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Orontobates was a Persian, who
married the daughter of Pixodarus, the usurping
satrap of Caria, and was sent by the king of Persia to succeed him. On the
approach of Alexander the Great of Macedon in 334 Orontobates and
Memnon of Rhodes
entrenched themselves in
Halicarnassus.
But at last, despairing of defending it, they set fire to the town, and under
cover of the conflagration crossed over to Cos,where they had previously
removed their treasures. In addition to the island of Cos, Orontobates,
retained control of the citadel at Salmacis, and the towns Myndus, Caunus,
Thera and Callipolis together with Triopium. Next year, while at Soli, Cilicia,
Alexander learnt that Orontobates had been defeated in a great battle by
Ptolemy and Asander. It is natural to infer that the places which Orontobates
held did not long hold out after his defeat. An officer of the name of
Orontobates was present in the army of Darius III at the battle of Gaugamela
331, being one of the commanders of the troops drawn from the shores of the
Persian Gulf. Whether he was the same or a different person from the preceding,
we have no means of knowing. We are not told that the latter was killed as well
as defeated. It is likely that Alexander the Great knew Orontobates intimately
as there was a princess between the two. In his youth Alexander wanted to marry
Ada II, the daughter of Pixodarus but this was negated by his father.
Incidentally Orontobates married a daughter of Pixodarus, who was probably the
same as Ada II. Thus, the relation between the two may have been far more
complex than what Justin or even Plutarch knew. Another relationship is that
the Ada I who was the brother of Pixodarus and had been driven out of
Haricarnassus by him was appointed as the official leader of the siege and was
then given the city by Alexander.
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