Prexaspes ( Greek: Πρηξάσπης, romanized: Prēxáspēs) was a prominent Persian during the reign of Cambyses II ( r. 530–522 BC), the second King of Kings of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. [1] According to Herodotus, when Cambyses ordered his trusted counselor Prexaspes to kill Bardiya (also known as Smerdis), the King's own brother, Prexaspes loyally carried out his order. [1] [2] Herodotus provides two versions of the murder. [2] After moving from Egypt (where he was stationed) to Susa, Prexaspes either killed Bardiya in a hunting field near Susa, or drowned him in the Erythrean Sea. [2]
After Cambyses' death, Prexaspes denied murdering Bardiya at first, but ultimately, in the words of Brill's New Pauly, "revealed before the assembled Persians the usurpation by the Magi ( Patizeithes), called for their overthrow and committed suicide (Hdt. 3,66 ff.; 74 ff.)." [1]
References
- ^ a b c Wiesehöfer 2006.
- ^ a b c Dandamayev 1988, pp. 785–786.
Sources
- Dandamayev, M. A. (1988). "BARDIYA". Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. III, Fasc. 8. pp. 785–786.
- Wiesehöfer, Josef (2006). "Prexaspes". In Salazar, Christine F.; Landfester, Manfred; Gentry, Francis G. (eds.). Brill's New Pauly. Brill Online.