The
Cadusii (in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
Kαδoύσιοι) were an ancient
IranianThe Iranian peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian...
people living in north-western
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
The Cadusii lived in a mountainous district of
Media AtropateneAtropatene or Media Atropatene was an ancient kingdom established in the 4th century BC in modern Iranian Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. Its capital was Gazaca...
on the south-west shores of the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
, between the parallels of 39° and 37° North latitude, called for its inhabitants Cadusia. This district was probably bounded on the North by the river Cyrus (today
KuraKura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey , it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...
, in the former Soviet Republic of
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
, historically known as Arran and
Caucasian AlbaniaAlbania is the historical name for the country of the eastern Caucasus, roughly corresponding to the...
), and on the South by the river Mardus (today
Sefid RiverThe Sefīd-Rūd or Sepīd-Rūd, also transliterated as Sefidrud, Sefidrood , Sepidrood or Sepidrud, is a river, approximately long, rising in northwestern Iran and flowing generally northeast to meet the Caspian Sea at Rasht...
), and corresponds with the modern
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
ian provinces of Gilan and
ArdabilArdabīl is one of the Azeri inhabited provinces located in the North-West Iran and its center is Ardabil. It is in the north-west of the country, bordering the Republic of Azerbaijan and the provinces of East Azarbaijan, Zanjan, and Gilan. Its center is the city of Ardabil...
.
The
Cadusii (in
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
Kαδoύσιοι) were an ancient
IranianThe Iranian peoples are an ethnic and linguistic branch of Indo-European peoples, living mainly on the Iranian plateau and beyond in central, southern, and southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe. As a group of people, they are predominantly defined along linguistic lines as speaking the Iranian...
people living in north-western
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
.
Geography
The Cadusii lived in a mountainous district of
Media AtropateneAtropatene or Media Atropatene was an ancient kingdom established in the 4th century BC in modern Iranian Azerbaijan and Iranian Kurdistan. Its capital was Gazaca...
on the south-west shores of the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
, between the parallels of 39° and 37° North latitude, called for its inhabitants Cadusia. This district was probably bounded on the North by the river Cyrus (today
KuraKura is a river, also known from the Greek as the Cyrus in the Caucasus Mountains. Starting in north-eastern Turkey , it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras River as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea...
, in the former Soviet Republic of
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan , formally the Republic of Azerbaijan , is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south...
, historically known as Arran and
Caucasian AlbaniaAlbania is the historical name for the country of the eastern Caucasus, roughly corresponding to the...
), and on the South by the river Mardus (today
Sefid RiverThe Sefīd-Rūd or Sepīd-Rūd, also transliterated as Sefidrud, Sefidrood , Sepidrood or Sepidrud, is a river, approximately long, rising in northwestern Iran and flowing generally northeast to meet the Caspian Sea at Rasht...
), and corresponds with the modern
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanid period and came into international use from 1935, before which the country was known internationally as Persia...
ian provinces of Gilan and
ArdabilArdabīl is one of the Azeri inhabited provinces located in the North-West Iran and its center is Ardabil. It is in the north-west of the country, bordering the Republic of Azerbaijan and the provinces of East Azarbaijan, Zanjan, and Gilan. Its center is the city of Ardabil...
. They are described by
StraboStrabo was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born in a wealthy family from Amaseia in Pontus , which had recently become part of the Roman Empire.. He studied under various geographers and philosophers; first in Nysa, later in Rome...
as a warlike tribe of mountaineers, fighting chiefly on foot, and well skilled in the use of the short spear or
javelinThe pilum was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times. It was generally about two meters long overall, consisting of an iron shank about 7 mm in diameter and 60 cm long with pyramidal head. The iron shank may be socketed, but more usually widens to a flat tang; this was...
. It is possible that the name of Gelae, a tribe who are constantly associated with them at the point of considering the former the national name for the Cadusii, has been preserved in the modern
Gilan. What is certain, is that no memory of this people has been found in the Middle Eastern records and that they are known only through Greek and Latin sources.
Before the Persian empire
They appear to have been constantly at war with their neighbours. First subjected by the
AssyriansThe Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent, their homeland today being divided between Northern Iraq, Syria, Western...
, if we believe to
DiodorusDiodorus Siculus , was a Greek historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doing than is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca historica...
' doubtful sources, they were then brought in at least nominal subjection to the
MedesThe Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area is known as Media...
, till they rebelled at the time of the king of the Medes Artaeus. In
CtesiasCtesias of Cnidus was a Greek physician and historian from Cnidus in Caria. Ctesias, who flourished in the 5th century BC, was physician to Artaxerxes Mnemon, whom he accompanied in 401 BC on his expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger....
' tale (reported by Diodorus) the war originated from an offence the king gave to an able powerful Persian, called Parsodes. After the offence Parsodes retired himself in the Cadusii's land with a small force and he attached himself with the most powerful of the local lords by offering his sister in marriage to him. At this point the country, who was subject to at least a nominal subjugation to the Medes, rebelled and chose as its war-leader Parsodes, giving him command of their army. Against these the Medes armed no less than eight hundred thousand men (these are the numbers given by Ctesias, which shouldn't be given much trust). Artaeus failed miserably in his attempt to reconquer the Cadusii and Parsodes was triumphantly elected king by the winners. Parsodes waged continuous raids in
MediaThe Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area is known as Media...
for all his long kingdom, and so did those who succeeded him, generating a state of perpetual enmity and warfare between Cadusii and Medes that continued till the fall of the Medes in 559 BC. But it must be remembered that all Greek records on the East before Cyrus must be treated with the utmost skepticism. This said, it may be that behind this legend there is a part of truth if we believe some scholars who identify Artaeus with
HerodotusHerodotus of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC and is regarded as the "Father of History" in Western culture. He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
'
DeiocesDeioces or Deiokes was the first king of the Medes according to Herodotus. In the late 8th century BC there was an Assyrian named Daiukku or Dayukku who was a Mannaean provincial governor...
, or better Duyakku, an important Mede chief in the age of Assyrian hegemony. Another point of interest in this story is that Ctesias here mentions for the first time the Cadusii. What seems more certain (in the report of
Nicolaus of DamascusNicolaus of Damascus was a Greek historian and philosopher who lived during the Augustan age of the Roman Empire. His name is derived from that of his birthplace, Damascus. He was born around 64 BC....
) is that near to the end of the Mede kingdom the Cadusii played an important role in bringing its downfall by allying themselves with the Medes' enemies, the Persians.
Cadusii and Persians
It does not seem that the Persians had initially great difficulties in submitting the Cadusii; they were immediately loyal allies of Cyrus the Great (559–529 BC), firstly against the Medes and secondly against the Babylonians. And their submission seems to have been something more than nominal considering that
XenophonXenophon , son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, also known as Xenophon of Athens and Xenophon of Thebes, was a soldier, mercenary, and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates...
tells us that Cyrus assigned to a son called Tanaoxares (probably
SmerdisSmerdis, Bardiya or Bardia was a son of Cyrus the Great and the younger brother of Cambyses II, both Persian kings. There are sharply divided views on his life, he may have ruled the Achaemenid Empire for a few months in 522 BCE, or he may have been impersonated by a magus called Gaumata...
) the satrapy of Cadusia. But by the times of
Darius the GreatDarius I or Darius the Great , was a Zoroastrian Persian Shahanshah of Persia...
Persian full control on the region must have suffered a partial setback, since we never hear their name in Herodotus or in Persian inscriptions in the lists of peoples and territories being part of the empire. In an unknown year they had been, it would seem, successfully submitted and probably added to the satrapy of
MediaThe Medes were an ancient Iranian people who lived in the northwestern portions of present-day Iran. This area is known as Media...
or that of
HyrcaniaHyrcania was the name of a satrapy located in the territories of present day Golestan, Mazandaran, Gilan and part of Turkmenistan, lands south of the Caspian Sea. To the Greeks, the Caspian Sea was the "Hyrcanian Sea".-Etymology:...
; this because it is told that in
406 BC-Greece:* Callicratidas is appointed as the navarch of the Spartan fleet, replacing Lysander. Callicratidas assembles a fleet and sails to Methymna, on Lesbos, to which he lays siege. This move threatens the Athenian grain supply....
Cyrus the YoungerCyrus the Younger, son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis, was a Persian prince and general. The time of his birth is unknown, but he died in 401 BC. The history of Cyrus and of the retreat of the Greeks is told by Xenophon in his Anabasis. Another account, probably from Sophaenetus of...
, a son of the High King
Darius IIDarius II , originally called Ochus and often surnamed Nothus , was king of the Persian Empire from 423 BC to 404 BC....
(
423-Persian empire:* Ochus, satrap of Hyrcania and son of Artaxerxes I and a Babylonian concubine, seizes the Persian throne from his half brother Secydianus , whom he has executed...
–
404 BC-Greece:* The Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians, but the situation becomes desperate and he is arrested, condemned to death and executed....
), had just led an expedition against the Cadusii in revolt. Cyrus' expedition was a success as three years later the Cadusii fought at Cunaxa under the banners of
Artaxerxes IIArtaxerxes II Mnemon was king of Persia from 404 BC until his death. He was a son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis.-Reign:...
(
404-Greece:* The Athenian leader Cleophon continues to urge resistance against the Peloponnesians, but the situation becomes desperate and he is arrested, condemned to death and executed....
–
358 BC-Persian Empire:* Artaxerxes III succeeds Artaxerxes II as King of Persia and restores central authority over the Persian empire's satraps. To secure his throne he puts to death most of his relatives.-Greece:...
) against Cyrus. But their obedience to Artaxerxes II didn't keep long; we see them rebelling in
385-Greece:* Jason of Pherae becomes tyrant of Thessaly.* Dionysius I of Syracuse attempts to restore Alcetas I of Epirus to the throne.-Education:* Plato forms his Academy, teaching mathematics, astronomy and other sciences as well as philosophy. It is dedicated to the god Academus. Philanthropists...
and
358 BC-Persian Empire:* Artaxerxes III succeeds Artaxerxes II as King of Persia and restores central authority over the Persian empire's satraps. To secure his throne he puts to death most of his relatives.-Greece:...
. The first rebellion was defeated by a great army led by the same Artaxerxes. In the victory paid a key role the king's advisor
TiribazusTiribazus or Teribazus, a Persian general and Persian satrap of Western Armenia and later Lydia in western Anatolia.He was highly regarded by the Persian King Artaxerxes II, and when he was present, so Xenophon tells us, no one else had the honour of helping the sovereign to mount his horse.At the...
, who smartly tricked the chief rebels in submitting themselves to the king. Another man who distinguished himself in the campaign was
DatamesDatames was a general and satrap of Cappadocia under the Persian empire. A Carian by birth, he was the son of Camissares by a Scythian or Paphlagonian mother...
, who would rise to become one of the most brilliant Persian generals. The conflict of 358 under
Artaxerxes IIIArtaxerxes III of Persia , was the Great King of Persia and the eleventh Emperor of the Achaemenid Empire and the first Pharaoh of the 31st dynasty of Egypt. He was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II and was succeeded by his son, Arses of Persia...
(
358-Persian Empire:* Artaxerxes III succeeds Artaxerxes II as King of Persia and restores central authority over the Persian empire's satraps. To secure his throne he puts to death most of his relatives.-Greece:...
–
338 BC-Persian Empire:* The Persian general and vizier, the eunuch Bagoas, falls out of favour with King Artaxerxes III. Bagoas seeks to remain in office by replacing Artaxerxes with his youngest son Arses, whom he thinks will be easier to control. So Bagoas murders Artaxerxes III and all his sons, other...
) was the last major clash between Cadusii and Persians; for the last years of the empire the Cadusii remained submissive. This war was important since it gave an occasion for the Persian general Codomannus, to distinguish himself in a sole combat against a Cadusian chief; an action that paved him the road to the throne as
Darius IIIDarius III was the last king of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia from 336 BC to 330 BC...
(
336-Persian Empire:* The young king of Persia, Arses, objects to being controlled by Bagoas and attempts to poison him. Instead, Arses and all his children are killed by Bagoas....
–
330 BC-Macedonian Empire:* January 20—Alexander the Great defeats the Persians, led by satrap Ariobarzanes, at the Persian Gates. In this battle, Ariobarzan, supported by only 700 Persian Immoweird...
).
Alexander the Great & Aftermath
In the Macedonian conquest of the east the Cadusii remained loyal to the Persians all the way up to Darius III's bitter end; we read of their cavalry fighting against
AlexanderAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
at Gaugamela (
331 BC-Macedonia:* Alexander departs from Egypt and leads his forces towards Phoenicia. He leaves Cleomenes of Naucratis as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt....
) and of preparing to send reinforcements to the High King after the battle. But at the end they were subdued by Alexander's general
ParmenionParmenion was a Macedonian general in the service of Philip II of Macedon and Alexander the Great.Parmenion was the father of a Macedonian nobleman Philotas...
. In the subsequent Eastern wars they are mentioned as the allies of one or other party. After the division of Alexander's empire they became part of the
Seleucid empireThe Seleucid Empire was a Hellenistic empire, i.e. a successor state of Alexander the Great's empire. The Seleucid Empire was centered in the near East and at the height of its power included central Anatolia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia, today's Turkmenistan, Pamir and parts of Pakistan...
; in this context we read of them fighting for the Seleucids in the
battle of RaphiaThe Battle of Raphia, also known as the Battle of Gaza, was a battle fought on 22 June 217 BC near modern Rafah between the forces of Ptolemy IV of Egypt Philopator, king of Egypt and Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom during the Syrian Wars...
against the Egyptians (
217 BC-Roman Republic:* Gaius Flaminius Nepos is re-elected consul with Gnaeus Servilius Geminus, in what is considered to be a rebuke of the Senate's prosecution of the war...
), and their name is cited by Antiochus III's (
223-Seleucid Empire:* The Seleucid king Seleucus III is assassinated in Phrygia by members of his army while on campaign against Attalus of Pergamon.* Seleucus is succeeded by his younger brother, Antiochus III...
–
187 BC-Seleucid Empire:* The Seleucid king, Antiochus III, mounts a fresh expedition to the east of his kingdom in Luristan, where he is killed during an attempt to collect tribute from a temple at Elymais, Persia...
) envoys at Aegium to the
AchaeansThe Achaean League was a Hellenistic era confederation of Greek city states , on the northern and central Peloponnese, named after the Homeric Achaeans or rather the league that existed with the same name in the NW region of Achaea of unknown time of foundation.The regional Achaean League was...
as one of the many people under the sway of the Seleucids. But the crushing
RomansThe Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c...
victory at
MagnesiaThe Battle of Magnesia was fought in 190 BC near Magnesia ad Sipylum, on the plains of Lydia , between the Romans, led by the consul Lucius Cornelius Scipio and his brother, the famed general Scipio Africanus, with their ally Eumenes II of Pergamum against the army of Antiochus III the Great of the...
started the disintegration of Seleucid power and the loss of all eastern territories. From this moment, little is known of Cadusian history; they seem to have been early submitted by the Parthians. As their allies
Mark AnthonyMarcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and General. He was an important supporter and the loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia...
met them in
36 BCYear 36 BC was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.-Rome:*3 September—Battle of Naulochus: Octavian's fleet, under the command of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa defeats the forces of the rebel Sextus Pompeius, Lepidus, who faint heartedly came to support Octavian, lost his army to...
during his Parthian campaign; and two centuries later
CaracallaCaracalla , born Lucius Septimius Bassianus and later called Marcus Aurelius Antoninus and Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus, was the eldest son of Septimius Severus and Roman Emperor from 211 to 217. He was one of the most nefarious of Roman emperors...
in
216-Roman Empire:*The Baths of Caracalla in Rome are completed.*Caracalla annexes Armenia.*Caracalla dreams of renewing the Asian exploits of Alexander the Great...
repeated the campaign also entering in contact with the Cadusii. Excepting a forged letter by a Cadusian chief to the Parthian king in
260-Roman Empire:* Gallienus becomes Emperor.* Gallienus defends what remains of the empire against barbarians and usurpers. He reorganizes the army and reforms the administration....
, this is practically the last source that speaks of the Cadusii as an existing people; at this point they seem to vanish probably merging with other Caspian tribes.
External links
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