Hystaspes (father of Darius I)

Common card · No. 499741

Hystaspes (Old Persian: 𐎻𐏁𐎫𐎠𐎿𐎱 Vištāspa; Ancient Greek: Ὑστάσπης Hustáspēs) or Guštāsp (Persian: گشتاسپ Guštāsp) (fl. 550 BC), was a Persian satrap of Bactria and Persis. He was the father of Darius I, king of the Achaemenid Empire, and Artabanus, who was a trusted advisor to both his brother Darius as well as Darius' son and successor, Xerxes I. The son of Arsames, Hystaspes was a member of the Persian royal house of the Achaemenids. He was satrap of Persis under Cambyses II, and probably under his second cousin Cyrus the Great also. He accompanied Cyrus on his expedition against the Massagetae. However, he was sent back to Persis to keep watch over his eldest son, Darius, whom Cyrus, after a dream, suspected of considering treason. Besides Darius, Hystaspes had three sons: Artabanus, Artaphernes, and Artanes, as well as a daughter who married Darius' lance-bearer Gobryas. Ammianus Marcellinus makes him a chief of the Magians, and tells a story of his studying in India under the Brahmins...

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