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| Barsaentes | |
|---|---|
| Name | Barsaentes |
| Birth date | c. 400s BC |
| Death date | 330s BC |
| Allegiance | Achaemenid Empire |
| Rank | Satrap, general |
| Battles | Battle of Gaugamela, Battle of the Persian Gate |
Barsaentes was an Achaemenid satrap and military leader active during the reign of Darius III who commanded forces in Arachosia and parts of Drangiana and took part in the decisive conflicts with Alexander the Great. He features in accounts of the Campaigns of Alexander the Great as a regional governor, battlefield commander, and later defector whose career intersected with figures such as Bessus, Mazaeus, Orontes (satrap), and Spitamenes. His actions during the Battle of Gaugamela and the Sogdian campaign influenced the collapse of Achaemenid resistance and the reorganization of provincial authority under Alexander III of Macedon.
Born in the late 5th century BC, Barsaentes emerged from the Achaemenid provincial elite associated with Arachosia and neighboring regions like Drangiana and Gedrosia. He held authority typical of satraps serving under monarchs such as Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III before the reign of Darius III. His social milieu connected him with notable satraps and Persian aristocrats including Bagoas (courtier), Tissaphernes, and Pharnabazus II, as well as with military commanders like Mithridates (general), forming networks that linked provincial centers such as Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Susa to frontier administrations in Arachosia and Drangiana.
As satrap, he administered Arachosia and parts of Drangiana and raised contingents for the imperial armed forces, coordinating with prominent commanders including Mazaeus and Pharnaces (satrap). During the preparations for confrontation with Alexander the Great, Barsaentes was part of the Achaemenid field command that included leaders such as Datis, Ariobarzanes (satrap of Persis), and Memnon of Rhodes in earlier Persian conflicts. He played a role in mustering cavalry and allied contingents drawn from local peoples of Arachosia, Sattagydia, and the eastern satrapies, aligning with Persian royal directives emanating from Darius III and the court at Persepolis.
At the Battle of Gaugamela, Barsaentes commanded a cavalry force positioned on the Achaemenid right flank alongside commanders like Mazaeus and Nabarzanes. He faced the Macedonian cavalry led by Ptolemy I Soter, Perdiccas, and Hephaestion and participated in the massed Achaemenid deployment organized by Darius III and advised by officers such as Bessus and Orontes (satrap). Following the Achaemenid defeat, leaders including Mazaeus, Nabarzanes, and Barsaentes attempted rearguard actions during the retreat toward Ecbatana and Pasargadae. The collapse at Gaugamela precipitated a sequence of events involving figures like Bessus who sought to regroup eastern satrapies, and movements through regions including Media and Hyrcania that engaged satraps such as Atropates.
After Darius III's flight and subsequent murder by conspirators such as Bessus and Nabarzanes, Barsaentes negotiated with shifting powers, culminating in his defection or accommodation to Alexander III of Macedon during the latter's eastward advance. He surrendered parts of his province or sought terms similar to those granted to other satraps like Mazaeus and Taxiles (Ambhi), joining the array of former Achaemenid officials incorporated into the Macedonian administrative framework. In the ensuing conflicts in Central Asia, Barsaentes interacted with regional resistors including Spitamenes and Oxyartes, and with Macedonian officers such as Craterus, Ptolemy I Soter, and Eumenes of Cardia who managed the integration of eastern provinces. His collaboration paralleled arrangements seen with satraps like Atropates and Sithanes as Alexander reorganized satrapal governance after campaigns in Bactria and Sogdiana.
Accounts place his eventual downfall amid the turmoil of the eastern satrapies during the final phase of Achaemenid resistance and the consolidation of Alexander's Empire. Barsaentes' fate is discussed alongside the deaths and deprivations suffered by contemporaries such as Darius III, Bessus, Spitamenes, and satraps including Bessus (Bactrian satrap). His legacy survives in sources that track the transition from Achaemenid provincial rule to Hellenistic administration, linking him to the broader processes involving Persepolis, Babylon, Susa, and the reconfiguration of power that produced successor states like the Seleucid Empire and the domains of Ptolemy I Soter. Historians compare his career to that of other satrapal figures including Mazaeus, Atropates, and Orontes (satrap) when evaluating loyalty, accommodation, and resistance during the collapse of the Achaemenid Empire and the establishment of Macedonian hegemony.
Category:4th-century BC Persian people Category:Achaemenid satraps