Semiramis' Legacy: The History of Persia According to Diodorus of Sicily 9781474414265

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Semiramis’ Legacy

EDINBURGH STUDIES IN ANCIENT PERSIA Dealing with key aspects of the ancient Persian world from the Achaemenids to the Sasanians: its history, reception, art, archaeology, religion, literary tradition (including oral transmissions), and philology, this series provides an important synergy of the latest scholarly ideas about this formative ancient world civilization. series editor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Cardiff University e d i t o r i a l a dv i s o ry b o a r d Touraj Daryaee Andrew Erskine Thomas Harrison Irene Huber Keith Rutter Jan Stronk t i t l e s av a i l a b l e i n t h e s e r i e s Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires: The Near East After the Achaemenids, c. 330 to 30 bce By Rolf Strootman Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia through the Looking Glass By Janett Morgan Semiramis’ Legacy: The History of Persia According to Diodorus of Sicily By Jan P. Stronk ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity By Khodadad Rezakhani Sasanian Persia: Between Rome and the Steppes of Eurasia By Eberhard Sauer forthcoming titles The Bactrian Mirage: Iranian and Greek Interaction in Western Central Asia By Michael Iliakis Plutarch and the Persica By Eran Almagor Visit the Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia website at edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/esap

Semiramis’ Legacy The History of Persia According to Diodorus of Sicily

Jan P. Stronk

For Anne; for Merel and Lars; and for Clio Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance. For more information visit our website: edinburghuniversitypress.com © Jan P. Stronk, 2017 Edinburgh University Press Ltd The Tun – Holyrood Road 12(2f) Jackson’s Entry Edinburgh EH8 8PJ Typeset in 11/13pt Sabon by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire, and printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon CR0 4YY A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 1 4744 1425 8 (hardback) ISBN 978 1 4744 1426 5 (webready PDF) ISBN 978 1 4744 1427 2 (epub) The right of Jan P. Stronk to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, and the Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 (SI No. 2498).

Contents

List of Figures and Tables viii Prefaceix Abbreviationsxii Series Editor’s Preface xvi Introduction: Diodorus’ Work and Our Sources 1 A. Introduction 1 B. Diodorus’ life 3 C. The Bιβλιοθήκη ἱστορική (‘Historical Library’) 5 D. Diodorus’ method 10 E. Diodorus’ views 13 F. The structure of the Bibliotheca 14 G. Final observations 16 H. Summary 17 I. O  ur primary sources for Diodorus: manuscripts and ­relevant editions 18 Manuscripts of books 1–5 18 Manuscripts of books 11–20 20 The Excerpta Constantiniana 22   Manuscripts of the Excerpta Constantiniana 23 Photius’ Bibliotheca27   Manuscripts of Photius’ Bibliotheca 28 Some editions of Diodorus’ Bibliotheca 28 1

Diodorus’ Sources A. Preliminary remarks B. Books 1–5 C. Fragments books 6–10 D. Books 11–20 E. Fragments books 21–32 F. Fragments books 33–40

31 31 33 41 44 60 72

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G. Diodorus and his source-authors H. Diodorus’ use of his sources

81 83

2

Ancient History: Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Medes A. The Assyrian History B. The Chaldean History C. The Median History

86 86 131 135

3

The Persians and the Greek Wars A. The Arians and general customs of the Persians B. Cyrus the Great (c. 576/5–530) C. Cambyses II (?–523/2) D. Darius the Great (c. 550–486) E. Xerxes I (c. 519–465)

142 142 143 149 151 156

4

Revolt and Sedition A. Artaxerxes I (?–424) B. Xerxes II (?–423) C. Sogdianus (?–423) D. Darius II (?–404) E. Artaxerxes II Mnemon (c. 436–358) F. Artaxerxes III Ochus (425–338)

194 195 202 202 203 210 254

5 Alexander the Great Defeats Darius III A. Darius III Codomannus (c. 380–330) B. Alexander’s expedition up to the end of the Battle of Issus C. From Issus to Gaugamela D. From Gaugamela to Persepolis

275 275

6 From Persepolis to Babylon A. Alexander pursues Bessus B. Alexander’s Indian adventure C. The final phase of the expedition

334 334 345 364

7 The Period of the Diadochs: The Rift Opens A. The years 323/2–318/17

383 383

8 The Period of the Diadochs: The Rift Deepens A. The years 317/16–311/10

418 418

9 The Vicissitudes of the Diadoch Kingdoms: The Final Years of Diodorus’ Persian Account A. The years 311/10–260/79 B. The years after 280

473 473 497

279 301 323



10 Semiramis’ Legacy

Contents

vii

525

Conclusion543 Bibliography546 Index of Classical Sources 578 Index of Modern Authors 595 General Index 599

List of Figures and Tables

Map Some geographical features of the ancient Near East. xviii Fig. 2.1  The Neo-Assyrian Empire, c. 824–c. 650 bc.88 Fig. 2.2  Plan of Nineveh. 91 Fig. 2.3  Plan of Babylon. 105 Fig. 3.1  The tomb of Cyrus the Great at Pasargadae. 148 Fig. 3.2  The Bisitun inscription of Darius the Great. 154 Fig. 3.3  The Achaemenid Empire. 156 Fig. 5.1  The expedition of Alexander the Great, 334–323 bc.280 Fig. 5.2  The River Granicus. 282 Fig. 5.3 The River Payas (ancient River Pinarus), site of the Battle of Issus. 297 Fig. 5.4  Persepolis: panoramic view. 330 Fig. 6.1  The River Jhelum Rive (ancient River Hydaspes). 350 Fig. 9.1  The Seleucid Empire, c. 200 bc.493 Fig. 10.1  Tpυφή and Βίος 539 Table 9.1  List of Seleucid kings Table 10.1  The peoples bringing

494

tribute depicted on the apadāna reliefs of Persepolis

532

Frontispiece and Figures 2.1–2.3, 3.3, 5.1, and 9.1 © Clio Stronk; Figures 3.1–3.2, 5.2–5.4, and 6.1 © Jona Lendering, ; Figure 10.1 © Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

viii

Preface

Composing the present book, I had to make several choices. First of all, of course, was the choice of which parts of Diodorus’ work to include, which parts to leave out. The second choice involved the problem of how to translate the selected parts. I have opted to follow the original as closely as possible, but to apply a freer approach wherever I could or occasionally even had to. This way, I hope to have done the talents of Diodorus as much justice as he – in my view  – undoubtedly deserves. The next choice was the most difficult one. To be of optimum use to the reader, the text at several places needs clarification, elaboration, and/or additional literature to get a wider (sometimes a better) perspective on the story as Diodorus relates it to us. This goal could partly be achieved in the Introduction, Chapter 1 (providing some general background), and Chapter 10 (providing some more background and the beginning of a synthesis), partly in the footnotes of the chapters that contain the translation of Diodorus’ account. However, a full commentary on Diodorus’ text was obviously impossible within the framework of this book, and not only because it would require a book at least thrice as voluminous. It would, moreover, involve the risk that Diodorus’ very account in its context would be overlooked: at this stage of reassessment of his work I found this risk unacceptable. Regrettably, this decision meant that much (recent and less recent) literature had to be left out. On the other hand, providing too little information (part of which may well have been more or less general knowledge among the pepaideumenoi in Diodorus’ days) would also do no justice to Diodorus’ account, which should – as indicated – be the most important feature of this book. I hope that the choices I have made in the comments will, on the one hand, make the reader realise what problems Diodorus faced and how he coped with them, and, on the other, make the notes serve as an incentive to explore the world of Persian history further. ix

x

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It may be clear that the composition of a book like the present one is not a task one can perform alone, but requires the help of many. First of all I need to mention Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones. From the days when each of us worked on his own edition of Ctesias’ Persica (he together with James Robson) we have been in contact, discussing elements of both Ctesias’ and Diodorus’ text. He encouraged me to continue to work on Diodorus’ account (within the framework of my preparation of a historical commentary on Ctesias’ Persian History) and invited me to publish this book in the Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia series, of which he is the Series Editor. I am very grateful for his friendship and his support, as well as the opportunity he has offered to me. I am also grateful for both the friendship and support of my friend Jona Lendering, ‘Altertumswissenschaftler’, driving force behind the unsurpassed website (even though he himself emphatically believes students should look for their information in libraries and not on the internet), and editor of the recent periodical Ancient History Magazine. He was also so kind as to provide me with several photos from his rich archive, photos that were taken during numerous journeys, inter alia following the trail of Alexander the Great. The Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto, Canada, was prepared to license reproduction of a photograph of a fourth-century ad wall-mosaic from Syria, depicting the couple Luxuriousness (Τρυφή) and Life (Βίος). I am equally grateful to Clio Stronk, not only for finding interesting websites, like the one on James Tappern blowing Tut-ankh-amun’s trumpets (), but also for drawing the maps and plans for this book, and for demonstrating several times to my computer, whenever it tried to prove otherwise, that (wo)man still masters machine. I am (obviously) also indebted to several colleagues who have provided me, one way or another, with useful information during the past years: they include Reinhold Bichler (Innsbruck), Carsten Binder (Düsseldorf), Shane Brennan (Exeter), Pierre Briant (Paris), John Dillery (Charlottesville, VA), Dominique Lenfant (Strasbourg), John Ma (Oxford/New York), Robert Rollinger (Innsbruck), and Josef Wiesehöfer (Kiel). In the same category are the anonymous first and second reader of my original proposal for this book to Edinburgh University Press: their comments were both a stimulus and helpful, for which I would like to thank both cordially. As stated, I could rely on the knowledge of many. Some of them I have already referred to above. Some books or series, however,



Preface

xi

are so fundamental that it is hardly possible to mention them everywhere where they (may) have, one way or another, influenced my thinking on places, situations, and/or people. Nevertheless, they too obviously merit the credits they are entitled to: they are volumes in the CHI, notably volumes I and II; the CAH2; and the two volumes of Amélie Kuhrt’s The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources from the Achaemenid Period. I regret that a draft of Matt Waters’s Ctesias’s Persica and its Near Eastern Context: Case Studies reached me too late to be able to include in this book: it seems, though, an asset, not merely for students of Ctesias’ work but also for the interested readers of Diodorus’ account of Semiramis. The edition of book XVI of Diodorus in the ‘Les belles lettres’ series also appeared too late to be considered. The same goes for Michael Rathmann (2016),  Diodor und seine ‘Bibliotheke’: Weltgeschichte aus der Provinz (Berlin: De Gruyter). I am indebted to the head of my Department of Ancient History (Universiteit van Amsterdam), Emily Hemelrijk, for her continued support for my position as a research associate. I am grateful as well to Carol Macdonald, Ellie Bush, Rebecca Mackenzie, and James Dale (all of Edinburgh University Press), and to Fiona Sewell (freelance editor), who each in her or his own way and/or capacity guided me expertly, competently, and in a friendly way through the whole process that publishing a book like the present one appears to require, as well as to the other members of the staff of EUP for producing this book. Last but by no means least, I owe an immense debt to the love of my life, my wife Anne Keverkamp, to my elder daughter, Merel, and her husband Lars, and to my younger daughter, Clio (already glancingly referred to above), for their continued support to me in every imaginable way. Without these four pillars of strength in my life this book could not have been written. It is therefore only appropriate that I dedicate it to them. Nieuw-Vennep, the Netherlands, August 2016 Jan P. Stronk

Abbreviations

For the names of authors of classical literature and their works, the abbreviations used are primarily according to the LSJ and Glare, P. G. W. (ed.) (1985), The Oxford Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon; if not found there, abbreviations are used according to the OCD4. Further abbreviations used in this volume are: ABC Grayson, A. K. (ed.) (1975), Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, Locust Valley, NY/ Glückstadt: J. J. Augustin (repr. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 2000). AchHist  Sancisi-Weerdenburg, H. W. A. M. et al. (eds) (1987–94), Proceedings of the Achaemenid History Workshops (various primary titles), Leiden: Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten. ANET  Pritchard, J. B. (ed.) (19552), Ancient Near Eastern Texts relating to the Old Testament, Princeton: Princeton University Press (with a supplementary volume). ARAB  Luckenbill, D. D. (ed.) (1989), Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, 2 vols, London: Histories & Mysteries of Man (repr. of the 1926–7 edition, Chicago: University of Chicago Press). BM  British Museum Inventory Number. Worthington, I. (ed.), Brill’s New Jacoby, BNJ  online-version: , Brill-online. 2  Edwards, I. E. S. et al. (eds) (1970–), The CAH Cambridge Ancient History, 14 vols in 19, xii



Abbreviations

xiii

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (most volumes in 2nd edn, vols 1 and 2 in 3rd edn). CHI  Boyle, J. H. et al. (eds) (1968–91), The Cambridge History of Iran, 7 vols in 8, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Classica et Orientalia, Wiesbaden: CLeO  Harrassowitz. 3  Dittenberger, W. (ed.) (1898–1900), Sylloge Dittenberger Syll. Inscriptionum Graecarum, 2 vols, 3rd edn, Leipzig: Hirzel. D.-K.  Diels, H. and W. Kranz (eds) (2004), Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker: Griechisch und deutsch von H. Diels, herausgegeben von W. Kranz, Zurich: Weidmann (repr. of 5th edn, 1951). DNP  Cancik, H. and H. Schneider (eds) (1996– 2003), Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopädie der antike: das klassische Altertum und seine Rezeptionsgeschichte, Stuttgart/Weimar: J. B. Metzler. EI  Yarshater, E. and A. Ashraf (eds) (1982–), Encyclopædia Iranica, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; later New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press. FCG  Meineke, A. (1847), Fragmenta Comicorvm Graecorvm, vol. 1, Berlin: Reimer. FGrH  Jacoby, F. (ed.) (1923–58), Die Fragmente Griechischer Historiker, vols I–III, Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung; from 1955 onwards Leiden: Brill. FHG  Müller, C. [= K.] and T. (eds) (1841–78), Fragmenta Historicorum Graecorum, 5 vols in 6, Paris: Firmin-Didot. GGM  Müller, K. (ed.) (1855–61), Geographi Graeci Minores, vols I–III, Paris: Firmin-Didot (repr. Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1990). IG  Wilamowitz-Moellendorf, U. von, et al. (eds) (1902–2013), Inscriptiones Graecae, 49 vols, Berlin: Reimer; from 1927 onwards De Gruyter (some vols are revised edns, esp. for Attic inscriptions).

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Kirchner PA  Kirchner, J. (1901–3), Prosopographia Attica, 2 vols, Berlin: Reimer (repr. with additional material 1966 Berlin: De Gruyter, ed. S. Lauffer). Fraser, P. M. and E. Matthews (eds) (1987–), LGPN  A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names, 5 vols in 7, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Liddell, H. G. and R. Scott (eds) (1983), LSJ  A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by H. Stuart Jones with the assistance of R. McKenzie, with a supplement, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Migne PG Migne, J. P. (ed.) (1857–66), Patrologiae cursus completus, sive bibliotheca universalis, . . . series graeca, 161 vols, Paris: Imprimerie catholique (Patrologia Graeca; repr. Turnhout: Brepols, 1959–80). Migne PL  Migne, J. P. (ed.) (1841–55), Patrologiae cursus completus, sive Bibliotheca universalis, . . . series latina, 221 vols, Paris: Siroune (Patrologia Latina; repr. Turnhout: Brepols, 1956–75). Hornblower, S., A. Spawforth, and E. OCD4  Eidinow (eds) (2012), The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 4th edn, Oxford: Oxford University Press. OGIS  Dittenberger, W. (ed.) (1903–5), Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae: supplementum sylloges inscriptionum graecarum, 2 vols, Leipzig: Hirzel (repr. 1970, Hildesheim: Georg Olms). OP  Old Persian. Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and K. Ziegler (eds) RE  (1894–1980), Real-Encyclopaedie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 84 vols, Stuttgart: Metzler. RIMA 3  Grayson, A. K. (1996), Royal Inscriptions from Mesopotamia: Assyrian Periods, vol. 3: Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium bc (858–745 bc), Toronto: University of Toronto Press.



Abbreviations

xv

RLA  Ebeling, E. et al. (eds) (1929–), Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, Berlin/New York: De Gruyter. RSV The Bible, Revised Standard Version (Old Testament, 1952), Swindon: Bible Society. various editors (1923–), Supplementum SEG  Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden: Sijthoff; Amsterdam: Gieben; Leiden: Brill. Nauck, A. (vol. 1), B. Snel (vol. 2), S. Radt TGF  (vols 3, 4), and R. Kannicht (vol. 5), (eds) (1856–2004), Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta, 5 vols, Leipzig: Teubner (vol. 1)/ Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (vols 2–5). Pantelia, M. et al. (eds), Thesaurus Linguae TLG  Graecae: .

Series Editor’s Preface

Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia focuses on the world of ancient Persia (pre-Islamic Iran) and its reception. Academic interest in and fascination with ancient Persia have burgeoned in recent decades and research on Persian history and culture is now routinely filtered into studies of the Greek and Roman worlds; Biblical scholarship too is now more keenly aware of Persian-period history than ever before; while, most importantly, the study of the history, cultures, languages, and societies of ancient Iran is now a well-established discipline in its own right. Persia was, after all, at the centre of ancient world civilisations. This series explores that centrality throughout several successive ‘Persian empires’: the Achaemenid dynasty (founded c. 550 bce) saw Persia rise to its highest level of political and cultural influence, as the Great Kings of Iran fought for, and maintained, an empire which stretched from India to Libya and from Macedonia to Ethiopia. The art and architecture of the period both reflect the diversity of the empire and proclaim a single centrally constructed theme: a harmonious world-order brought about by a benevolent and beneficent king. Following the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Persian Empire fragmented but maintained some of its infrastructures and ideologies in the new kingdoms established by Alexander’s successors, in particular the Seleucid dynasts who occupied the territories of western Iran, Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Asia Minor. But even as Greek influence extended into the former territories of the Achaemenid realm, at the heart of Iran a family of nobles, the Parthian dynasty, rose to threaten the growing imperial power of Rome. Finally, the mighty Sasanian dynasty ruled Iran and much of the Middle East from the second century ce onwards, proving to be a powerful foe to Late Imperial Rome and Byzantium. The rise of Islam, a new religion in Arabia, brought a sudden end to the Sasanian dynasty in the mid-600s ce. xvi



Series Editor’s Preface

xvii

These successive Persian dynasties left their record in the historical, linguistic, and archaeological materials of the ancient world, and Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia has been conceived to give scholars working in these fields the opportunity to publish original research and explore new methodologies in interpreting the antique past of Iran. This series will see scholars working with bona fide Persian and other Near Eastern materials, giving access to Iranian self-perceptions and the internal workings of Persian society, placed alongside scholars assessing the perceptions of the Persianate world from the outside (predominantly through Greek and Roman authors and artefacts). The series will also explore the reception of ancient Persia (in historiography, the arts, and politics) in subsequent periods, both within and outwith Iran itself. Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia represents something of a watershed in better appreciation and understanding not only of the rich and complex cultural heritage of Persia, but also of the lasting significance of the Achaemenids, Parthians, and Sasanians and the impact that their remarkable civilisations have had on wider Persian, Middle Eastern, and world history. Written by established and upand-coming specialists in the field, this series provides an important synergy of the latest scholarly ideas about this formative ancient world civilisation. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones

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