Читать книгу The Herodotus Encyclopedia - Группа авторов - Страница 58

ROBERT ROLLINGER

University of Innsbruck

Herodotus uses the term Achaemenids (Ἀχαιμενίδαι) as designation of an extended FAMILY or clan but not as a characterization of a ruling family or “dynasty” (Briant 1984, 123; Vannicelli 2012). He leaves no doubt that DARIUS I and his family are members of this clan, but there is no distinct relation between the Achaemenids and “royal lineage.” The relationship of CYRUS (II) and his son CAMBYSES (II) to this clan remains ambiguous, although Herodotus gives some hints that such a relationship was thought (or claimed) to have existed.

In his excursus on the Persian genea (here meaning “tribes”), Herodotus mentions the Achaemenids for the first time, introducing them as a ϕρήτρη (phrētrē, “clan”) of the PASARGADAE, the noblest Persian genos. The Persian kings are members of this clan, but they are further distinguished as Perseids (Περσεῖδαι, 1.125.3). This statement is not directly connected to the person of Cyrus himself and provides, at best, only a vague connection between him and the Achaemenids. This is also true for Cambyses who, after he heard that the “false” SMERDIS had usurped the Persian throne and with DEATH imminent, charges all Persians, but chiefly the attendant Achaemenids, to prevent the sovereignty from falling again into the hands of the MEDES (3.65.6). Darius (and by extension his son XERXES) is referred to as a member of this clan when his father Hystaspes is explicitly designated as an “Achaemenid man” (1.209.2). The tripartite GENEALOGY, as given by Herodotus (Darius–Hystaspes–Arsames = Achaemenids) mirrors the “short” genealogy given by Darius himself in his BISITUN inscription (DB §1). Darius does not appear as a relative of Cyrus but as a threat, since a DREAM reveals to the Great King that the eldest son of Hystaspes will someday become his successor. In fact, no ruling king in the Histories is directly characterized as an Achaemenid. Instead we find a number of “Achaemenid” relatives of Darius and Xerxes, most of whom occupy high‐ranking positions during the wars against the Greek states: MEGABATES, cousin to Darius (5.32), TIGRANES (7.62.1), ARTACHAEES (7.117.1); only SATASPES’ position, if any, is unknown (4.43). Whether this relative frequency is due to the fact that Achaemenes, Xerxes’ brother and satrap of EGYPT, perished during the Athenian‐backed revolt of the Libyan INAROS (7.7), remains an interesting speculation.

Although it is clear that Darius and Xerxes belong to the Achaemenid clan, this is less evident for Cyrus and Cambyses. When Cambyses’ officer PREXASPES reveals Cyrus’ male lineage, he gives an abbreviated version, consisting only of a beginning (Achaemenes) and an end (Cyrus) with no intermediate members (3.75.1). However, one may take this neither as proof that Cyrus was an Achaemenid nor that Herodotus believed him to be one. Rather it is evidence for the existence of a tradition that speculated about the relationship between Darius and Cyrus (Rollinger 1998, 183–84). Moreover, Herodotus can be seen as consistently questioning the trustworthiness of Prexaspes (3.35.1, 63.1, 75.2), who is even once explicitly presented as a liar (3.67.1). This critical distance is also apparent when Cambyses’ mother CASSANDANE is qualified as daughter of PHARNASPES, “an Achaemenid man” (3.2.2). The passage is part of a larger discourse (3.2–3) where Herodotus, by referring to alternative stories, casts serious doubt on Cambyses’ descent from (Achaemenid) Cassandane. This has convincingly been explained as critical distance towards Darius’ genealogical manipulations (Irwin 2017).

Finally, there is the famous lineage presented by Xerxes in a confrontation with his uncle ARTABANUS: Darius, HYSTAPES, ARSAMES, ARIARAMNES, TEISPES, CYRUS (I), CAMBYSES (I), Teispes, Achaemenes (7.11). Although we, as well as Herodotus’ readers, can only speculate about the identities of this elder Cyrus and Cambyses, one might see them as referring to the preceding Great Kings, or at least one of them, and thus as testimony for their connection to the Achaemenids (Jacobs 2011, 653–57). This list betrays some striking parallels to the Achaemenid lineage as presented by Darius himself at Bisitun (Rollinger 1998, 189–99): Darius and Xerxes are “Achaemenids,” and Darius is the ninth member of a distinct line of descent. But a relationship towards Cyrus and Cambyses is only suggested vaguely.

SEE ALSO: Achaemenes son of Darius; Perses; Persia