Hydarnes II ( peo, 𐎻𐎡𐎭𐎼𐎴, Vidṛna), also known as Hydarnes the Younger (by contrast with his father Hydarnes the Old) was a Persian commander of the

Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest em ...

in the 5th century BC. He was the son of Hydarnes,

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 the Persian empire and one of the seven conspirators against

Gaumata Bardiya or Smerdis ( peo, 𐎲𐎼𐎮𐎡𐎹 ; grc, Σμέρδις ; possibly died 522 BC), also named as Tanyoxarces ( grc, Τανυοξάρκης ) by Ctesias, was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both ...

. During the reign of Xerxes I, Hydarnes was one of the commanders for 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 ...

in 480 BC. He was appointed as the leader of the 10,000-man contingent of " Immortals", while his brother Sisamnes commanded the levy of the Aryans. On the first day of the

Battle of Thermopylae The Battle of Thermopylae ( ; grc, Μάχη τῶν Θερμοπυλῶν, label=Greek, ) was fought in 480 BC between the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Xerxes I and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta under Leonidas I. Lasting o ...

, Hydarnes led the Immortals against the phalanx of Spartans under Leonidas I, but an attempt to break through failed. On the second day, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by telling the Persians about a hidden goat path around Thermopylae. This enabled Hydarnes and his Immortals to pass behind the Spartans, Thespians and Thebans and, as a result, defeat them. After the Persians were defeated at the

Battle of Salamis The Battle of Salamis ( ) was a naval battle fought between an alliance of Greek city-states under Themistocles and the Persian Empire under King Xerxes in 480 BC. It resulted in a decisive victory for the outnumbered Greeks. The battle was ...

, Xerxes I decided to return to Asia leaving a large army under Mardonius which wintered in Thessaly. Hydarnes wanted to stay at the side of the king and go back with him to Asia. So Xerxes tasked Hydarnes with the responsibility of getting the Persian army back over the

Hellespont The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

to Asia.Herodotus: ''Histories.'' VIII, 118 After this, nothing further is reported about Hydarnes. Another, Hydarnes, who was active during the reign of

Darius II Darius II ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ), also known by his given name Ochus ( ), was King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire from 423 BC to 405 or 404 BC. Artaxerxes I, who died in 424 BC, was followed by h ...

() was a descendant (perhaps grandson) of Hydarnes the Younger.

References

Sources

* * 5th-century BC Iranian people Achaemenid satraps of Media Persian people of the Greco-Persian Wars Battle of Thermopylae {{Iran-hist-stub