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Pharnabazus III was a Persian satrap who fought against Alexander the
Great. His father was Artabazus II, and his mother a Greek from Rhodes.
However, Artabazus was exiled after a failed rebellion against Artaxerxes III
in 358. From 352 to 342, the family went into exile to Macedonia, in the
capital of Pella in Pella, under the rule of king Philip II (360-336), where
they met the young Prince Alexander, future Alexander the Great. With Artabazus
and Pharnabazus was Memnon of Rhodes, a Greek mercenary and relative by
marriage. Artabazus, Pharnabazus and Memnon were later allowed to return to
Persia, in 343. Memnon obtained the command of the Persian navy in the Aegean
sea in 334, with Pharnabazus joining him.
War against Alexander
When Alexander invaded the Persian empire, Memnon defended the strategically
important town of Halicarnassus, which Alexander was then diverted to capture,
forcing him to seek reinforcements. This allowed the Persians time to regroup,
until Halicarnassus fell in the first months of 333. Memnon and Pharnabazus
then directed their strategy to disrupt Alexander's supply lines by taking
Aegean islands near the Hellespont and by fomenting rebellion in southern
Greece. Memnon and Pharnabazus had a navy of about 300 warships, composed of
Phoenician, Egyptian and Cypriot units, as well as thousands of Greek
mercenaries and vast amounts of silver and gold.
Support of the Spartan king Agis III against Alexander
At around the same time, the Spartan king Agis III and the Athenian statesman
Demosthenes organised forces to liberate their cities from the Macedonians. In
the autumn of 333, the Spartan King Agis III had met with the Persian
commanders Pharnabazus and Autophradates, somewhere in the Aegean Sea, and
revealed to them his plans for a war against Alexander—in Greece itself.
The Persians agreed to support Agis; however, they could only spare him 30
talents and 10 ships. Agis also recruited the Greek mercenary survivors of
Issus - who had served in the Persian army – a force of 8,000 veterans.
Memnon and Pharnabazus took Cos and Chios, but during the siege of Mytilene,
the capital of Lesbos, Memnon died of a fever. Pharnabazus took control of the
Persian forces in the Aegean, assisted by Autophradates. They captured Mytilene
and the isle of Tenedos, which gave him control over the Hellespont.
Pharnabazus further threatened Alexander's supplies by establishing a fortified
position near Halicarnassus, which made the harbour inaccessible. He also took
Samothrace, Siphnos and Andros and seized all Greek supply ships. However,
after the Persian king Darius III lost the decisive Battle of Issus in November
333, Pharnabazus became increasingly isolated. The Spartan king, Agis III,
whilst still receiving ten ships and thirty talents of silver from the
Achaemenids, withdrew from outright rebellion. Pharnabazus had to deal with
rebellions in his conquered territory and many of his troops deserted him. His
much reduced navy was defeated near Chios and Pharnabazus was captured. While
being taken to Alexander, he managed to escape and went to Cos.
Later life
In 321 Pharnabazus commanded a squadron of cavalry for Eumenes, when the latter
defeated Neoptolemus in the Wars of the Diadochi. What happened after his
escape is not known. There is a gap in the records. It is assumed that he
eventually submitted to Alexander, since in 324, Artonis, the sister of
Pharnabazus, was given in marriage to Eumenes by Alexander the Great. "For
Barsine, the daughter of Artabazus, who was the first lady Alexander took to
his bed in Asia, and who brought him a son named Heracles, had two sisters; one
of which, called Apame, he gave to Ptolemy; and the other, called Artonis, he
gave to Eumenes, at the time when he was selecting Persian ladies as wives for
his friends." Plutarch, The Life of Eumenes.
In 321 we find Pharnabazus commanding a squadron of cavalry for Eumenes, in the
Battle of the Hellespont in 321 in which he defeated Craterus and Neoptolemus.
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