means “who creates peace for the Aryans.” CTESIAS (FGrHist 688 F13.20) refers to a satrap of CAPPADOCIA by this name whom DARIUS I ordered to undertake an expedition against the SCYTHIANS prior to his own campaign c. 513; these are likely one and the same person.
SEE ALSO: Arians; Ariaramnes son of Teispes; Satrapies
FURTHER READING
1 Bowie, A. M., ed. 2007. Herodotus: Histories Book VIII, 180. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Schmitt, Rüdiger. 2006. Iranische Anthroponyme in der erhaltenen Resten von Ktesias’ Werk, 73–75. Vienna: ÖAW.
ARIAZUS (Ἀριάζος, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Patronymic, father of the Persian general GERGIS who shared command over XERXES’ land invasion force in 481/0 (7.82). Nothing more is known of Ariazus, though his name in Herodotus may be a shortened form of OP *Ariya‐zantu‐ (Schmitt 2007, 388–89).
SEE ALSO: Gergis
REFERENCE
1 Schmitt, Rüdiger. 2007. “Zu einigen Perser‐Namen bei Herodot.” BN 42: 381–405.
ARIDOLIS (Ἀρίδωλις, ὁ)
JEREMY LABUFF
Northern Arizona University
Tyrant of ALABANDA IN CARIA. The Greek navy captured Aridolis with his ship after a storm decimated the Persian fleet off the coast of MAGNESIA (Greece) before the Battle of ARTEMISIUM in 480 BCE. He was interrogated and then sent in chains to CORINTH; we hear nothing of his subsequent fate (7.195). A possible variant of this name, Arizelus, appears in IONIA, LYDIA, the Troad, and Bithynia from the first century BCE.
SEE ALSO: Caria; Prisoners of War; Sandoces; Tyrants
FURTHER READING
LGPN V.A, 60 s.v. Ἀρίζηλος.
ARIMASPIANS (Ἀριμασποί, οἱ)
JOSEPH SKINNER
Newcastle University
Mythical race of one‐eyed men, whose name Herodotus links etymologically to the Scythian words for “one” (arima) and “eye” (spou, 4.27; an ethnonym linked to the Iranian word for horse, aspa, is now deemed more plausible). Although skeptical as to their existence (3.116), Herodotus locates the Arimaspians beside the ISSEDONES in the outermost reaches of the oikoumenē, where they remain in a state of perpetual conflict with their neighbors, the GRIFFINS, covetous of the latter’s GOLD (4.13). Some ancient commentators linked monopthalmony to the practice of ARCHERY (see Asheri in ALC, 505). Scholars have variously interpreted such tales as a (garbled) reference to a historical population; as a smoke screen designed to protect the interests of the gold‐trading Issedones (cf. How and Wells on the Arabian spice TRADE, e.g., 3.111 on the source of cinnamon), or a refraction of Central Asian folklore (Corcella in ALC, 601). Although knowledge of the Arimaspians is attributed to ARISTEAS OF PROCONNESSUS’ Arimaspea, a poetic work thought to date to the seventh century BCE, Herodotus claims it to be derived from Issedonian informants rather than AUTOPSY. Further details regarding these shaggy‐haired, horse‐riding strong men were familiar to Greek audiences by the fifth century (Aesch. PV 803–7), and conflicts between Arimaspians and griffins were a popular theme in Athenian red‐figure vase painting (e.g., an Athenian bell krater, Ashmolean Museum 1917.61). The earliest known depiction of Arimaspians indicates that such stories were indeed familiar to populations inhabiting the northern CAUCASUS and the lands beyond: an ornate SILVER mirror (c. 650–620) which formed part of the grave goods deposited in Kelermes Barrow no. 4, a wealthy “Scythian” burial located in Kuban, Krasnodar Region, features an image of two bearded, long‐haired men (albeit sporting two eyes) grappling with a griffin (State Hermitage Museum Ку.1904‐1/27).
SEE ALSO: Art; Etymology; Extremes; Poetry; Scythians
FURTHER READING
1 Bolton, J. D. P. 1962. Aristeas of Proconnesus. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
2 Braund, David. 1999. “Greeks, Scythians and Hippake, or ‘Reading Mare’s‐Cheese’.” In Ancient Greeks West and East, edited by Gocha R. Tsetskhladze, 521–30. Leiden: Brill.
3 Mayor, Adrienne, and Michael Heaney. 1993. “Griffins and Arimaspeans.” Folklore 104.1/2: 40–66.
4 Romm, James S. 1992. The Edges of the Earth in Ancient Thought: Geography, Exploration, and Fiction. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
5 West, Stephanie. 2004. “Herodotus on Aristeas.” In Pontus and the Outside World: Studies in Black Sea History, Historiography and Archaeology, edited by Christopher J. Tuplin, 43–67. Leiden: Brill.
ARIMNESTUS (Ἀρίμνηστος, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
Citizen of PLATAEA who fought at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BCE. Herodotus mentions Arimnestus as the recipient of the final words of the Spartan CALLICRATES, who was mortally wounded before the battle began and expressed his regrets at not being able to partake in the fighting (9.72.2). The Roman‐era authors PLUTARCH (Arist. 11.5) and Pausanias (9.4.2) name Arimnestus as general of the Plataeans; Pausanias claims to have seen a statue of Arimnestus in the temple of ATHENA Areia at Plataea. Herodotus’ “citation” of Arimnestus raises interesting questions about his SOURCES of information for the battle, as well as the course it took, since the Plataeans began on the opposite wing from the Spartans (9.28) and, assuming they remained attached to the Athenians, fought the battle separated from the Spartans (9.61.1–2).
SEE ALSO: Aeimnestus; Source Citations; Warfare
FURTHER READING
1 Flower, Michael A., and John Marincola, eds. 2002. Herodotus: Histories Book IX, 235–36. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Wilson, N. G. 2015. Herodotea. Studies on the Text of Herodotus, 184. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ARIOMARDUS (Ἀριόμαρδος, ὁ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON
University of Notre Dame
1) Officer in XERXES’ invasion force of 480 BCE who commanded the CASPIANS (7.67.1). Herodotus does not provide a patronymic but refers to this Ariomardus as the brother of ARTYPHIUS, thus (presumably) making him a son of ARTABANUS.
2) Another officer in Xerxes’ invasion force of 480 BCE, who commanded the MOSCHIANS and TIBARENIANS (7.78). This Ariomardus
