Pharnabazus III

Pharnabazus III (Old Iranian: Farnabāzu, Ancient Greek: Φαρνάβαζος; 370 BC - after 320 BC) was a Persian satrap who fought against Alexander the Great. His father was Artabazos II, and his mother a Greek from Rhodes.

Youth in Macedonia Pharnabazus was the son of Artabazos II, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia. However, Artabazos II was exiled after a failed rebellion against Artaxerxes III in 358 BC. From 352 to 342 BC, the family went into exile to Macedonia, in the capital of Pella, under the rule of king Philip II (360-336 BC), where they met the young Prince Alexander, future Alexander the Great. Memnon and Pharnabazus had a navy of about 300 warships, composed of Phoenician, Egyptian and Cypriot units, as well as thousands of Greek mercenaries and vast amounts of silver and gold.

Support of the Spartan king Agis III against Alexander At around the same time, the Spartan king Agis III and the Athenian statesman Demosthenes organised forces to liberate their cities from the Macedonians. In the autumn of 333 BC, the Spartan King Agis III had met with the Persian commanders Pharnabazus and Autophradates, somewhere in the Aegean Sea, and revealed to them his plans for a war against Alexander—in Greece itself. The Persians agreed to support Agis; however, they could only spare him 30 talents and 10 ships. Agis also recruited the Greek mercenary survivors of Issus - who had served in the Persian army – a force of 8,000 veterans.

Memnon and Pharnabazus took Cos and Chios, but during the siege of Mytilene, the capital of Lesbos, Memnon died of a fever. Pharnabazus took control of the Persian forces in the Aegean, assisted by Autophradates. They captured Mytilene and the isle of Tenedos, which gave him control over the Hellespont. withdrew from outright rebellion. Pharnabazus had to deal with rebellions in his conquered territory and many of his troops deserted him. His much reduced navy was defeated near Chios and Pharnabazus was captured. What happened after his escape is not known. There is a gap in the records.

Persian cavalry from Asia Minor under Pharnabazus composed the superior cavalry of Eumenes in the Battle of the Hellespont (321 BC). Altıkulaç Sarcophagus In 321 BC, in the Battle of the Hellespont, we find Pharnabazus commanding a squadron of cavalry for Eumenes against the Macedonian generals Craterus and Neoptolemus. Eumenes won the battle, while Neoptolemus was killed, and Craterus died of his wounds.