User:HistoryofIran/Tiribazus

Tiribazus, Tiribazos or Teribazus (Old Iranian: Tīrībāzu) (c.440 BC-370 BC) was an Achaemenid satrap of Western Armenia and later satrap of Lydia in western Anatolia.

Biography
Tiribazus is first mentioned in chronicles at the Battle of Cunaxa in 401 BC.

Satrap of Western Armenia
He was highly regarded by the Persian King Artaxerxes II, and when he was present, so Xenophon tells us, no one else had the honour of helping the sovereign to mount his horse.

Until 395 BC, Tiribazus served as the hyparch of Western Armenia.

Expedition to Cyprus
Orontes first appears in records in 401 BC, when he as satrap of Armenia harassed the Ten Thousand following their retreat at Cunaxa. Armenia was divided into two separate satrapies, with the smaller, western part being governed by a hyparch, who was subordinate to the satrap of the rest of Armenia (referred to as "Armina" in the Behistun Inscription), which was Orontes. In 386/385 BC, Orontes was made joint commander of the Persian expedition against Evagoras I ((r. 411 – 374)), the king of Salamis in Cyprus. He was assigned to the lead the Persian land forces, while Tiribazus, the satrap of Ionia, led the navy. Tiribazus had also participated in battle at Cunaxa, and reportedly knew Orontes from his early days in Armenia, where he had served as the hyparch of its western part till 395 BC.

Evagoras had previously been a vassal of the Persian king, but had started to act more independently. Initially only ruling over Salamis, he had now gained control over several cities of Cyprus, despite Artaxerxes II's demand to to refrain from doing so. Normally the Persian kings were little interested in the affairs of Cyprus, and would not interfere in the affairs of its kings. However, the conflict between Evagoras and the cities of Cyprus had caused instability. This disrupted Artaxerxes II's plans to attack Egyptia, as Cyprus would also have to play a part in his expedition. As a result, Artaxerxes II sought to establish direct control over the island. By 382 BC, preparations for the campaign had been made, with a battle taking place the following year near the Cyprian city of Kition, where the Persians emerged victorious due to their larger fleet. Evagoras withdrew to Salamis, which was soon besieged by the Persians. Failing to gain help from the Egypt pharaoh Hakor ((r. 392/1 – 379/8)), Evagoras started to negotiate a peace treaty with Tiribazus, offering to withdraw from all the cities of Cyprus except Salamis, and pay a fixed yearly tribute to the Persian crown. Tiribazus was inclined to accept the offer, but the negotiations failed after Evagoras refused to also cede his status as king.

The negotations made Orontes fear that ​Tiribazus would reap all the honor and rewards if he also finished the Cypriot War just after having led the reconquest of the eastern Mediterranean lands. ​As a result he sent a number of accusations to Artaxerxes II, which mentioned that Tiribazus was deliberately prolonging the war and planning to declare independence. Artaxerxes II was unable to make a proper assessment due to his distance, but could not risk Tiribazus ruin the recent Persian accomplishments, and as a result had him jailed in Susa.

Glos, who was the father-in-law of Tiribazus and commander of the fleet, feared that he might be accused of cooperation. As a result he returned to western Asia Minor, taking with him much of Greek unit of the Persian forces. This heavily weakened the strength of the campaign force, as most of it was composed of Greeks. When the news reached the Asian Greek cities, some of them—mostly Ionian cities—attempted to gain independence. With the remaining forces, Orontes resumed the siege of Salamis, and launched an attack which was repelled. Moreover, he also faced insubordination and indifference from his troops, as a result of Tiribazus' arrest. Due to his weakened position, Orontes was forced to make peace with Evagoras in 380 BC. The terms of the treaty was that Evagoras was obligated to pay tribute to the Persian king, but as a subordinate king rather than a slave. Artaxerxes III did not deem the conclusion of the war satisfactory, as it had cost 15,000 talents, and a result Orontes fell into disfavour. It may have after this event that Orontes was dismissed as satrap of Armenia and sent to distant region of Mysia. Meanwhile, Tiribazus was pardoned and restored to his former position.