Syennesis (5th century)
Syennesis, also Syennesis III (Ancient Greek: Συέννεσις, Aramaic:TRZ) was a ruler of ancient Cilicia in the 5th century BCE.
Rule[edit]
Syennesis was a contemporary of Artaxerxes II of Persia, and when Cyrus the Younger, marching against Artaxerxes in 401 BCE, arrived at the borders of Cilicia, 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 and Tamos, was sailing round from Ionia.
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.[1][2][3]
Coinage[edit]
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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[edit]
- ^ Xenophon, Hellenica iii. 1. § I
- ^ Xenophon, Anabasis i. 2. §§ 12, 21-27, 4. § 4, vii. 8. § 25
- ^ Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica xiv. 20
Rulers in the Achaemenid Empire | ||
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Family tree - Achaemenid Kingdom | ||
| Kings of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire |  | |
| Satraps of Lydia | ||
| Satraps of Hellespontine Phrygia | ||
| Satraps of Cappadocia | ||
| Greek Governors of Asia Minor cities | ||
| Dynasts of Lycia | ||
| Dynasts of Caria | ||
| Kings of Macedonia | ||
| Kings of Tyre | ||
| Kings of Sidon |
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| Satraps of Armenia | ||
| Satraps of Egypt | ||
| Satraps of Bactria | ||
| Satraps of Media | ||
| Satraps of Cilicia | ||
| Other known satraps | ||
In most territories, Achaemenid rulers were succeeded by Hellenistic satraps and Hellenistic rulers from around 330 BC | ||
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Elder, Edward (1870). "Syennesis". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 3. p. 949.