Tissaphernes

Here is a revised and improved memorial biography of Tissaphernes, grounded strictly in reliable historical sources and preserving only well-supported facts.

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Tissaphernes (Old Persian Ciçafarnāʰ; Ancient Greek Τισσαφέρνης), born circa 445 BC, was a prominent Persian nobleman and satrap of Lydia—also exercising authority over Caria and parts of western Anatolia. He belonged to a distinguished noble line, being a grandson of the Hydarnes who had commanded the Immortals under Xerxes and descended from one of the seven conspirators who helped Darius the Great secure his throne (livius.org).

Tissaphernes’s prominent career began around 415 BC. Appointed satrap following the suppression of Pissuthnes’s revolt, he executed Pissuthnes and took control of Sardis. He proceeded to quell continued unrest and assert Persian authority in the region (iranicaonline.org). He was deeply involved in the Peloponnesian War, negotiating and concluding multiple treaties: first with Sparta, then attempting negotiations with Athens, and again with Sparta in 412–411 BC, in efforts to manipulate Greek city-states in Asia Minor (iranicaonline.org).

In the aftermath of Cyrus the Younger’s failed rebellion in 401 BC, Tissaphernes guided the defeated Greek mercenaries but invited their officers to a conference only to arrest and execute them—an act recounted by classical sources (iranicaonline.org). For his loyalty to the Persian throne, Tissaphernes was restored to command and even married a daughter of King Artaxerxes II (iranicaonline.org).

However, his fortunes turned in 395 BC. He suffered a significant military setback near Sardis against the forces of the Spartan King Agesilaus II, who had deceived Tissaphernes about his intended direction of attack (iranicaonline.org). This defeat, coupled with court intrigue—particularly hostility from Queen Mother Parysatis, who resented Tissaphernes’s role in thwarting her son Cyrus—led to royal disfavor (iranicaonline.org). Summoned by royal authority to Colossae in Phrygia, Tissaphernes was unexpectedly arrested and executed in the summer of 395 BC. His head was sent to King Artaxerxes II, who promptly replaced him with the new satrap, Tiribazus (iranicaonline.org).

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This version retains only well-attested facts, avoids disputed or uncertain claims, and provides a concise, respectful portrayal of Tissaphernes’s life as known from the most reliable surviving historical sources.