Pixodarus

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the Carian ruler. For the son-in-law of the Cilician ruler Syennesis, see Pixodarus, son of Mausolus. For the genus of beetles, see Prioninae.
Pixodarus
Portrait on Carian coinage of the time of Pixodaros.[1]
Satrap of Caria
Reign340–334 BC
PredecessorAda
SuccessorOrontobates
HouseHecatomnids
FatherHecatomnus
Dynasts of Caria
)
c. 395–377 BCE Hecatomnus
c. 377–353 BCE Mausolus
c. 353–351 BCE Artemisia II
c. 351–344 BCE Idrieus
c. 344–340 BCE Ada
c. 340–335 BCE Pixodarus
c. 335–334 BCE Orontobates
c. 334–326 BCE Ada

Pixodarus or Pixodaros (in

Xanthos trilingual inscription
in Lycia.

Biography

He was the youngest of the three sons of

Persian named Orontobates,[2]
whom he even seems to have admitted to some share in the sovereign power during his own lifetime.

Coinage of Caria, Achaemenid style, during the reign of Pixodarus. Circa 341-334 BC.[3]

But, he did not neglect to court the alliance of other powers also, and endeavoured to secure the powerful friendship 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.[4]

Decree of Pixodarus

A fragment of a bilingual decree by Pixodarus in

Kadyanda).[5]

Decree of Pixodaros
(British Museum)
Content Transcription Transliteration
(original
Lycian script
)		 Inscription

Record of tax privileges from Pixedara (Pixodaros) for the Lycian cities of Arñna (

Kadyanda).[6][7]

eñnẽ pixe[d]ar(a) ekat[m̃mna]
arñna se tlawa se p[ñ]
se xadawãti meñna
..truweheñneseti
......uti kbijehedi
..........tistwe ñte k
..................illieb
..........................ne.

𐊁𐊑𐊏𐊚𐊓𐊆𐊜𐊁[𐊅]𐊀𐊕(𐊀)𐊁𐊋𐊀𐊗
𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀𐊖𐊁𐊗𐊍𐊀𐊇𐊀𐊖𐊁𐊓
𐊖𐊁𐊜𐊀𐊅𐊀𐊇𐊙𐊗𐊆𐊎𐊁𐊑𐊏𐊀
..𐊗𐊕𐊒𐊇𐊁𐊛𐊁𐊑𐊏𐊁𐊖𐊁𐊗𐊆
......𐊒𐊗𐊆𐊋𐊂𐊆𐊊𐊁𐊛𐊁𐊅𐊆
..........𐊗𐊆𐊖𐊗𐊇𐊁𐊑𐊗𐊁𐊋
..................𐊆𐊍𐊍𐊆𐊁𐊂
..........................𐊏𐊁

Lycian script, found at Xanthos
.

Xanthos trilingual inscription

Xanthos trilingual inscription 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)....[8]

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. [9]

  • 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".
    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".
  • 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".
    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

Notes

  1. ^ Precise date of 341-334 BC according to Meadows CNG: CARIA, Achaemenid Period. Circa 350-334 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.07 g, 12h). Struck circa 341-334 BC.
  2. ^
    S2CID 170273543 – via JSTOR
    .
  3. ^ Precise date of 341-334 BC according to Meadows CNG: CARIA, Achaemenid Period. Circa 350-334 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.07 g, 12h). Struck circa 341-334 BC.
  4. Anabasis Alexandri, i. 23; Strabo, Geography, xiv. 2; Plutarch, Parallel Lives, "Alexander", 10
  5. ^ British Museum collection
  6. ISBN 9780198140993
    .
  7. ISBN 9781400852451
    .
  8. S2CID 162374252
    .
  9. ^ Sears, Matthew A. (2014) p.216

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pixodaros.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Pixodarus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pixodarus&oldid=1218881560"