tion seems clear indication that it was acquired by Cyrus; the fact that it appears in the Naqsh-i-Rustem inscription shows that it was still a portion of the kingdom at the death of Darius. The army list preserved in Herodotus vii. 60–81.[1] can be dated as previous to 479 b.c., and therefore reveals the condition of the satrapies shortly after the death of Darius. Hyrcania had been separated from Parthava and made a province by itself, while the former satrapy of Chorasmia was then joined with Parthava.[2] Other indications suggest possible losses on this eastern frontier. In the army of Xerxes there was a contingent of Parthians under the command of Artabazus the son of Pharnaces. Since Herodotus tells us elsewhere that the satraps led their contingents to battle, Artabazus was probably satrap of Parthia. Aeschylus[3] reports that among those killed in the fighting in Greece was a cavalry leader called Arsaces, a name which later became the throne name of the Parthian kings.
The official tribute list quoted by Herodotus (iii. 89–95) is clearly from his own time, that of Artaxerxes I, not, as he states, from that of Darius.[4] Here again the tendency toward union of the provinces makes us
- ↑ Cf. PW, art. "Artayktes."
- ↑ Hecataeus fr. 292 f. (J, I, p. 38) notes the proximity of the Parthians and Chorasmians.
- ↑ Persae 995; the names in Aeschylus are generally proper to the country but not historical.
- ↑ This discussion of the satrapies is based on an unpublished study by Olmstead, "The Persian Satrapies and Their History."
