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Satrap
A satrap was a governor of a province of
ancient Persia.
The old Persian root word kshathrapavan means
guardian of the realm. There we have it.
The Persians
The
Achaemenian kings, such as
Darius I the Great,
employed the system of dividing their territory into satrapies, or
provinces, over which a satrap was put in charge.
Herodotus tells you about it.
See also
Persian
Empire.
The Macedonians
Alexander the
Great liked the idea and kept the administrative
structure.
Famous Satraps
Datis was a satrap on Persian
King Darius I's
payroll. Datis led the Persian army at the
Battle of Marathon in 490 BC.
Mausolus,
who became posthumously
famous for the gigantic tomb they built him at Halicarnassus (hence
mausoleum), was the Persian satrap of Caria. Mausolus died in 353 BC.
After Alexander's death,
Seleucus
was made satrap of Babylon. The year? 321 BC.
And here are maps:
Map of the Persian Satrapies
Click to enlarge
Map of Alexander's Satrapies
Click to enlarge
More History
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