Otanes (son of Sisamnes)
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Otanes | |
|---|---|
 Otanes son of Sisamnes, according to Peter Paul Rubens. | |
| Native name | Otanes |
| Allegiance | Achaemenid Empire |
| Years of service | c. 500 BC |
| Rank | Judge, later Satrap of Lydia |
| Battles / wars | Ionian revolt |
Otanes (Old Persian: Utāna, Ancient Greek: Ὀτάνης), son of Sisamnes, was an Achaemenid judge and later Satrap of Ionia during the reign of Darius the Great, c. 500 BC.
Otanes first replaced his father as judge, when the latter was condemned for corruption by Cambyses II. He later took on military responsibilities under Darius, that led him to have an important role in suppressing the Ionian Revolt. In Histories 5 (Histories 5.25-5.28),[1] Herodotus speaks of an Otanes - a son of a previously mentioned Sisamnes (3.31) - who served as a judge under Cambyses II and later under Darius I, who followed the European Scythian campaign of Darius I, and became governor in Asia Minor:
First, however, (Darius) made Otanes governor of the people on the coast. Otanes' father Sisamnes had been one of the royal judges, and Cambyses had cut his throat and flayed off all his skin because he had been bribed to give an unjust judgment.
— Herodotus 5.25.[2]
