Artabanus was a son of Hystaspes, and therefore brother of

Darius I Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his ...

as well as uncle of

Xerxes I Xerxes I ( peo, 𐎧𐏁𐎹𐎠𐎼𐏁𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ξέρξης ; – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, ruling from 486 to 465 BC. He was the son and successor of ...

. Artabanus had a reputation for great wisdom. Artabanus is known to have advised his brother Darius I against the Achaemenid campaign against the Scythians, saying that the Scythians were "impossible to deal with", but he wasn't heard, and the invasion proceeded, but was ultimately unsuccessful as Artabanus had predicted. According to

Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...

, Artabanus saw a ghost enjoining him to allow the invasion of Greece, which decided both him and Xerxes to launch the invasion without delay. According to

, Artabanus had a son named Artyphius, who became a general of

in the

Second Persian invasion of Greece The second Persian invasion of Greece (480–479 BC) occurred during the Greco-Persian Wars, as King Xerxes I of Persia sought to conquer all of Greece. The invasion was a direct, if delayed, response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion ...

(480-479 BC). Artyphius was in charge of the Gandharian and Dadicae contingents of the Achaemenid army. Artyphius therefore seems to have been a cousin of Xerxes I.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Artabanus (son of Hystaspes) Achaemenid dynasty Family of Darius the Great Officials of Darius the Great 6th-century BC Iranian people