Pixodarus
{{Short description|Satrap of Caria from 340 to 334 BC}}
{{About|the Carian ruler|the son-in-law of the Cilician ruler Syennesis|Pixodarus, son of Mausolus|the genus of beetles|Prioninae}}
{{Infobox royalty
| type = monarch
| name = Pixodarus
| image = Portrait on coinage of the time of Pixodaros.jpg
| caption = Portrait on Carian coinage of the time of Pixodaros.Precise date of 341–334 BC according to Meadows {{cite book |title=CNG: CARIA, Achaemenid Period. Circa 350–334 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.07 g, 12h). Struck circa 341–334 BC. |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=84569}}
| reign = 340–334 BC
| coronation =
| succession = Satrap of Caria
| predecessor = Ada
| successor = Orontobates|
| suc-type = Successor
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| spouse =
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| issue-link = #Issue
| full name =
| house = Hecatomnids
| father = Hecatomnus
| mother =
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}}
{{Hecatomnid dynasty}}
Pixodarus or Pixodaros (in Lycian 𐊓𐊆𐊜𐊁𐊅𐊀𐊕𐊀 Pixedara; in Greek Πιξώδαρoς; ruled 340–334 BC), was a satrap of Caria, nominally the Achaemenid Empire Satrap, who enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position his predecessors of the House of Hecatomnus (the Hecatomnids) created when they succeeded the assassinated Persian Satrap Tissaphernes in the Carian satrapy. Lycia was also ruled by the Carian dynasts since the time of Mausolus, and the name of Pixodarus as ruler appears in the Xanthos trilingual inscription in Lycia.
Biography
He was the youngest of the three sons of Hecatomnus, all of whom held the sovereignty of their native country. Pixodarus obtained possession of the throne by the expulsion of his sister Ada, the widow of their brother Idrieus, with whom she had jointly governed Caria.{{Cite journal|last=Sears|first=Matthew A.|date=2014|title=Alexander and Ada Reconsidered|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/676285|journal=Classical Philology|volume=109|issue=3|pages=213|doi=10.1086/676285|jstor=10.1086/676285 |s2cid=170273543 |issn=0009-837X|url-access=subscription}} He ruled Caria without opposition for a period of four years, 340–334 BC. He cultivated the friendship with Persia, giving his daughter Ada in marriage to a Persian named Orontobates, whom he even seems to have admitted to some share in the sovereign power during his own lifetime.
File:CARIA, Achaemenid Period. Circa 341-334 BC.jpg, Achaemenid style, during the reign of Pixodarus. Circa 341–334 BC.Precise date of 341–334 BC according to Meadows {{cite book |title=CNG: CARIA, Achaemenid Period. Circa 350–334 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.07 g, 12h). Struck circa 341–334 BC. |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=84569}}]]
But, he did not neglect to court the alliance of other powers also, and endeavoured to secure the powerful friendship of Philip II, king of Macedonia, by offering the hand of his eldest daughter in marriage to Arrhidaeus, the eldest, but disabled, son of the Macedonian monarch. The discontent of the young Alexander at this period led him to offer himself as a suitor for the Carian princess instead of his brother — an overture which was eagerly embraced by Pixodarus, but the indignant interference of Philip put an end to the whole scheme.
Pixodarus died — apparently a natural death — some time before the landing of Alexander in Asia, 334 BC: and was succeeded by his son-in-law the Persian Orontobates, who had married his daughter Ada II. Orontobates was soon ousted by Alexander the Great in the Siege of Halicarnassus, and replaced by Princess Ada with the approval of Alexander. Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+16.74.1 xvi. 74]; Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri, [http://websfor.org/alexander/arrian/book1b.asp i. 23]; Strabo, Geography, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198&query=section%3D%23799&chunk=section xiv. 2]; Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Alexander", [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+10.1 10]
{{clear}}
Decree of Pixodarus
A fragment of a bilingual decree by Pixodarus in Greek and Lycian was discovered at Xanthos in Turkey, and is now held at the British Museum in London. The inscription records grants made by Pixedara (Pixodarus) to the Lycian cities of Arñna (Xanthos), Pñ (Pinara), Tlawa (Tlos) and Xadawãti (Kadyanda).[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_-135850 British Museum collection]
Xanthos trilingual inscription
File:Letoon stele.jpg in Fethiye Museum.]]
Pixadorus is also mentioned in the Xanthos trilingual inscription, confirming the rule of Pixodarus over neighbouring Lycia:
In the month Siwan, year 1 of King Artaxerxes. In the fortress of Arñna (Xanthos). Pixodarus son of Katomno (Hecatomnus), the satrap who is in Karka (Caria) and Termmila (Lycia)....{{cite journal|last=Teixidor|first=Javier|title=The Aramaic Text in the Trilingual Stele from Xanthus|journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies|volume=37|issue=2|pages=181–185|date=April 1978|doi=10.1086/372644|jstor=545143|s2cid=162374252}}
When Pixodarus, the son of Hecatomnus, became satrap of Lycia, he appointed as rulers of Lycia Hieron (ijeru) and Apollodotos (natrbbejẽmi), and as governor (asaxlazu) of Xanthus, Artemelis (erttimeli).
The Artaxerxes in question is thought to be Artaxerxes IV.
Coinage
He ordered the minting of his own golden coins, a right at time exclusively reserved to the King of Persia. Sears, Matthew A. (2014) p. 216
File:SATRAPS of CARIA. Pixodaros. Circa 341-0 to 336-5 BC.jpg|Coinage of Pixodaros, circa 341/0 to 336/5 BCE. Obv: Head of Apollo facing right, wearing laurel wreath, drapery at neck. Rev: Zeus Labraundos standing right; Legend ΠIΞOΔAPOY, "Pixodaros".
SATRAPS of CARIA. Pixodaros. Circa 341-0 to 336-5 BCE.jpg|Coinage of Pixodaros, circa 341/0 to 336/5 BCE. Obv: Head of Apollo, wearing laurel wreath. Rev: Zeus Labraundos standing right; Legend ΠIΞOΔAPOY, "Pixodaros".
References
- Smith, William (editor); Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051026224349/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2713.html "Pixodarus (2)"]}}, Boston, (1867)
Notes
External links
{{Commons category|Pixodaros}}
- [http://www.livius.org Livius], [https://www.livius.org/he-hg/hecatomnids/pixodarus.html Pixodarus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130501065533/http://www.livius.org/he-hg/hecatomnids/pixodarus.html |date=2013-05-01 }} by Jona Lendering
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{{SmithDGRBM|title=Pixodarus}}
{{Achaemenid rulers}}
Category:4th-century BC governors
Category:Year of birth unknown