Abistamenes (fl. 4th century BC) was a governor, or

satrap A satrap () was a governor of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as in the Sasanian Empire and the Hellenistic empires. The satrap served as viceroy to the king, though with consid ...

, of

Cappadocia Cappadocia or Capadocia (; tr, Kapadokya), is a historical region in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It largely is in the provinces Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. According to Herodotus, in the time of the Ionian Revo ...

, or at least of its southern portions, with

Ariarathes I of Cappadocia Ariarathes I (Old Iranian: ''Aryaraθa'', Aramaic: ''Ariorath'' or ''Ariourat''; grc, Ἀριαράθης, Ariaráthēs; 405/4 BC – 322 BC) was the last Achaemenid Persian governor (satrap) of the province (satrapy) of Northern Cappadocia, ...

possibly governing the north. He is called Sabictas by

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

,Anab. ii. 4. and was almost certainly a native Cappadocian. Abistamenes was the successor to

Mithrobuzanes Mithrobuzanes ( peo, wiktionary:Reconstruction:Old Persian/Miθrabaujanaʰ, *Miθrabaujanaʰ; grc, wiktionary:Μιθροβουζάνης, Μιθροβουζάνης ; d. 334 BC) was a Persian governor (satrap) of Cappadocia (satrapy), Cappadocia ...

, the last

Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...

satrap of Cappadocia. Mithrobouzanes was killed at the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the G ...

in 334 BC, and Abistamenes was thereafter appointed satrap by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

, although his hold over Cappadocia appears to have been weak, as Cappadocian soldiers were found fighting for King Darius III of Persia during the

Battle of Gaugamela The Battle of Gaugamela (; grc, Γαυγάμηλα, translit=Gaugámela), also called the Battle of Arbela ( grc, Ἄρβηλα, translit=Árbela), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great a ...

in 331 BC. Abistamenes may no longer even have been in power at that point, however, as he seems to disappear from the historical record in the wake of the

Battle of Issus The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on November 5, 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III. It was the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of ...

in 333 BC. Abistamenes' rule had certainly ended by the time of Alexander's death in 323 BC, when all of Cappadocia was given by Alexander's heirs to

Eumenes Eumenes (; grc-gre, Εὐμένης; c. 362316 BC) was a Greek general and satrap. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as both Alexander's personal secretary and as a battlefield commander. He later was a participant in t ...

to govern.

References

Achaemenid satraps of Cappadocia Satraps of the Alexandrian Empire 4th-century BC governors {{AncientNearEast-bio-stub