
'Midas Lawagetas' and the Lord of Those Who Assemble at Kastolos
The extraordinary appointment of Cyrus the Younger as karanos over the military forces of the satrapies of western Anatolia has been treated as an example of a more widespread practice of appointing high military commanders in the Achaemenid Persia empire. Here it is argued that, regardless of other attested appointments of commanders in Persian realms, this particular appointment, and the title of karanos, derives specifically from the custom of summoning troops from within the ethnically diverse territories of the Lydian empire in the time of Alyattes and Croesus. The concept of a karanos is equated to the titles of lawagetas (= λαγέτας, ‘leader of the host’) and vanakt(s) (= Ϝάναξ, ‘lord’) given to Midas in the inscription on the so-called Midas Monument in western Phrygia, a monument, as argued here, of the Lydian era glorifying the memory of the great Midas of Phrygia as the leader of a great host.
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Work Title | 'Midas Lawagetas' and the Lord of Those Who Assemble at Kastolos |
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License | In Copyright (Rights Reserved) |
Work Type | Research Paper |
Publication Date | 2024 |
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Deposited | November 19, 2024 |