Categories:- Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire
- Orontid dynasty
- 4th-century BC people
- Achaemenid military leaders
- History of Armenia
- 317 BC deaths
- European royalty stubs
- Ancient Near East people stubs
- Armenian people stubs
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