Spitamenes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Spitamenes
Born370 BC
Died328 BC (aged c. 42)
Battles/warsWars of Alexander the Great
ChildrenApama

Spitamenes (Old Persian Spitamana; Greek Σπιταμένης; 370 BC – 328 BC) was a Sogdian warlord[1][2] and the leader of the uprising in Sogdiana and Bactria against Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, in 329 BC. He has been credited by modern historians as one of the most tenacious adversaries of Alexander.[3]

Biography

Spitamenes was an ally of Bessus.[4][5] In 329 BC, Bessus stirred a revolt in the eastern satrapies, and the same year his allies began to be uncertain about supporting him.[6] Alexander went with his army to Drapsaca, outflanked Bessus and sent him fleeing. Bessus was then removed from power by Spitamenes, and Ptolemy was sent to catch him.[7][8][9][10]

While Alexander was founding the new city of

Macedonian garrison in Markanda. Too occupied at that time to personally lead an army against Spitamenes, Alexander sent an army under the command of Pharnuches which was promptly annihilated with a loss of no less than 2,000[5] infantry and 300 cavalry.[11]

The uprising now posed a direct threat to his army, and Alexander moved personally to relieve Markanda, only to learn that Spitamenes had left Sogdiana and was attacking Bactria, from where he was repulsed with great difficulty by the satrap of Bactria, Artabazos II (328 BC).

The decisive point came in December 328 BC when Spitamenes was defeated by Alexander's general Coenus at the Battle of Gabai. Spitamenes was killed by some treacherous nomadic tribes' leaders and they sent his head to Alexander, suing for peace.

Spitamenes had a daughter,

Apamea
in her honour.

In fiction

Spitamenes is a character in Steven Pressfield's novel The Afghan Campaign.

References

  1. .
  2. .
  3. . Interest in 'great men' was no longer limited to Alexander, but also to Central Asian figures, in particular the Sogdian Spitamenes, one of Alexander's most tenacious adversaries, connected to Samarkand, whose satrap he had been [...]
  4. . Alexander crossed the Tanais, again with hide rafts, in pursuit of the Scythians but turned back at the news of successful actions by Spitamenes, a Sogdian nobleman and former ally of Bessus, who had attacked the Macedonian garrison at [...]
  5. ^ .
  6. . Bessus's allies were no longer certain they wanted to back him. In June of 329 B.C. about a year after Alexander began chasing Bessus, the Sogdian leader, Spitamenes, arrested his former ally.
  7. Britannica. Archived from the original
    on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021. Crossing the Oxus, he sent his general Ptolemy in pursuit of Bessus, who had meanwhile been overthrown by the Sogdian Spitamenes.
  8. .
  9. . [...] he sent his general Ptolemy in pursuit of Bessus, who had meanwhile been overthrown by the Sogdian Spitamenes.
  10. . After passing over the Oxus River, Alexander sent his general Ptolemy to track down Bessus, who at this point was removed from power by the Sogdian Spitamenes.
  11. .
  12. . The dynasty that survived Seleucus through his son Antiochus (by his wife Apama, daughter of the Sogdian Spitamenes) has not attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, but historians know ...
  13. . Apama, wife of Seleucus I, was the daughter of the Sogdian Spitamenes (Arr. Anab. 7.4.6). She was the mother of Antiochus I and also of Achaios

Sources