Datames and the Great Revolt of Satraps: The decline of Achaemenidian dominance in the Anatolian Mediterranean

The Persians after founding one of the greatest empires of the ancient Near-East in 6th century BCE reigned for approximately 220 years upon the lands today we call as Iran, Egypt, Syria, Anatolia and partially Thrace. The administrative unification under the banner of the empire played a decisive role for the development of relations between different geographical areas. Just as Pax Romana of Romans and Pax Ottomana of Ottomans, Persians had their Pax Persia. Although all the military and social benefits of this relative period of tranquillity, it started to disintegrate during the reign of Artaxerxes II and his successors and was brought to an end with the conquests of Alexander the Great. Nevertheless the administrative system of satrapy created to merge military and social administrative systems in favour of bringing forth a coordinated local and central government structure served as an example for the next generations of empires to follow. The very system of satrapy which took the limits of the Persian Empire to the continental Europe, proved to have the potential to lead the empire into civil wars with the decline of its central government and leaving its borders vulnerable for external threats to come. In this sense, the revolt of the Cyrus the Young and the empire's losing Cyprus and Egypt after the raids of Spartans on Asia Minor were the chain of events leading to the infamous tumults and upheavals in Asia Minor under the name of "The Great Revolt of the Satraps". Of these series of revolts, Datames' are worthy of attention, the very Satrap of Cappadocia, for his were much more organized and held on a location of paramount concern: a trespassing and connection point right between Asia Minor and the central government of the empire. For the aforementioned reasons, despite all the efforts of the king Artaxerxes II, for instance his conjoining forces with Sardeis, the possibly most powerful satrap of the Asia Minor and reinforcing him, the empire failed to suppress the revolt. The military success of the rebel satrap of Cappadocia paved the way for the rebellions of Ariobarzanes an Artabazus II, satraps of Dascylium, and Orontes, the satrap of Mysia. Along with that, the rebellious movement had started with the revolt of Datames, had echoes even in Lycia even though they were not governed by any system of satrapy: the dynasteia of Limyra in Pericle tried to remove the Persian-supporting dynasteia of Xanthos, in an attempt to throw off the Persian yoke. The unfortunate events fell upon the empire are of utmost importance in the sense that the Persian military was proven to be impotent when faced with rebellious entities employing the Hellenic mercenaries: despite all the military operations taken, the satraps Datames and Ariobarzanes had only been managed to be killed via assassinations; the Orontes' revolt came to an end via an agreement, Artabazus' by his taking refugee by Philip II and Pericle' after being defeated by Mausolus. These mercenaries were to be a huge part of the Alexander's army after being employed together with the Macedonian troops, only to bring the end of the Persian Empire. The office of satrapy played a critical role in bringing the end of the empire with its degeneracy and the corruption of the satraps resulting in the great revolts for their personal interests, starting with early 360s BCE and ending with mid 350s BCE. Keyword: Datames. Revolt of the Great Satraps. Ariobarzanes. Pericle of Limyra. Orontes. Artabazus II. Artaxerxes II